Blue Plate Special

[Pagan]

The thick coffee creamer poured into the cup of hot coffee and made interesting patterns of white and black, his spoon stirred the mixture up - and he stared down, smiling at the barely visible milky reflection that smiled back up at him.

Jason Heller brought the cup to his lips and let the steam roll over his face as he took his first sip. The diner was quiet and empty, other than himself and his entourage. The padre was perusing a six month old copy of the Times, Oaf had found a corner booth to sit himself in and try to hide from the rest of the world, and Mr. Stix was staring into the jukebox longingly, as if trying to will his favorite song, The Eagles - Witchy Woman, into appearing.

Bringing the cup down from his lips he smiled pleasantly, nodding at the Waitress, who just gave him an odd look - rather unfamiliar with such appreciation for coffee that had been brewed several hours earlier in the day. He had found himself in a small town on his way to New York City, and he liked how quant it was. It probably wasn't on the map, and the locals most likely rarely got visitors, other than someone needing directions away from the town.

Jason appreciated the small things and places that others didn't noticed - he found comfort and association with them. He glanced around the diner again and frowned, staring towards Mr. Stix and the jukebox, where his friend was now trying to climb up on top of the device. He glared daggers and motioned for him to stop with his hand, Stix rarely listened to him - so intent to do his own thing. He continued to move and motion for him to stop, the waitress turning to give him an odd look.

"Everythin' alright, hon?" she said with a slightly unnerved tone. "Yeah, yeah... everythings fine - coffee's just too hot, you know?" he exaggerated his movements, as if he was fanning the coffee.

"Uh...huh. Well you holla if you need anythin' alright?" She nodded at him, and he nodded back with that same pleasant smile from before. She headed for the back shaking her head, "Crazy out-a-towners..." she mumbled, before giving the dining room one last look over, and focusing back on t
he sole individual in the diner - the dark haired young man.

[Ever Talbot]

I had been wandering around for God only knows how long -- Javier and I had decided to stay at the Cullen Institute. At least for now, anyway. The little town down the road from the school was pretty. It had that adorable small-town feeling to it, in spite of the odd stares I was getting. Yeah, it's summer, and I have a toque on. It's the latest mutant fashion statement.

I had decided to go out on my own. Our escape and car ride to the school had been, interesting. Far too much hand-holding, and I wasn't sure what to feel besides embarassed around Jav lately. I was trying to tell myself that it wouldn't work, that we were better as friends, but deep down I knew that wasn't true. With a heavy sigh, I'd turned a corner and stumbled on the most retro looking diner, EVER. Handwritten signs hung in the window, listing good-ole-home cooking. I was really starting to develop a taste for this "home cooking". especially after years of hospital food.

The school had given us a little bit of money, to use to buy some clothes, school supplies and whatever they didn't already have there. I figured it would be fine if I got myself some lunch while I was out. I walked into the diner - luckily it was nearly empty - taking a seat as far from the only other patron as I could get.

[Pagan]

Glancing over he noticed her come in, and smiled a bit. He would have waved, but she seemed to be in thought, and wanting to be alone, judging from how far away she had sat from him.

Though Mr. Stix wasn't far... he turned to look at the funny little man, one of his childhood guardians, and frowned. Mr. Stix seemed interested in the girl, and was staring at her as if a new toy had just been put in front of him. Jason frowned and shook his head a bit, and he only grinned back, glancing around the diner before seeing a small plastic cup on one counter. The black haired boy shook his head again, and he was met with that look from Stix...

"Hey... um. Girl?" he winced out, "Maybe... maybe you should sit somewhere..." *THUD* he looked away a bit, frowning as the plastic cup struck her in the back of the head.

"Too late..."

[Ever Talbot]

"OwwwWWW!"

The cup bounced off my head, hitting my table and rolling to a stop beside the ketchup bottle. I spun around in my seat, glaring at the only other person besides the waitress in the place.

"What's the big deal?"

[Pagan]

Jason threw his hands up defensively waving them and smiling as best he could, eyes closed if only partly.

"It wasn't me! I swear!"

His teeth gritted a bit, realizing that would probably sound absolutely crazy to her. After all, she couldn't see Mr. Stix. His vision shifted momentarily from her to the cup, whom Mr. Stix was now stepping away from with a satisfied smirk. He'd give that little so and so a piece of his mind later! That was a certainty!

[Ever Talbot]

"It wasn't me! I swear!"


I grabbed the cup and threw it as hard as I could at his head. I missed, it bounced off his table and hit him lamely in the chest. I could feel the heat rushing to my cheeks and huffed.

"Yeah right. Freak"

[Pagan]

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry..." he mumbled a bit, sighing, she wouldn't believe him. And if he actually explained it? HOOO boy. He'd be sent to an asylum, if not worse, worse if she actually DID believe him. He shook his head, it's a good thing the waitress was still in the back - he'd have probably been kicked out by now and...

