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| Just lose yourself; Dance dance dance | |
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| Topic Started: Nov 29 2017, 03:48 PM (127 Views) | |
| Synch | Jan 7 2018, 05:54 AM Post #16 |
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Copies Powers
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"Oh, right, and that," Ev continued, once he'd made sure that there were no long-term consequences to Ben's power-spike. "You just turn off scanner tech, right? Look, I know you well enough to know you've given some thought to how useful that can be when sneaking into and out of places you aren't supposed to be." It didn't occur to him that his friend's sudden power manifestation was an expression of appreciation; honestly, he was so caught up in the object-level discussion he wasn't really paying much attention to the emotional level. But when Ben expressed those feelings out loud, he was taken aback. "You really do worry about that, huh? I mean, people not really liking you." It shouldn't surprise him; it wasn't the first time he'd mentioned it, and no doubt there were many times he hadn't mentioned it... but it did, just the same. He shook his head incredulously. He understood why, but there was just something about the most popular guy in school feeling that way that he couldn't wrap his brain around, even understanding it. "Well, I'm glad you believe me, at least. That's a start. I have to admit, though," he conceded with a game smile as he made an attempt to lighten the mood again, "you totally have a point about the uniforms and the codenames. So we should get you a codename, right? 'Tleilax' is way too geeky, I suppose, but how do you like 'Face Dancer'? I'm pretty sure Frank Herbert's estate wouldn't sue us for it." Not that Ev expected Ben to get the reference; he suspected he was the only person he knew who'd actually read all the Dune books, and quite frankly he didn't recommend anyone else do it. |
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| Amnity | Jan 12 2018, 08:16 PM Post #17 |
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Transmorphic Social Camouflage
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“Um.. well I’m not real sure actually. When I shift tech ignores me and I can kinda feel whatever it is trying to squirm out and do more, right? Like my powers want to hide me from everything, but get confused and just make things not work? Fuck, it’s hard to explain. Yep, weirdest powerset ever, that’s me. As for sneaking, hell man, I’m totally not a sneaky guy. I mean sometimes I kinda wanna sit at the back of the class and not get called on, but like, I’m no ninja. Though I heard that Logan dude is, oh and Mr. Summers used to be? But he was dead or something? Seriously, our school is wack, but amazing.” Then Ev opened the floor for Ben to discuss his feelings of isolation, of never feeling accepted or good enough, of worries that his facelessness went far deeper then looking like a halloween mask sometimes. Something in Ben wanted to grab hold of that, to confess all his doubts and worries, to let himself be vulnerable with someone he could trust. After all, Ev could walk in his shoes more then most, could perhaps see things about his powers he had missed, could actually understand where he was coming from. However those feeling, that desire, was dwarfed and smothered out by the black memory of his sister, of losing the person he was closest to and it being entirely his fault. Thankfully Ev then switched to a much safer topic that was on the minds of most all generations of students that didn’t have their X yet, codenames and costumes. Even though Ben thought he’d never wear the label, who didn’t want to dream about being among the X-Men. “OMG Ev, you and my dad have to be the only people left on this planet who have read that crazy pile of desert and robot people Frank Herbert started and his kid ruined. You’re way too young for that man. I’m way way too young to have an idea what you’re saying. And we’re both way too cool to name me after really creepy vat made genetic freaks. Even though I guess we kinda are genetic freaks.” Ben chuckled as he took a moment to think and also to make sure his focus stayed on that cute boy shaking it on the dance floor just enough to keep that power feedback loop down. Like any kid at Xavier’s he had some ideas, even if he’d never use them. “Ok, so these are all cheesy and silly and as corny as Indiana, but I got a few. You can feel free to laugh cause, let’s face it, I’m not the hero type. Oh and no capes, never a cape. What about ‘Ben Friendly’? Or are we not supposed to use parts of our name? ‘Amity’? That’s a book series I liked a lot and who doesn’t like a hippie ‘take care of everyone’ vibe, right? Uh… ‘Confidence’? That’s the one I’d bank on, meaning people tell me stuff and I keep it for them, not the ‘I can knock down walls with my ego’ version. Anna says I should be called ‘Morph’, but that kinda defeats the purpose, I mean that’s like saying don’t trust this guy, he’s a shape-shifter.” |
![]() I like me better when I'm with you. I like me better when I'm with you. I knew from the first time, I'd stay for a long time, I like me better when I'm with you. | |
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| Synch | Jan 12 2018, 11:02 PM Post #18 |
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Copies Powers
