Snakes on a Plane

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

>"I kinda like 'Impulse', too. Seems to, um, fit better. Don't you think?"

What's that supposed to mean? <Stop wiggling your eyebrows at me or you're in so much trouble when we get back. Warren is going to think something weird is going on.> Bobby just can't help but bust my chops. I hope he's enjoying himself... Josh sends to Bobby with a mental eye-roll, but gnaws at his lower lip in thought.

"I think..... 'Impulse' it is. I like it. Simple but catchy, right?" Josh nods his head. "This feels like an important moment in my life..." He lets out a laugh. "It's probably better to decide before someone labels me with something ridiculous. Thanks guys!"

A few minutes later...

>"Oh, hi Josh!"

"Hey - it's Danny, right?" Josh asks curiously. He'd seen the boy around the Institute a little, but was pretty sure he wasn't a regular student. "Sure, grab a seat. That ok with you guys?"

(OOC note - Bloody Luxury would have occurred after Snakes on a Plane because of the cross-country telepathy bit, so Josh and Danny don't know each other very well at this point. no big, but whatever. )

[Warren Worthington III]

(( OOC: Don't sweat it, D - and sorry it took me so long to respond, I lost track of this thread! ))

Bobby turns around at the sudden voice to his right and grins at the tall, slouching kid. "Hey Danny... I'm Bobby. We haven't been introduced, but I've seen you around the Institute a few times. You know Josh, and Icarus over there needs no introduction, right? We've been debating Josh's codename. The options on the table are 'Impulse,' 'Impact,' 'The Amazing Josh,' and 'Whatsisname, you know, the flying one without the wings.' Any thoughts?"

[Tempero]

"Nice to meet you, Bobby, and no, I've heard and seen allot of Warren." he says, and then looks at Josh for a few moments before sinking some more into his seat. Once the process is finished, and he is quite comfortable, Danny thinks for a few seconds.

"Well, the word reor springs to mind. It's a Latin verb, meaning "to think". I sort of thought of it because your powers are very thought-related." he says, and then waits for an answer, his eyes shooting renegade glances in every direction possible, as if he is expecting the walls to suddenly collapse on him. In truth, he is feeling exactly that way, and he doesn't like it one bit. This is too small a space for him. But, hey, that's why he's here, right? To fight and maybe finally defeat that fear? Right? Right?

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

"As much as 'The Amazing Josh' rocks my world, I think I'm going for 'Impulse'. Though I like the idea of using a different language, Danny." He smiles at the other boy, trying to put him at ease. It doesn't seem to be working. Maybe it's not us - he's looking everywhere.

Eager to not make things any more awkward than they already were - as he begins to plot Bobby's death - Josh quickly launches into more conversation. "We were planning on getting some ice cream after the movie, Danny. Want to join us?"

"So, Warren. What did you do after we had coffee this morning? Bobby and I did some Danger Room training. Storm seriously had it out for us..." He rolls an eye. "What's your opinion, Bobby? I think we probably got a pretty good performance rating."

[Bobby Drake]

Danny is watching the walls like they're about to attack, and Bobby wonders: Does he know something I don't? The walls suddenly sprouting lasers and firing at him doesn't seem so farfetched, lately. It's not paranoia if they really are all out to get you.

> "I've heard and seen a lot of Warren."

Bobby tries to keep a straight face as he nods, adding "Yeah, there's a lot of that going around." He's not entirely successful, but he stops short of actually snorting.

> "I think I'm going for 'Impulse'. Though I like the idea of using a different language, Danny."

Bobby grins. "Impulso! Das Impulse! Impulse Impulsovich! Damn, I wish I actually knew a foreign language... Danny, what's Latin for impulse?"

> "What's your opinion, Bobby? I think we probably got a pretty good performance rating."