What was Padre doing? The magazine he'd been enjoying was quiet now, and Jason couldn't find sight of him anywhere. Unless... his eyes went down to her seat and he opened them wide. Padre was under the girl's chair, a rather unpleasant look upon his wrinkled face. Jason knew that look all too well.

"Apologize." Jason looked at the girl quickly, a look of desperation coming over his face. "PLEASE." Padre wasn't happy with her calling his young charge a freak, obviously, and was about to take care of the situation in his usual reactionary manner. "I'm begging you." His eyes were pleading, no anger on his face - a most strange sight considering what he was demanding. "I don't want him to hurt you..." he hadn't meant to say it... it just sort of came out.

[Ever Talbot]

"Who's going to hurt me?"

If I hadnt had my toque on, my ears would be perking up as I raised a brow at this kid. He really was...a freak. And coming from the shape-shifting Pikachu girl, that's saying a lot. I moved closer to the kid, and poked his chest with a mittened hand. "If you try to hurt me, you're gonna get it."

[Pagan]

Just as she poked his chest and made her warning the chair she'd been sitting on moments before clattered across the room loudly, hitting the far wall. If she had still been sitting there the force would have surely thrown her nearly as far.

"..." He stood up quickly, pushing past her as the Waitress glanced out from the back at the noise. He wasn't really interested in the girl at the moment, he walked towards the chair, staring right at it and put his hands out. "Padre... just calm down. She didn't mean anything by it... I'm sure she's sorry... just..." he shook his head a bit, as if someone were arguing back with him, "I know... I KNOW, but you can't do things like that!"

The chair rattled again, an unknown force seemingly striking out angrily. "You're going to get us in trouble!"

"Son. You're already in trouble." The waitress was standing at the kitchen door, a large bearded man wielding a frying pan defensively behind her. "You git outta here right now!" She hissed at him, "I don't need your kind in here! Git out before I call the sheriff!" She shook her finger at him angrily. He frowned and sighed, looking around the room, first at the chair - then back towards the jukebox and then at the far corner.

Finally after a few moments he frowned and looked back at her, "Yes ma'am... I'm sorry... I didn't mean anything. Do you want me to at least pay bef..."

"GIT!"

He took a step back and nodded again, heading very quickly and quietly for the door.

[Ever Talbot]

Okay, this kid was on crack. But he seemed genuinely sorry for causing trouble, and he did leave his nearly full cup of coffee....

A bit of convincing and a buck fifty later, I was trying to catch up with him as he moped down the street.

"Hey! You forgot this!"

I shoved a styrofoam cup into his hands. "I paid for it, and apologised for our...goofing around."

[Pagan]

He blinked, genuinely confused. Finally he smiled, tightening his grip on the cup a bit. He glanced over to his right at one of 3 tin cans that had been rolling beside where he had been walking. An especially odd sight, since there was no wind to move the cans.

"Told you she wasn't mean." he stuck his tongue out at the can. He took a sip and smiled happily. "Thank you." he tilted his head a bit, "But you really didn't have to."

[Ever Talbot]

"Uh, it's okay," I shrugged, and pulled my toque off a little teeny bit. Enough to show the tufts of my ears. Hopefully this guy can be trusted. "I kinda know what it's like to be a little...uh, different. Name's Ever Talbot."

[Pagan]

His eyes lit up at the little tuffs of fur, NEAT!

He nodded a bit, extending his hand, "Jason Heller, but... friends call me Pagan." hopefully this'd be a new friend. He could use all the friends he could get, after all. Other than the trio, he didn't have many at all.

"It's not so bad to be... different." he shrugged a bit at the thought.

[Ever Talbot]

I shook his hand, feeling a bit embarassed at the mittens -- I must look like a total yahoo, but covering my hands was more important (I guess anyway) then looking cool.

"I guess it's not. Depends on who you're around and where you are. Sometimes it can be," I wave my mittens in the air. "A little bit uncool."

[Pagan]

He nodded, "I understand." He took a sip from the still warm styrofoam cup and smiled, "Do you know how many people think I'm insane? Well... I guess technically I am..."

Great conversation starter that... he sighed, "Schizophrenic.... a shattered inner psyche," he started reading it off as if reciting something he'd been told a million times, "with delusions of figmentary personifications." he stuck his tongue out a bit, rolling his eyes back in annoyance.

[Ever Talbot]

"Heh."

All that technical mumbo-jumbo was making my skin crawl. It reminded me too much of the hospital and all the stuff Jav and I were put through there. I tried not to let it show on my face; my ears sagged underneath my toque. I shrugged, trying to stay cool.

"Yeah, but have you ever thought you were," air quotes time! " "Different" different? Here, let me show you something."

