Snakes on a Plane

[Bobby Drake]

> I should probably start borrowing soon

Bobby shrugs, trying to seem nonchalant about it as he continues to pile snowballs on the table. "Go for it. Do I have to do anything?"

A couple of other teenagers are sitting nearby, watching and laughing... clearly they think he's pulling them out of a cooler or something. He grins back, wondering how long it will take them to figure out these are Dangerous Mutants sitting here.

> <STOP THAT!>

Startled, he jumps back a little in his chair, knocking over the snowball pyramid as his leg bumps into the table, and stops generating snowballs. He looks back up at Danny, wondering what on earth had triggered that outburst.

[Tempero]

>>"Do I have to do anything?"

Danny smiles. "No, not really. It would help if you made sure you don't try to resist my mind in yours. I won't establish a telepathic link as such, rather, your mind will be merely a gateway to your mutation, which I will then link to directly. It's sort of hard for me to explain it beca..." he doesn't finish, startled by Bobby's jumping back.

That look Bobby sends him feels uncomfortable, for some odd reason. "Um...you OK, Bobby? It's really not painful at all. And I won't be messing your powers up. Everything will be the same for you...except you will probably have a glowing green outline, as will I." he says, thinking that maybe that caused the sudden reaction. It never crosses his mind for but a second that he might have actually TP-ed his last thoughts.

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

> <STOP THAT!>

Josh jumps in his chair. What was that? He looks stealthily over at Warren, checking to see if he also noticed the mental shout. It had to be Danny. Was something bad going on? Did Bobby need his help?

He lets out a breath. Bobby said he'd tell me if he needed any help with... what was it, exactly? Was Danny dangerous to be around? He'd mentioned to Warren that his guess would be claustrophobia, but something didn't add quite up...

[Bobby Drake]

Bobby looks the other boy over carefully, trying to figure out what that was all about. Had the TP signal actually come from Danny in the first place? It sounded more or less like his previous communication, but Bobby certainly isn't an expert on such things.

He wonders whether this is some kind of dissociative personality thing... there sure does seem to be a lot of that going on in his life. Well, at least he isn't dating this one, that's gotta be a step up, right? Still, it's probably better not to get his powers tied up in all this until he has a better idea what's going on.

"Um... well, actually, on second thought, maybe the snowball fight can wait. So, um... do you need a ride back to the Institute, or are you feeling up to trying out the theatre again? I promise, no lockers."

[Tempero]

>>"Um... well, actually, on second thought, maybe the snowball fight can wait. So, um... do you need a ride back to the Institute, or are you feeling up to trying out the theatre again? I promise, no lockers."

Danny looks at him for a few moments, puzzled. Then, finally, he manages to put his finger on the problem, and looks down to the ground, obviously embarrassed by this sudden outburst. "You heard my thoughts, didn't you? It happened to me a few times before. Sorry. It's just that...I don't know. I try suppressing all of the bad stuff, but it keeps coming back...and each time it's harder..." he trails off once again, but this time looks up and returns to reality quickly.

"Look, I know I'm boring you and it's frankly nothing you would be interested in, so I'll just stop." he lets out a heavy sigh, and then continues, "Sure, let's try the theatre again...What doesn't kill us, makes us stronger, right? And, if I start getting all worked up again, I'll just leave. No need in spoiling your fun." and with that, he stands up, turning to face the theatre, as if it was some kind of demon-ridden archenemy of his.

Another sigh escapes his lips, and he looks back at Bobby. "Going?" he asks, with a weak smile.

[Bobby Drake]

>"I try suppressing all of the bad stuff, but it keeps coming back...and each time it's harder..."

Bobby nods, not so much sympathizing as recognizing the phenomenon. " Yeah, I hear that. There's been a lot of 'bad stuff' lately. But, the thing is, Dan..." he shrugs, feeling a little odd about giving anyone else advice on how to deal with the crap in their heads, "...if suppressing it isn't working, maybe you ought to try something else?"

> "Look, I know I'm boring you and it's frankly nothing you would be interested in, so I'll just stop."

Bobby snorts. "So is it just me you don't expect gives a damn, or is it everybody? 'cuz if there's somebody else you'd rather be talking to about this stuff, that's cool... but if you're just gonna keep everything bottled up 'till you blow, maybe that isn't the cleverest idea ever."

[Tempero]

"I don't know what else, Bobby. And, don't worry, I don't expect anyone to care, it's not just you. Yeah, I know it's not a smart idea, but I don't know any other way." Danny says, his voice resigned, showing that he is loosing a battle which has been going on for a long time. He crosses the street, waving for Bobby to follow.

"I wonder how far the movie has come?" he asks, trying not to bug this potential new friend, heading towards the entrance, although a bit shakily, and slowly. He really didn't enjoy closed spaces, but the damned shrink said that he should do this, so why not?

((Sorry for crappiness))

[Warren Worthington III]

Josh's telepathic pep-talk helped Warren get past his initial nervousness, but it was weird, the first time he tried to go out with a group of fellow students, to have most of them take off a minute later.