Bobby laughs curtly, suddenly more angry than amused. "Personally I think we scammed that room something fierce and somebody oughta retune its physics-simulation software, because there's just no way that 'freeze the course of a mighty river' trick would ever work in real life. But I'm not gonna be the one to mention it to Storm, and she should count herself lucky we didn't trash the damn room while we were at it... she had no right pulling that sort of headfuck on you, and the only reason you haven't been promoted yet is the X-Men are too busy not getting around to doing anything worthwhile to actually get around to refilling the ranks. So honestly, as far as I'm concerned she can roll up her performance rating and stick it where it'll do the most good... but yeah, I think you probably aced it. Hell, if they were half as surprised by you having figured out flight as I was, that had to be good for an extra-credit boost... I guess Warren's rubbing off on you, huh?" He smirks.

---

> "Warren. What did you do after we had coffee this morning?"

Warren has been politely ignoring the conversation after a friendly wave at Danny, that seeming the best way to handle Drake's attempts at humor, but Josh turning catches his attention again. He wonders if "after we had coffee" is Josh's not-so-subtle way of asking him not to mention the shower incident... which he hadn't really been intending on turning into a topic of conversation, but whatever.

"Nothing much. Did some laundry, grabbed some lunch, wrote a couple more pages of a paper on militarizing mutant abilities, caught up on some email. I always get a bunch of messages after I appear on talk shows and stuff. They're mostly variations on how I'm going to hell, granted, but you'd be amazed how good the Institute's spam filter is."

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

>"Yeah, there's a lot of that going around."

Josh has to bite the inside of his cheek to stop from breaking down in laughter. That was pretty smooth, Bobbs. He keeps a straight face, and reaches out to Bobby telepathically, trying as hard as he can to plant the image of the two of them, standing on a beach, with him drawing a line through the sand. He arches an eyebrow mock-seriously, locking eyes with Bobby.

During Bobby’s comments on the Danger Room simulation, he begins to think a little. What was Storm thinking, running him through a simulation of that particular mission, out of all her choices? It was hardly a sterling example of team dynamics. The Professor had almost killed every human on the planet. Jean had thought in the moment, her only goal to save everyone, heedless of her own life. Wolverine had left the team to do whatever it was he’d done. Storm could have lifted Jean above the flood, if she’d been thinking straight. Rogue had damaged the jet in its uncontrolled landing.

All of it boiled down to himself, really. Storm had run him through that test - although Bobby had been a last minute addition, Josh was convinced there were reasons they’d let him participate, as well - for a specific purpose. She could be a hard person to please - Josh’s French pronunciations the least of his troubles - but she wasn’t cruel. In fact, she was beginning to show signs of taking over the maternal side of the dad and mom role that Scott and Jean had somehow slipped into. Maybe she felt I needed to resolve my own issues.

“Living” through that day at Alkali had taught him that, though one can’t change the past, we do learn from it. Josh nods a little. And maybe that’s why I want to join the X-Men so badly.

“You know, I think I understand why she did it. And maybe it was a punch in the gut… but I think I needed to see that day at Alkali for myself.” He blushes a little. “Thanks for that, Bobby. It makes me feel good that you think I’m ready for the X-Men. Not much has been happening around here, I guess, or she’d be more worried about finalizing the new roster.”

>“I guess Warren's rubbing off on you, huh?"

He laughs. “Maybe so. He’s a good teacher.” Josh looks at Warren with great enthusiasm. “Today, your flight lesson saved our lives in the Danger Room... and maybe actually surprised Storm, which doesn’t happen too much. I hope we can do it again soon. I’ve still got a lot to learn, I think. Like that whole landing bit…” He grins and telekinetically jabs Bobby in the ribs. <Shut up…>


>but you'd be amazed how good the Institute's spam filter is."

“Militarizing mutant abilities? Is that like some kind of mutant special forces? Sounds like an official version of the X-Men.” Josh raises his eyebrows. “My independent study topic suddenly feels very shallow. What prompted your interest in that?” He brushes a lock of hair out of his face absentmindedly.

