cerozer0

The Mundane [Small-Town Teenage Superheroes]

Location: Astronomy Club
Interacting With: Too many people help

List of Names

Katalina @kittyluna45
Scout
Moon @Kimono
Gerard @Inertia
Austin @Wade Wilson
Tessa @Kirah
Ashton, Alice @Undine
Alicia @Nallore
Olivia @Symphoni
Malcolm, Jay @McHaggis

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"Sir King."

Sarcasm literally dripped from Gerard's voice and body as he bowed down slightly in front of King, and it took all the self-control in his body to refrain from punching the kid in the face. Gerard moved on after his smart-ass greeting to speak to Scout, mentioning something about Home Ec., and with a sudden dose of confusion and curiosity curling around her body Scout shook her head and whispered a small ’no’. Once bored with those two,, King turned to grin tightly at those who entered the room next before pulling up a chair and plopping down next to Malcolm. His arms crossed lazily, and his head lolled to and fro before settling to glare in Jay’s general direction. The tension in the room was suffocating, basically, and though Jay seemed to be ignoring him orally King could feel the awkward hate among the varying emotions of curiosity and… Yearning? His gaze quickly shifted to where Jay’s eyes were focused, and a sly smile met his lips as Moon gave him a warm smile. As she walked by a feeling of patience filled his chest, and he let out a soft sigh of relief before the tension returned to the room.

Scout turned slightly as Moon took a seat behind her, a half-smile tilting her lips awkwardly, and King snorted at her attempt of friendliness before his gaze shifted to the rest who entered the room. Olivia entered the room with a gust of wind, and as she walked in to settle somewhere King found that her emotions were more like a wind storm then Mal’s were. Looking at other students, he noticed that many of them seemed to have varying ways of revealing their inner selves. Ashton’s emotions felt like a thunder storm, rolling around him like dark clouds despite him seeming to be as relaxed as ever. Tessa Gray, who had entered a few moments after the ever excited Austin, seemed to have slightly transparent colors, as if they were half-hidden visually, and Alice’s emotions bloomed around her like flowers, forming pretty shapes and gardens among her small body. King’s face shifted between expressions painfully as all these different feelings infected him, stained him, and eventually he just placed his head onto the desk and groaned in pain.

As soon as the room was almost full of students, Jay took to the front, chalking something up on the board while talking about his experience. King attempted to listen, lifting his head slightly to view the drawing on the board, and then with a heavy sigh he lifted his head and winced against the colors. Jay had asked if anyone else was currently experiencing anything odd, and with slight hesitation KIng lifted his hand high. Thinking briefly on how to explain his current experience, King found a name for the phenomena he felt was lost to the wind (perhaps literally).

”Though I’m not sure if a stupid eclipse can cause this weird shit to happen… I gotta say that something’s been weird since this morning.” He stumbled over his words slightly, rubbing his temple as the colors around his continued to vibrantly pump into his skull, ”I guess I can… Feel? See? What everyone else can feel, like, emotions? I can see all these colors and I feel like I’m going crazy cause they’re… Affecting me? I can’t think of a word, is there a word? What the fuck is going on?” By the end of his spiel King was shaking, perhaps terrified of the unknown power that was currently filling his brain with a mix of curiosity and fear and hate and love and whatever else happened to come from those around him. Suddenly, however, a bright blue color shown among the others, and his gaze lifted to see Scout. Her emotions were thick and orderly, sitting in front of her like a shield, and as she leaned forward an inquisitive and knowledgeable light gleamed in her eyes.

”Empathy.” She concluded, her blue eyes wide and seemingly all-knowing, ”the ability to feel and understand the emotions of others.” Well, what else was King supposed to expect from a human dictionary after all. He grimaced at her slightly, though his upturned eyebrows gave away his relief at giving his new found ability a name. She pursed her lips after a moment, and then leaned back in her chair to stare at Jay. ”Can’t exactly prove he has that, though, unless we test it somehow. He’s probably just saying he has some kind of power for attention.” King narrowed his eyes in anger, shaking as the feeling of disbelief coming from her settled in his mind. He met her eyes, rage burning within his gut, and then he turned to Malcolm,

”leave it to Silvia Presley to be a rude-ass during such an important meeting, huh?” He half whispered, though it was obvious he wanted the others to hear his complaint. Sout herself seemed to prickle a bit, her usual poker face contorting into an angry sneer. King relished in the feeling of anger he suddenly felt, but once the overwhelming need to start a fight began pushing at his fists he pouted and focused in on trying to ignore all of the outsider influence around him. Though King was pretty sure this all wasn’t just in his head, he faltered slightly at the idea of him just simply going crazy. The idea of an eclipse that can give powers was pretty stupid, and while he wasn’t the best in science King could easily assume that whatever was happening within this classroom was unnatural, and not directly caused by a goddamn shifting moon in the sky. Everything that was happening today was too much for the now emotionally-distraught King to handle, and with a sudden wave of frustration swallowing up he let his hand wander over to Malcolm’s arm, which he squeezed lightly as if to calm his fraying nerves.

