Walking the halls

[johnny_gallo]

Johnny strided through the mansion confidently. He'd poked his head back into his room, but it looked like Jay was in the middle of a pretty serious phone-call, so he decided to wander around a bit more. Maybe he'd run into Megan again, she was a nice enough kid to buddy around with. He didn't want to be a recluse, he was going to be living here

Comments

[cant_findme]

While Johnny may not have wanted to be a recluse, other people found it to be the easiest way to escape sometimes. A one Victor Borkowski was one of those said people, the reptilian teen having been keeping to himself as of late for reasons that he himself wasn't even sure about.

Tapping his pencil against his notebook, the green skinned teen finally sighed and let it drop, pushing his chair back and standing. Okay, so...maybe being a recluse wasn't such a good idea. He was starting to go stir crazy, developing a case of cabin fever if you will. Shutting his laptop, Victor paced towards his door, hitting the light switched as he passed and moving out into the hallway. Green eyes scanned the length in both directions before he headed left out of his room. If all else failed, the library was always a good place to waste some time while trying to clear your head right?

[johnny_gallo]

Johnny was contemplating a few rounds of wall'ball' with one of his discs when he rounded a corner, and practically ran into a short scaly... something. He brushed against him too abruptly to ID them as male or female at first, then took a step back. "Oh hey, sorry about that..." A quick look to estimate gender (could never be too sure). "--man."

Some kind of reptilian? Cool.

[cant_findme]

Not paying enough attention to avoid the collision, Victor stumbled back a few steps, blinking in an almost dazed fashion. He was aware of the young man before him speaking and it took a moment for everything to process before he blinked out of his daze and offered a sheepish look in response. "No need to apologize. I should have been watching too."

His head tilted the slightest bit, green eyes narrowing with a curious glint. "You're new here aren't you?" Nothing like being blunt. Realizing he had been just that, the reptilian teen lifted a hand rubbing at the back of his head as he offered up another sheepish smile. "Ah, I mean, well..I've never seen you around before so.."

[johnny_gallo]

Johnny was just as awkward, and shook the kid's hand, when he realized something. "Wait... I didn't know you were there. I should have." He eyed him cautiously. "Got this... little switch in my brain that usually goes off if I'm about to collide with something, or bad stuff. Didn't trip."

His eyes widened slightly, but he didn't go screaming down the hallway. "Were... you in my brain? What do you do?" There was definitely going to be a healthy dose of paranoia involved until Johnny mapped out all the mutants around this place.

[cant_findme]

Well that was an unexpected response.

Giving the other a questioning look, Vic slowly let go of his hand. "Ah..no. I'm not a telepath or anything like that." Thankfully. People with telepathy freaked him out enough as it was at times but to be a telepath? Heh, no thanks. "My mutation is solely reptilian in how it works." He held his hands up in a 'I mean you no harm' kind of way, a lopsided smile touching his lips.

Paranoia much? "I'm..ah..Victor by the way."

[johnny_gallo]

"Uh... okay.. if you're sure then." Johnny was still a little weirded out. The only thing that had ever gotten around his danger sense before was Cassie, and she was pretty weird herself.

"Johnny Gallo. I'm new here. Also... bored, and my roommate seems to be in the middle of some heavy stuff." He held out a disc, figuring he'd take a shot. "Frisbee?"

[cant_findme]

"Pretty sure." He couldn't help but tease, arms folding over his chest a bit as he watched Johnny who was still obviously hesitant.

Roommate? His curiosity perked just a touch but before he could ask, a disc was held out and Vic looked at it then back up, meeting the other's gaze as he grinned. "Sure, been awhile since I played." Well, there goes the library idea but..he honestly wasn't that upset about it. Getting out of the institute would be good for him.

...Even if his new..companion was still on the 'weirded out' side of things.

[johnny_gallo]

Johnny smiled and nodded towards the front door, making it down the staircase with just two bounding leaps. So he wanted to show off a little, what of it?

Making their way outside, he found a good suitably empty wall on one side of the Institute, and threw his disc against it. It bounced off sharply and returned to his grasp. "Hehehe... still got it." He offered the disc to Victor. "Go on, give it a shot. Careful though, it comes back with a bit of a kick."