[Bobby Drake]

Josh catches Bobby's eye and he abruptly imagines himself on a beach with Josh drawing a line in the sand. Well, that's weird... oh, right. I get it. He chuckles at Josh's arched eyebrow and thinks back, carefully: <Oh, come on... it was the perfect straight line.>

> "It makes me feel good that you think I’m ready for the X-Men"

Bobby's one-shouldered shrug is more of an abortive duck of the head than anything else, the frank discussion of Josh's feelings making him briefly uncomfortable. "Yeah, well. Like I keep saying, if they took me, how high can their standards really be?" He grins and adds "Just, for God's sake, don't go all psycho-shredder on us, OK? We were lucky last time, but who knows whether Logan's pants would stand up to it a second time?" He mock-shudders.

> "I’ve still got a lot to learn, I think. Like that whole landing bit..."

"Well, they say any landing you can walk away fro--OW!" He rubs his ribs and pouts. <Some people just don't have a sense of humor.>

[Warren Worthington III]

> "I hope we can do it again soon. I’ve still got a lot to learn, I think."

He nods to Josh and smiles. "Any time. You're a natural study, but I've still got a few tricks left that might be useful.. besides, it's nice having company up there sometimes. And maybe I can pick up some tips on using my teek for something other than thrust while we're at it... that umbrella trick of yours is worth learning."

> "Well, they say any landing you can walk away fro--OW!"

Warren has continued to casually ignore Bobby's banter, though the reference to Logan's pants did get a chuckle out of him. That outburst catches his attention, though. "What's --" he starts out, then notices the Josh/Bobby byplay and bites his tongue. Yeah, there's something going on there. Well, none of my business, anyway.

> "Militarizing mutant abilities? [..] What prompted your interest in that?"

Warren tilts his head at that, a bit incredulously, then shrugs. "Well... maybe it's that I'm new here. You mentioned Alkali Flats... you guys think of it as where Professor Grey died, right? The first time, I mean." He stops for a moment, still pretty weirded out by that sentence. "But it's also where Professor Xavier turned out to be able to kill every human being on the planet." He doesn't actually raise his voice, but its timber changes. "Or a continent. Or a nation. Heck, for all anybody knows he was able to kill all devout Muslims. Or all non-Marxists. Or convert them. Even if they don't want the capability for themselves, what sane government would allow anyone else to have it? It makes MAD a joke. Not to mention that he was also a whole intelligence division unto itself. Imagine him negotiating with, say, Canada... he serves as their military arm in exchange for them extending civil protection and immigration rights to all mutants worldwide. Or, heck, Bosnia. Or Chad. Or anywhere. Rhode Island could become a world superpower."

He frowns, caught up in the scenario. "Of course, that's not an issue any more, more's the pity, but what about Sheppard? Or Magneto? Heck, you could probably take out a division of fighter jets all by yourself... even I could take out one or two and I'm nowhere near the X-Men's weight class. Like it or not, we're political assets. The fact that we're based in the U.S. instead of Guatemala affects the balance of power right now, today."

He blushes suddenly. "And I'm running off at the mouth again. Weren't you supposed to kick me or something when I do that?"

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

<Some people don't try to out me to the most-likely-uninterested subject of my crush.> Josh mentally eye-rolls. Things were always interesting around Bobby, to say the least. He verbalizes the next bit.

“Psycho-shredder, Bobby? You’re lucky I’ve recently developed a sense of humor regarding the Phoenix. And also lucky that I haven’t declared myself a sacred Egyptian deity and decided to make crushed ice.” He narrows his eyes, but softens it with a smile.

Josh listens to Warren intently. “Well, number one is that we’ll have to schedule some Danger Room time and see if you can even utilize your telekinesis as a shield. It’s hard. Newton bites you in the ass over and over. I’ve got the bruises to prove it. And being thrown around might not be so good with your bone structure, you know? But I’m willing to keep at it. After all… you gave me the gift of flight.” He grins a little at this.