There's definitely something going on he isn't being let in on, but it's OK... he decides to just lean back and enjoy the movie, and Josh's company.

He's not sure what it is, exactly, but there's something about the other boy's presence that puts him at ease... and it's always good to make a new friend, something that doesn't actually happen to Warren all that often. Well... not real friends, anyway. He hopes Josh is right and whatever it is that's going on with Daniel and Bobby, he wasn't responsible.

The previews for coming attractions are amusing, though he can't shake the feeling of not really being their target audience. He wonders how long it will be before someone makes a documentary movie out of the Alcatraz incident, and whether they'll make any attempt to get the facts right. (He chuckles a bit at the idea... they could make an "X-Men" movie! Except, really, who would go see it?)

When Josh jumps, though, Warren's complacency evaporates like dew in the desert. "What's wrong?" he whispers.

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

>"What's wrong?"

Josh looks worried. "I don't know. I heard a telepathic shout that probably came from Danny." He whispers quietly into Warren's ear to avoid causing a disturbance, then looks a little stupid and switches into telepathy and leans back into his seat.

<I'm close enough with Bobby that if something bad happened to him within my range I'd know it.> Josh closes his eyes for a moment. <He doesn't seem concerned right now, but I could definitely be wrong. I told him to tell me if he needs us.>

<Something seems to be up with Danny, though... should we go check on them?> He looks to Warren in query.

[Warren Worthington III]

> "I don't know. I heard a telepathic shout that probably came from Danny."

Well, that didn't sound good. Though Josh doesn't seem too worried... and Danny had seemed a bit high-strung when he left. It's hard for Warren to tell whether everybody's just nervous, or whether something is really going on.

> <I'm close enough with Bobby that if something bad happened to him within my range I'd know it.>

Warren nods guardedly, still somewhat uncertain about just how close they are... not that it's any of his business, of course. Josh certainly seems worried about Bobby, but given recent events being worried seems an entirely sensible response to anything weird happening to anyone at Xavier's. So it might not mean anything special. Not, he reminds himself again, that it's any of my business.

> <should we go check on them?>

Warren shrugs. It hardly seems necessary, but then again it's not like missing the movie is going to be a big deal. He tries to focus his thoughts so Josh can pick up on them easily: <You know them better than I do... what do you think? I can go on a quick scouting run if you think they might be in troub -- > he cuts off as his hypersensitive hearing picks up Danny's voice approaching the entrance. <--never mind, actually... I think they're coming back inside. >

---

Bobby shows the usher his ticket stub and opens the theatre door for Danny, shooting him a questioning are-you-going-to-be-OK? look. At the same time, he thinks hard in Josh's direction: <Headsup, Joshykins... we're coming back in, so you'd better zip up your fly if you don't want to scare the kids...>

[Tempero]

Danny shows his ticket as well, although his is still unchecked, and enters the theatre slowly. He smiles at Bobby, saying "Don't worry, I'll have to be." and then walking on, again a bit too slowly.

As Bobby attempts sending a message to Josh, he thinks it hard enough for Danny to pick the comment up. OK, I'm not even going to ask about that. he thinks as he follows Bobby back into the movie room, and they take their previously abandoned seats. He nods a friendly greeting to Josh and Warren, and his eyes fix on the movie, trying to decipher what had happened so far. It is different now, and the room doesn't seem as horrible as the first time, but he is still not completely relaxed.

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

<They are? Good. I mean, I didn't think anything was wrong. But he was acting rather strange...> Josh looks over at the door, waiting for the pair to show up.

> <Headsup, Joshykins... we're coming back in, so you'd better zip up your fly if you don't want to scare the kids...>

He catches Bobby's mental speech and turns beet red. I'm going to have my revenge, Bobby Drake, if it's the last thing I do. He glares mock daggers in the other boy's direction, and fills Bobby's mind with off-kilter sing-song:

<Bobby and Johnny, sitting in a tree...>

Vague ideas begin to percolate, like photoshopping John's head onto a porn star's body and setting it up as Bobby's wallpaper on his laptop. Oh, the possibilities...

He throws a faint smile in Warren's direction, and settles back in to watch the movie.

[Bobby Drake]

> "Don't worry, I'll have to be."

Bobby nods silently to Danny as they retake their seats, smiling encouragingly, then nearly laughs out loud at the expression on Josh's face.

> <Bobby and Johnny, sitting in a tree...>

This time he does laugh, drawing angry stares from the folks in adjacent seats. He quiets down. Not that we did a lot of kissing, he thinks to himself, but decides not to share the thought.

By the time the movie teaser starts, he's forgotten what movie it was they came to see... but it's pretty obvious pretty quickly. He settles into his seat, wishing he'd thought to pick up some popcorn on the way back in, and waits for the eponymous snakes to appear.

(( OOC: I'm happy to consider the thread closed at this point unless somebody has something cool in mind. ))

[Tempero]

((I'm out of ideas, so agreed. Oh, and thanks Bobby-sorry for pestering.))