[cant_findme]

Shaking his head as the other showed off his agility, the reptilian teen made his way down the stairs and followed Johnny outside. He glanced around once, out of habit mostly, hands going into his pockets for the moment as he followed his companion around to the side of the institute.

The disc was thrown and Vic watched it bounce and come back, returning to Johnny's grasp with ease. Impressive. A grin tugged at his lips and as the disc was offered to him he reached out to take it, keeping one of his hands buried in his pocket. Said disc was turned over in his hand some, green eyes looking it over. "Well...here goes nothing." Gripping it, his other hand finally coming free of his pocket, he threw it towards the wall, watching it hit and bounce back. His aim was a touch off though and as it veered to the left, his tongue instinctively shot out to catch it, bringing the disc back and letting it drop into his hand. "I tried." He said, smiling sheepishly.

[johnny_gallo]

"Uhhh...." Johnny STARED. "You... got a hankie or something for that?" Was what he managed to let his outside voice say.

His inside voice was going 'TONGUE! Giant freaky tongue that grabs things!'

[cant_findme]

His head tilted the slightest bit and, considering he was use to the kind of reaction he gained from Johnny, tried his hardest not to grin as he wiped the disc off on his shirt before twirling it around it hand, holding it out to the other mutant. "You alright there, Johnny?"

He shouldn't be amused..but he was and he felt horrible for it.

[johnny_gallo]

Johnny took the disc, trying not to do the two-finger hold squeaming people did after a dog fetched a ball or something. "Nice catch..." He cleared his throat, then aimed at the wall again. "This one's gonna come with a little bit of a curve.." He flung it, and sure enough, after it impacted, it came in an arcing curve towards Victor. "So... you just a student, or you on the 'X-track' I've herad about?"

[cant_findme]

Vic's lips finally split in a grin and the reptilian teen nodded slightly at the compliment to his catch, watching Johnny throw the disc again. Just as he had been told, it came back in an arcing curve and he moved to the side to catch it with his hands this time, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the other as he spoke.

"X-Track." The reptilian teen replied, tossing the disc back at the wall, managing this time to get it to curve right to bounce back towards Johnny. "What about you? Here to be a student?" He kept the details at bay for the moment, rocking back on his heels some, green eyes going from the disc to the other mutant.

[johnny_gallo]

"Right now... I'm pretty much trying to learn how to deal with being a mutant. Had some issues with it before." Johnny shrugged uneasily as he caught the disc and easily tossed it back, having it go to Victor's side by a few feet, prompting him to move for it. Hopefully without the tongue this time.

"If you're asking if I want to do the whole hero thing like the grown-ups... that's a no. Been there, as a c-lister. Realized I trashed a lot of who I was from the adrenaline high I was chasing."

[cant_findme]

Moving to the side, he once again caught it, hesitating momentarily as he kept his gaze on Johnny. He wanted to ask about the 'learning how to deal with being a mutant' comment but that would be prying; not the best first impression a person could make. Plus, the other mutant didn't exactly have a air that screamed 'Open book!' or anything like that.

"Fair enough." The reptilian teen murmured as Johnny spoke again, finally tossing the disc back at the wall and, in turn, back to his companion. "It's not for everyone, that's for sure. Makes you question a lot about yourself..and sometimes you make decisions that you really wonder about in the grand scheme of things." A small shrug accompanied the statement, green eyes glancing upwards for a moment. "You a New York or did you come here from somewhere else?"

[johnny_gallo]

Johnny picked up on the unease. He had the feeling he'd just committed the equivalent to yelling 'Praise whitey!' at the Million Man March. "Yeah, born and raised a New Yorker. Tried some time on the West Coast too." He made an around-the-side catch of the disc, then tossed it back, an easy one this time.

"And it just really scared me is all... 'triggered' for the first time when I was younger than you, and my mom got killed when some creepy robot tried to kidnap me. Then when I was actually doing the 'hero' thing it was right around the time of the whole Operation Zero Tolerance thing. Not that it's ever 'easy', but that was a BAD time to be a mutant." He grimaced apologetically. "And believe me, I hate playing the 'I remember when..' card. I SWEAR I'm not that old."