I grabbed his arm and dragged him into an alleyway. Time for me to show off what I do best -- and I figure, if he freaks and tattles, no-one would believe a crazy person, right? I pull off my hat and mitts, shaking my head a bit to get my ears uncramped.

"Now watch." I put my hand on his cheek, and soon there's two Pagans' standing in the alley. "See? "Different" different."

[Pagan]

He got pulled into the alley quickly, throwing up alarms from his three friends, they followed and watched carefully, ready to defend Jason if need be. Then she reached out to touch his cheek and...

Woah. He couldn't help it, he leaned forward a bit, and touched her (his?) nose. He pulled back a bit and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry." he let out a nervous chuckle. When she said "different" different, she meant "mutant" different.

"Um... yeah." He nodded, "I know about being "different" different too." He looked over to the three friends, Padre was still fuming, probably not for the best to demonstrate with him, Mr. Stix... well Mr. Stix was Mr. Stix, so... Oaf. He nodded at a dumpster in the alley.

"Show her." he said talking to the shy "Figmentary Personification" he motioned to her, and then pointed at the dumpster drawing her attention over to it.

"My 'figments', my friends... they can take control of things for me." The dumpster jumped about 2 feet, landing back on the ground with a heavy and thunderous clash, and then 'walked' itself towards them a few steps. "That's Oaf."

[Ever Talbot]

Had I been myself, my ears would've perked straight up. The loud crash of the dumpster would probably bring some nosey person out here...Not a good thing when I was fully shifted. I try my best to smile and not look totally weirded out -- each mutant was different, and, well, imaginary friends was REAL different.

"That's cool. At least you can DO something, all I do is this." I sort of do a "tah-dah" motion with my hands. "I guess some of us luck out better than others, huh?"

[Pagan]

"Are you kidding?" he blinked a bit, "You turned into me! That's AWESOME!" he smiled, "Probably the best thing I've ever seen!" he was far too happy, Oaf was shifting slightly, unsure what he should do now, Padre still didn't think this was a great idea... however, the lad had taken this course of action because he trusted the mutant girl that was in the alley with them...

"Hey, what's goin' on down ere?" A voice called from the far side of the alley, Pagan and Ever both looked out at the voice, "I heard a crash..."

He swallowed a bit, "Dumpster was just settling, that's all, we're fine." the resident glanced back and forth between them, Jason acted quickly, "Twins." he shrugged. "... Hmmm..." the resident started away slowly, unsure, finally vanishing from sight.

"We should probably get moving..." Pagan said slowly...

[Javier Spencer]

"I'd say you should," I answer, coming into the alley just as the resident is leaving. I saw Ever come down here with this...nutty guy, and for some reason it rankled me. It's easy to tell Ever from Dude; one of them is holding her trademark beanie. I point at it as I walk over. "Get to normal while nobody's looking and put that back on. We don't need a scene later if it starts to wear off." It probably looks like I'm being bossy (and I guess I am) but I'm not risking our new freedom for anything.

"Hey, Guy," I say belatedly, realizing finally that I should've said something sooner. I hold out a hand for him to shake if he feels like it. "Javier Spencer. I'm a friend of hers."

[Ever Talbot]

I resist the sudden urge to raspberry him, feeling a bit of heat coming to my cheeks. Busted. I pulled the toque down on my head, squinting my eyes hard as I try to reshift back to normal. It works, thank god, and I can feel the tips of my ears sticking out. I start to tuck them back in as Jav *finally* introduces himself to Pagan.

"I thought you were staying home today." My voice sounds annoyed; I guess I am a little -- I can handle myself, I don't need Javier Spencer trailing me and watching over me. "Don't you have class or something?"

[Pagan]

He took the other boy's hand and shook it with a warm smile. So many new friends! Padre was shifting uncomfortably over by Mr. Stix... he didn't like so many new people hanging about...

"Jason Heller." he said pleasantly at the identification of the newcomer, "Hopefully a friend, or friend to be." the mention of a school piqued his interest... "So are you two students somewhere?"

[Javier Spencer]

"Class let out early," I answer Ever. I personally don't care if she's annoyed with me; she needs someone to watch her back, at least for a little while. Switching gears to Mr. Jason Heller:

"Let's start with "friend to be" and see how it goes from there. We're going to some institute near here. We haven't been there long, but it's pretty good. You go to school?"

[Pagan]

He nodded, "Friend to be then!" Padre was glaring at the group at this point, and looking at him oddly Jason finally understood. "OH!..." he shook his head a bit, "Mind if we have this conversation while we walk?" Jason started towards the exit at a leisurely pace.

"As for school, nah. Despite the boyish charm I graduated a few years ago."

[Ever Talbot]

I shrug at Jasons' suggestion and we all head out of the alleyway and down the street. Jav slips in between me and the new guy, while I'm trying to match their pace with my stubby lil legs. I have to keep myself from blurting out that I've never really been to school untill now.

