Pizza but no beer. Sorry, Dean.

[cutting_edgex23]

It's not that the herd of teenagers is intimidating. Not even with the wings, the pink skin, the silver skin, or the dragon arm.

It's just that there are a lot of them, and they like to talk, and it looks like they brought girly movies, and that means Dean's got better places to be.

Like downstairs. In the pawn shop.

Looking for -- useful things.

X and Mr. Simmons took pity on him, it looks like. But Sam --

Well. Sam's got other reasons for being here. At least that is what X thinks.

She does not mind.

Comments

[gavemea_45]

He's not quite backed up against the wall; it's just more comfortable there, leaning against it.

Or so he's gonna say, if anyone asks.

He's at least four years older than every one of these kids, and the chatter's pretty fast-paced, and right now he's wondering what the hell he was thinking to accept X's invitation --

-- but at the same time, he knows exactly why he did.

Sam takes a deep breath, and lets it out, then gives a sideways look toward Josh - Elixir - who's the only person here besides X that he's actually met before.

"Hey."

[23xnpcs]

"Hey," Josh says back.

"Didn't think you'd show up again. Uh. But nice to see you around when no one's falling into a coma, right?"

"Coma?"

The silver girl -- Cessily -- gives them her full attention.

"Tell me we're not going to talk about that again, okay? This is movie night. With pizza. No talk about the depressing stuff."

[cutting_edgex23]

"There are topping preferences?"

X has her cell phone out in one hand, peering over the divider between the living room and the kitchen, voice only slightly raised.

"Prodigy and Santo are not here, so I cannot use the list from last time. And Sam is here."

It is about to get very, very loud. At least for a few seconds.

[gavemea_45]

"Uh, whatever -- anything's fine by me-- " he calls to X, hastily, before turning back to Josh.

"Yeah, well -- X is a friend, you know? So when she invited me - us - I guess I figured why not?"

He breaks off there and tells Cessily,

"Um, right. No depressing stuff, got it." He gives her a bashful, almost bemused smile.

[cutting_edgex23]

"That is not a useful answer," X replies. "And you are allowed to ask questions. If you want."

She is fairly sure he won't be mean. And if he is --

Well. It is easy enough to haul him and his brother back to Milliways.

"Dean can, too. When he comes back."

Then she finishes writing down the list of toppings, sorting them onto various pizzas, and dials the shop two blocks down.

[23xnpcs]

"Hey, none of us are complaining," Cessily says, smiling a little.

Pixie giggles, clapping her hand over her mouth and flitting to get a drink from the kitchen.

"Maybe I'm complaining," Anole cuts in. "You never asked."

And as an aside to Sam -- "Relax, I'm kidding. This crap's hard enough when you've been doing it for years, you know?"

[gavemea_45]

He gives Cessily a quick smile back and turns to Anole.

"Kinda, yeah."

The job, at least; the rest of it, less so.

"So, uh, when you say 'years'...?"

[23xnpcs]

"We don't look that young, do we?"

Cessily laughs.

"Shut up!" That was Elixir.

"But, yeah. Years. I mean. Laura's only been around for two, and we'd all been at the Institute a year already, so, yeah. Years. I mean. Puberty, you know?"

[gavemea_45]

"Younger than me," he points out, blandly. "Than Dean, too."

And evidently, from what's just been said, their talents manifest with puberty -- which makes it even clearer still that his situation is different, as if he'd needed any clue besides the YED's murderous interference to guess that already.

He tries to put it out of his mind, at least for now; in any case, there's something else that was said --

"Institute?"

[cutting_edgex23]

"It is Greymalkin Industries now," X puts in, slipping out of the kitchen and handing Sam a plastic cup full of soda.

"But it was a school. Before."

[23xnpcs]

"Then it got blown up. I really hate Sentinels."

"And Predator X. How many of those are left?"

"Speaking of stuff we don't talk about -- "

Cessily looks a little -- upset. It passes.

"And we still have classes. And dorms! Which kind of sucks."

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

[gavemea_45]

"Thanks," he tells X, and then forgets to drink the soda as he tries to follow the fast-paced conversation.

Beat.

"Let me guess - that's why movie night gets held here? To get out of the dorms?"

[23xnpcs]

There's a few moments of silence as everyone kind of looks sideways at each other.

"Well, yeah. That's pretty much how it ended up. X has a kickass TV!"

"And there are no chaperones. I mean. There's Mr. Simmons downstairs, but he doesn't really do anything."

"Plus X's apartment doesn't really get attacked."

"Shut up, you'll jinx it!"

"Sorry."

[cutting_edgex23]

"I do not think it works like that," X says. Carefully.

Then she looks up at Sam.

"Here, anyway."

[gavemea_45]

"Except watch sports," Sam puts in, regarding Simmons. "Evidently."

He glances back down at X.

"Probably not." With a half-smile, he adds, "Besides, the classic jinx is more of a sports thing anyway. So probably Simmons is the one who's gonna have to worry about it, if anyone would."

[cutting_edgex23]

X goes still, gaze flicking toward the door to her apartment, frowning slightly.

"It works on the television?"

She sounds -- dubious.

Cessily just laughs.

[gavemea_45]

Dryly,

"Sure. Just ask any sports fan whose favorite team just lost the big game."

[cutting_edgex23]

"Oh."

Blankly.

"That is why Santo was sticking pins -- "

[23xnpcs]

"Santo was what?"

Anole pops up behind X, scowling a little.

"Is that what happened to my -- "

"I can promise you don't really want to know, Victor. Here, have some popcorn."

"You can feed the fish, too. It's supposed to be good for blood pressure!"

Someone here is clearly lying. Well. Probably. Still.

[gavemea_45]

"Don't feed them the popcorn, though," Sam jokes. "The kernels are bigger than some of those fish -- especially that little guy!"

He jerks his thumb at a neon tetra that's darting from place to place in the tank.

[cutting_edgex23]

"And then I will have to kill you," X says, from just over Sam's shoulder.

"If the fish die."

Everyone goes very silent.

Did she just -- ?

[gavemea_45]

He slants a sideways look over his shoulder, then gives her a quick grin and turns back to the rest of the group.

"You heard her." Beat. "Girl's got a thing for fish, what can I say?"

[cutting_edgex23]

"It is effective with Santo," X says.

"He does not tap on the glass anymore."

Then she slips past him, settling down on the couch. It looks comfortable.

[23xnpcs]

"Okay, I really didn't want to think about that," Anole says, making a face.

Cessily smacks him in the shoulder.

"What? Maybe she has a thing for Namor! How am I supposed to know?"

[gavemea_45]

"Who's Namor?"

Sam looks around the room, trying to pick out a good spot to settle -- one where he can keep an eye on the door that Dean vanished through.

If it's one where he can stretch out his legs without tripping anyone, so much the better.