He blanches a little at the second part, though. “I guess I never really thought about mutants as part of a government program. I probably could take out an entire division of jets. But I’ve never killed with my powers, and I’m not interested in starting early. That day will come soon enough, I think.” He shakes his head a little.

“Funny that you mention that, anyway. My independent study is actually ‘Variable Power Usage in Conjunction with Blackbird Evasive Patterns'. Storm and I are working on it together; she created this amazing ball lightning the other day. I’m also working on diverting missile locks with my telekinetics. It’s pretty hard, gives me migraines. Anyway… I guess I’ve been looking at things at the tactical level. I can’t say I like the idea of us being assets, though.” A sudden thought strikes him. “Is there anything like the Institute in other countries? Because….”

Josh blushes, but keeps going. “Cause, y’know. Like in Harry Potter. There are those other schools besides Hogwarts.” He can’t believe he just compared the Institute to Hogwarts.

[Warren Worthington III]

> " lucky that I haven’t declared myself a sacred Egyptian deity and decided to make crushed ice."

Judging from the way Drake subsides, Warren assumes that's some kind of inside joke. Either that or they're carrying on a telepathic private conversation. Which still isn't any of his business.

He winces a bit at the Danger Room suggestion, but ultimately nods. "Yeah, I suppose that's reasonable. It seems odd to start with missile deflection and work my up
to invisible umbrellas, but it's easier to stop a rock than the rain, right?"

> "Newton bites you in the ass over and over. I’ve got the bruises to prove it."

He nods. "Yeah, I noticed. I mean, not that I was --" He blushes a little as Bobby snorts, then plows on through "Anyway, believe me, Isaac and I are very intimately acquainted. I wasn't kidding when I said you were a quick study: my first few attempts at landing were..." he pauses, and looks at Bobby over Josh's shoulder, adding "well, lets just say that you were right about any landing you can walk away from being a good one."

> " I can’t say I like the idea of us being assets, though."

Warren bites his lip and nods. "Sorry... I didn't mean to bring everybody down. Anyway, that's how I got interested in the subject, the political angle." He shrugs. "If it makes you feel any better, the point of having assets is to deter combat... you build the best military arm so that you don't ever have to use it. At least, that's the theory."

> "Is there anything like the Institute in other countries? Because [...] those other schools besides Hogwarts."

Warren grins at the analogy, then considers it more thoughtfully: "That's not a bad analogy, actually... I may start using it. It's like Bobby was saying about Superman - nobody wants to cure wizards, right?" He shrugs at the question and adds "Well, it's not like I have the security clearance to read classified international threat assessments. But it doesn't take a genius to do the math. Say one in a hundred million people is a class 4 or above, we're due for sixty of them, we've identified, what, a couple of dozen? And most of those in North America and Europe. What's going on in the Middle East, or Africa, or China? I'm sure the Pentagon is thinking about it."

"Which reminds me," he adds, getting Danny's attention with a light wing-touch on the shoulder. "I read about you... you're the supercharger, right? Now there's a talent in demand. Soon as word gets out you're going to start getting calls from recruiters, you know... nobody needs to recruit class-5s if you can help them roll their own. Are you ready for it?"

[Tempero]

Danny just listens to the conversation, absorbed in the fight against his own demons. He doesn't answer the question about the ice cream, and doesn't partake in the talk about the militarizing of mutants. However, he realizes that he is supposed to say something as Warren addresses him.

>"I read about you... you're the supercharger, right? Now there's a talent in demand. Soon as word gets out you're going to start getting calls from recruiters, you know... nobody needs to recruit class-5s if you can help them roll their own. Are you ready for it?"

At first, he jumps slightly at the touch of the wing, but then smiles his usual friendly smile to Warren, although he miraculously manages to put confusion in it as well. What normal people do to expresses their emotions through faces, Danny can do with that friendly smile accompanying the general feeling. The "angry/friendly" smile is by far the scariest one. You don't want people smiling at you like that while they're extremely mad at you for something.