"From high school or something else? Jav and I are lucky we got into this place. Our, er, last school was real crappy."

[Javier Spencer]

"Lessons were impractical, boring, and long with no breaks. We never really learned a whole lot of anything there."

I'm determined not to talk about this. There's gotta be better things to talk about.

"So you have a job, or do you sit around your parents' house playing video games all day? Before the Institute, I did the latter."

[Pagan]

They'd made it out of the alley and were walking down the street, a trio of tin cans trailed just behind the trio of humans, rolling, as it were, of their own volition.

"Yeah, High school." he answered Ever, nodding, "Nothing spectacular, just you know... normal stuff."

The boy started asking questions next, "No, no job to speak of. Odd jobs maybe, here and there to get me through, but nothing that keeps me settled in one place, I'm something of a wanderer. Guess you could say I'm trying to find myself."

He avoided the mention of his parents, not a subject he wanted to talk about really... after his dad had died, his mother had become so depressed, he just had to get out of there, especially when she started drinking...

[Ever Talbot]

"Oh."

I don't really have much to add to the conversaton. The Institute was my "home" for waaaaaaaaaay longer than I'd like to think about -- I barely had a normal life before hand, and as for parents? Don't really remember them. I try to keep this from showing on my face, not really knowing if I'm succeeding or not.

[Javier Spencer]

I put an arm around Ever's shoulders without really thinking about it.

"So what the hell do we do for fun, anyway?" I ask. "I mean, what do teenagers do when they've got time to kill on a school day? Do we go to a mall, or the movies, or do we just loiter in front of a drugstore?"

[Pagan]

"They!" He paused, scratching his chin, "I don't really know..." he frowned slightly, "In truth, the two of your are the nearest thing to 'real'" he glanced apologetically at using the term to his three friends, "friends I've ever had."

[Ever Talbot]

I feel my shoulders stiffen as soon as Jav puts his arm around me, my ears perking up in surprize. As I try not to let every drop of blood in my body rush to my face, I give Jason a sympathic look.

"It's okay to have only a few friends; you can always make more, right?"

[Javier Spencer]

"Smaller social circles are better, to me. It's easier to keep track of everyone and get the world together when it's only 5 to 8 people. Plus you tend to know those people better. At least, that's been my experience."

I had a little high school before mutantcy kicked in, and my group of friends had been tight-knit. It's the sort of thing you'd see in a movie; a little group of semi-outcasts just trying to get by. The Institute will be good for getting back into that little social groove. Now if I could just get back into my good study habits.

[Pagan]

New friends - it was a pretty sweet concept. Even if it made Padre and the other's nervous. He could see why, once children had real friends, they usually stopped playing with the imaginary friends. His trio didn't have anything to worry about though.

It's kind of hard to ignore three manifesting figments after all. "Absolutely, I could always use a couple more friends." He smiled and placed his hands loosely about the back of his neck - they were just kind of wandering aimlessly now. Maybe that's what teens did now adays. Good as thing as any, he supposed.

"So what's this school you guys go to? Like the local high school or somethin'?" he figured they lived around here, or at least in the general area.

[Ever Talbot]

"Uhhhh...."

Do you really think I'd say "Oh no, it's a special school for mutant freaks like us, go freaks!" as we're walking down a public (although, not that busy) street. Heck no.

"Um, it's kind of a special school, but it seems pretty normal to us. Lots of classes and sports and...things."

I realize I sound like the biggest dork in the entire history of the world, and pulled my toque down lower. Javs' arm is still around me, which isn't helping my social skills at ALL.

"We just enrolled a lil bit ago, so we're still getting used to it."

[Javier Spencer]

"Probably somewhere between high school and college. Maybe a little closer to college. They say they're trying to get us ready for life in the real world, or whatever." I shrug, letting go of Ever and lacing my hands together behind my neck. As much as I hated that stupid power-killing collar, it's strange without the weight of it there. "I don't know really what it takes to get enrolled. It was basically taken care of for us."

[Pagan]

The whole thing was sounding more and more curious by the second. He had never heard of a school like this, but he should probably let the topic die for now.

They walked past a park, or were starting to - and Jason stopped blinking a few times and staring at the small gazebo in the center. He could remember seeing small groups of kids converging on places like that, and 'hanging out'.

"You guys want to head over there?" he motioned at the small wooden structure, "And just chill for a bit?"

[Javier Spencer]

"Sure. I'm up for whatever. You'd think a city would be more exciting...but no, not really."

We reach the gazebo and I sit on one of the railings it has. Not sure why they'd set it up with one. There's a picnic table in the middle, but that wouldn't be nearly so much fun to sit/stand/walk on as this rail. Maybe that's why it's here.

"...yeah."

I'm out of subject matter.

"Somebody talk."