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"Scott was... well, it's complicated," Ev replied, biting his lower lip. "We thought he was dead. Then he came back as an evil zombie ninja. Then he came back normal. They stopped trying to explain it to me after I started bleeding from my eardrums." Which wasn't quite how it had gone, but, well, it had sure felt that way! "As for 'Tleilax', well, you recognized it, man, so don't go all nongeekier-than-thou on me," Ev shot back, laughing. "Never read anything after Chapterhouse, though. And, honestly, I shouldn't have read that far; as far as I'm concerned the story ends with Heretics and Herbert never introduced the ninja sluts from outer space. Because Jesus, man!" He made a sour face and gulped down half his club soda, as though to wash a bad taste out of his mouth. "Hope I die before I get that senile. Anyway, I never picked up his son's stuff; don't intend to. The first few books are really good, though! Well, once you get used to books starting with 'then ten thousand years passed and an entire new species evolved, then Gladys was born, and this is her story' as though that were actually a segue, which it is not, and... OK, it's possible I have feelings about this," he admitted sheepishly. "Maybe me and your dad should compare notes." Truthfully, he wasn't all that into the Dune books, though he had indeed read them when he was a teenager after seeing the David Lynch movie. The movie had made no damned sense to him, and after reading the books he'd understood a little better what was going on but it had hardly seemed worth the effort, really. "Sure, no cape. And whatever the comic books tell us, nobody actually looks good in spandex. Still, though, you gotta admit the X-Men uniforms look pretty hot. As for codenames... I think Kitty Pryde shattered the 'no real-life nicknames' rule, but 'Ben Friendly' might actually be an even worse idea than 'Tleilax' and I hadn't thought that was possible! And no, not 'Morph'... there was already a guy with that codename and he died, so, I mean, not cool." He thought about it a bit. "I kind of like 'Confidence'... I mean, you are the perfect confidence man... though it might be giving away too much also, don't you think?" |
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| Amnity | Jan 14 2018, 02:23 AM Post #19 |
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Transmorphic Social Camouflage
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“Hey we can agree to be glad he’s back right? Nice, simple, makes the rest not matter. Though I gotta say, zombie ninja Cyclops would be a great band name. Also new school rule, no more deaths on campus. Even temporary deaths. We have to be different from the rest of the headlines, yeah? Also I recognized ‘Face-Dancer’. Dad used to call us that when he caught us lying to get out of something. ‘Listen up Ben, I don’t care if you think you’re slicker then a face-dancer, I know you stole that bike.’ and so on.” Ben smiled as Ev went on. He was lost in the first seconds of that bit, he’d never been much of a reader, but he did like listening to people when they shared things that mattered to them. It was actually one of his favorite activities, just seeing the joy subjects he didn’t understand could cause in others. He was willing to bet he looked the same when he talked about dancing or the feeling of getting lost in a groove. “Well, if my family ever decides to stop pretending that I’m actually just Xavier’s long lost son and not theirs, I’ll have him call you for a sit down. He loves sci-fi like a leopard loves spots. Me, I zone out on Star Wars and don’t understand big bang theory at all. Which is one of the reasons I was so surprised by my dad not meshing with me over my mutation. Guess he likes all that stuff long as it don’t come home.” Ben’s face went hard and sad as he talked, even though he was trying to keep it breezy. It hurt, hurt like hell to talk about his family. But he’d gone to school, he knew talking about it, dealing with it, ripping that band-aid off and letting it breathe, was the only way to heal. “Hey, hey, have you seen my legs? I’m a dancer man, spandex is our thing. I can’t see fighting in it though. Plus is a little cold for all that these days. What’s a Kitty Pryde? Is she single? And hey, I thought Ben Friendly had a good ring to it. I mean, I’m friendly as hell, and my powers make everyone else friendly too. Oh, well, I don’t want to wear a deadman’s name. Unless he was, like, totally awesome and wanted to pass it along to someone else. I mean that would be kinda cool, like getting to wear a retired number. But as I’m not going to be an X, don’t matter, we’ll let that poor guy rest. But, yeah, Confidence, it’s got a ring to it you know? Like hey, who is that guy, what does he do? Plus you could tag action figures with it and it would work.” The talk was getting Ben excited and he couldn’t hold it in anymore. With a graceful leap he alighted on their table and struck a heroic pose, much like the Captain Morgan commercials. His grin was huge and a few bystanders clapped. “Look out world, Confidence is here! To… uh… listen to your stories and… well… get the bad guys to confess? Help me out here ‘Synch’, you’ve done this before.” |
![]() I like me better when I'm with you. I like me better when I'm with you. I knew from the first time, I'd stay for a long time, I like me better when I'm with you. | |
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| Synch | Jan 17 2018, 12:22 AM Post #20 |