"Um...how could you read about me? I don't think there are any reports or anything. And it's not like I ever managed to power anyone up to class 5. Besides, it's only temporary, and I can't do anything with it for myself, except maybe share the mutation with someone else. I can replicate anyone's mutation on myself, without them loosing it, and I think it's a cool feeling when I do physical mutations because then I can feel the actual changes on my body, and it's fun and I like it and I'm rambling on so I'll stop sorry." he starts off normally, but then picks up the pace, and the last parts of the sentence are spoken so quickly that someone would think he got hyper on about 3kg of pure sugar.

Great, now he is surrounded. From one side, there's the terrible fear of those ominous, vile, imposing walls, on the other side, there's a tremendous feeling of awkwardness because of his rant from five seconds ago. Way to go, Einstein! You might as well curl up and die. he thinks to himself as his eyes make a severe point of avoiding any general direction of his three companions, which is sort of hard, considering how much of Warren there is to avoid, even though he hardly has eyes in his wings.

[Warren Worthington III]

Warren pulls back his wingtip at Danny's startled reaction, then hesitates, unsure how to react to the subsequent manic episode. He decides not to mention the new-student memos again (Man, I really am the only person who bothers to read them!).

> I think it's a cool feeling when I do physical mutations because then I can feel the actual changes on my body

He blinks. "Seriously? I didn't know you could do that. Well, if you ever want to try out wings, let me know. Though a word to the wise - they do take some getting used to." He winks at Josh and adds "And landings take some practice..."

[Tempero]

A deep breath being drawn and then released can be heard from Danny's seat. He relaxes a bit, and calms down. "Um...sorry about that reaction...I'm having...problems..." he says, his voice edged with a huge and obvious amount of embarrassment. Then, he turns to Warren.

"Really? That would be so cool! Oh, and when I borrow someone's mutation, I use my own power and my mind to control it, and I also receive some of the amount of control the target has, so don't worry..." he says, flashing a short smile. Wow, this is going to be cool! I hope he really means it, I always wanted to see what's it like having wings... he thinks.

The walls don't seem to threaten him as much as earlier, and he is glad about that. Talking with someone always helped. "Um...tanks guys, you have no idea how much you're helping..." he says, and then turns his head away to hide a slight blush, even though it's almost invisible in the darkness of the movie.

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

Josh feels a funny pull in his stomach as Warren winks at him.

"Yeah, they really do. Even without wings!" He grins and thinks of their muddy landing earlier that day.

His smile fades a little and he catches first Bobby's, and then Warren's eyes. Danny seems to be having some kind of trouble. Josh can tell his breathing has gotten a little faster, and he's eying the walls and steadfastly avoiding any other eye contact.

<Um. Warren. Any idea as to what's up? I'm catching anxiety getting through his shields, but not much else.>

>Um...thanks guys, you have no idea how much you're helping..."

"Ah. Is anything the matter, Danny?" Josh tries to smile encouragingly.

[Tempero]

>>"Ah. Is anything the matter, Danny?"

At first he doesn't answer, memories flaring before his eyes. Of all the things that could have happened, it just has to be this. He revisits his old school, and then the hallway, and then the locker, and the inside of the place, and then dark. Darkness all around, his body entrapped in the tightest space possible, and then time passing on, how much is it? Seconds? Minutes? Hours? Every single moment seems to be an eternity. Then, suddenly, a bright light flashes before him, and the door yields before him, opened by someone else, and he collapses to the ground, shaking, delirious.

Danny closes his eyes tightly, and shakes his head, dispelling the memories. As he opens them again, the walls still seem as threatening as ever they were. He turns to Josh.

"Oh...uh...never mind...It's nothing..." he says quietly, and then his eyes go around the room again, glancing at every wall, imagining impossible things, but they all seem very real nonetheless. Damn! he thinks, as well as a liturgy of many other swear words, not exactly minding his mental tongue. Besides, he isn't sending the message to anyone. Is he?