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Copies Powers
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"Oh, speaking of zombies, did I tell you? A friend of mine from high school is performing in something called 'La Zombiata.' Apparently it's, get this: a zombie opera love story," he explained, bursting out laughing at the idea. "I have tickets to see it while I'm home for the holiday; you can come with if you want?" Ev offered tentatively. "I mean, no promises... I gotta see it because, you know, he's a friend. Or at least was." Ev was pretty sure the production was going to be awful, but he was hoping it would at least be funny. He was less sure he'd actually be welcome... he'd hadn't talked to Andy since Xavier's went public, and his friends stopped returning his calls. He'd been surprised to get Andy's email invitation, but it was a mass email, and he wasn't sure his inclusion was intentional. He intended to find out, though. "Right there with you about the deaths, though," Ev agreed, letting that subject drop. "I've had my fill of it and then some. It can stop. Even the temporary ones." Not that he expected anyone would listen, really. Xavier's was going to be the center of mutant and anti-mutant sentiment for a very long time, he suspected, and he had no more of a clue how it would work out than anyone else did, but he was pretty sure the violence had barely started. Ultimately, all he could do was keep showing up and doing whatever work presented itself to be done. It didn't seem like much, honestly, but what else was there? You are not required to complete the work, but neither are you free to withhold yourself from it, he reminded himself. It was a favorite quote of his dad's when he complained that a task was impossible. Then his thoughts were diverted by Ben's little performance. "We could invite him too, if you want," he suggested seriously when the conversation came back around to Ben's folks. "Your dad, I mean. I dunno, maybe he'd be less of a jerk to you in someone else's house?" Privately, Ev wasn't entirely sure his parents would be OK with that... inviting a friend from school was one thing; inviting a strange adult was something else again. But that didn't stop him. He was confident that once his mom found out how Ben's dad was treating him, it would take a fully equipped Marine battalion to stop her from reading him the riot act about it... which Ev had reason to know was remarkably effective. |
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| Amnity | Jan 22 2018, 04:55 PM Post #21 |
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Transmorphic Social Camouflage
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“You’re inviting me to something on a stage and unsure if I’m in? You know I was a fine arts/dance major right? Ain’t no such thing as a bad play, just bad audiences. Ok, that’s over generous, but with us there, it’ll be great. Plus theater guys are sexy.” There it was, Ben’s new idea for a code name flickering out from inside him. This was who he wanted to be, the flirt, the playful guy, the man at the back of the room just happy that everyone was happy. All that hero talk and all, well it was fun, but Ben didn’t want to hurt anyone, not even to defend his own and all that. Just about anything could be talked through, running in with your fists just seemed horrid to the young man. “Hey man, I’ve lost literally all my friends in under a week, I get it. Just gotta go see him, see if there’s any coals you can stoak up right? Maybe the distance will have done you both a bit of good. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, yeah?” Ben's momentum and emerging good mood were cut off in an instant however by Ev’s words. The other man couldn’t know how hard his words hit, how hard they reminded Ben of his losses, but the dancer bit his lower lip and took a breath all the same. He didn’t know how people healed from being utterly rejected, but it kept seeming like he’d have to learn sooner rather then later. “Hey, Ev, in all seriousness, my family changed their number, don’t answer my mail, took me off their facebook and twitter, and probably cut me out of the family pictures. I mean I keep reaching out and sometimes think of asking Miss Vale to find them with her spooky powers. But, I mean how often someone has to tell you to get the fuck away before you get the message? I love my family, but it seems I ain’t one of them no more. There’s a bunch of kids at school that got it worse then me though. Aly’s put her in a nuthouse, Mr. Logan can’t even remember if he has a family or was hatched. I’ll deal, somehow.” Trying to shake off the depression that always gripped him when he thought of his sister, Ben jumped down from the table and took Ev’s hand in one of his and a gorgeous girl in her early twenties hand in his other. He then leaned in and kissed her cheek lightly as she giggled. When she leaned in for more the graceful teen slipped back, still holding her hand and led them both to the dance floor. “This is what we came for my friends. Talk is good, learning about each other is better. But I’m here for bodies on bodies, rhythm shaking bones, and to forget about life outside these walls for a bit. I’m way too young to be so sad, so let’s fix that.” |
![]() I like me better when I'm with you. I like me better when I'm with you. I knew from the first time, I'd stay for a long time, I like me better when I'm with you. | |
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2:11 PM Jul 11