The Mundane [Small-Town Teenage Superheroes]

Location: Lincoln Memorial High (Astronomy Club)
Interacting With: Richard King, Malcolm Okada, Jay Hunter-Darling @McHaggis, Katalina Hargraves @kittyluna45
Time: Lunch (12:45PM)

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The next three periods went on without much commotion. Scout wandered the halls through the classes as she usually did; quiet, undetected, and watching. She was always watching, keeping her eyes on those who would even take a step too close, following their trail until they were eventually gone from sight. Scout’s staring habit was one she usually was in full control of, and due to this she has had no intention of fixing it. Sure, her eyes were huge, unwavering, and according to some ‘terrifying’, but without her little observations who would Scout be? Just another rebellious kid with an attitude problem. Her ever watchful self was just another part of her, and changing it would be like turning into another person.

Eventually, the final bell before lunch rang out and Scout’s English class filed out in a hefty stream with the small girl in the center. Her head was bowed down over her flip phone, and her eyes were scanning the screen slowly once more. The message sent by Jay was still rousing odd, confused thoughts in her mind, and though she had thought about skipping out on the Astronomy Club in favor of napping in the back lot the very idea of a floating Dutoit and teleporting Jay was too much to fathom.

Scout needed to see it to believe it, basically. And the Astronomy Club was offering her a chance to see at least one of these phenomenons in action. Scout glanced up away from the phone as the crowd in the hall began to simmer down to a mere few, and she quickly bypassed those who wandered slowly in front of her as she closed in on the science wing. Before she could turn into the new hall, however, her body slammed against a hard frame, and she glared up at the male standing in her way. Richard King stared down with surprisingly tired eyes, and he quickly forced forward a deviously wicked grin at the sight of the annoyed Scout. He backed away slowly before leaning down to be in direct eye contact with her, and while his usual smile was beaming brightly Scout couldn’t help but notice the beads of sweat that trailed down his face .

”Aaaaah man, Silvia, how ya doing? Where ya heading?” King leaned in close, as if he intentionally knew how to make the ever poker faced Scout uncomfortable, and as he uttered her name she felt a hot flash of rage build behind her eyes. King backed away quickly after the initial wave of anger, however, and then turned on his heels, waving his free hand dismissively at her, ”chill out, will ya? See you around, punk.” And then he was off, walking towards the place Scout had actually been excited to visit.

Damn.

Scout took a few moments to watch the slightly-shaky back of King, head tilting ever so slightly at his apparent change in stance, and then once he was a decent distance away she continued her stride. The halls were almost completely silent, save for the scurrying science teachers who had to rush out for a meeting, and as Scout followed KIng towards the Chemistry room she couldn’t help but feel as though she was being… Observed. Sensed, maybe?

”Quit following me, will ya? I get that I’m like, the hottest guy you know, but I’m not gonna give myself up to a stalker ya feel?” King’s voice was warbled slightly, as if something was overwhelming him. Scout narrowed her eyes slightly at both his complaint and oddly uncharacteristic tremble, and then said quickly back,

”I’m not following you, we’re merely heading to the same place. Get over yourself, Richard.” And then, as if to prove a point, she quickened her pace and passed King, entering the open classroom before he even had a chance to complain. As her eyes settled on the current situation, however, Scout had half a mind to simply turn and exit stage left. The scene before her eyes played out like this: Malcolm and Jay were currently sitting at opposite ends of the classroom, an awkward silence settling among them, and on a table laid a passed-out Katalina. King had frozen behind her, and though his expression was unseen by Scout’s thick hair she could assume he was just as confused as she was. Before she could fully turn to look at him, however, he pushed passed her, immediately turning to stand beside Malcolm and glance nervously around the room. Honestly, what was up with him? Scout soon allowed her eyes to connect with Jay’s and she half-smiled at her long-time friend before tilting her head in a questioning manner,

”So, Jay, uh, what’s up?”

The Mundane [Small-Town Teenage Superheroes]

Location: Lincoln Memorial High
Interacting With: Malcolm Okada (Briefly) @McHaggis

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The drive to the school was a particularly stressful one. Malcolm was at the wheel, wallowing in a mixture of fear, stress, anxiety, and other negative emotions, silently suffering throughout the ordeal as a drowsy-looking King attempted to melt into the passenger seat. The Mercedes, which would usually be blaring some kind of rock song by now, was deathly quiet, the only audio being the friends’ quick breathing. It was maddening, the entire experience that is, to the touch-hungry King who was desperately craving affection while also wishing he could simply vanish from existence. It was probably the first time he had been so quiet for so long in the presence of Malcolm, the first time he had nothing snippy to say, the first time a conversation literally did not exist between the two. Despite that, however, King could say that he has never felt so close to Mal before. He literally could feel everything his friend could, he could see the mere emotions pouring from the kid’s skin, and yet it didn’t make him feel any better. Infact, it was almost suffocating.

It was truly an unwelcomed experience, feeling so close and yet so separated from a person. Honestly, King just wanted to stick his head out the window and just scream, but he managed to withhold the action by biting the inside of his cheek, and by the time they reached the school he swore he could taste a steady stream of copper flowing from where he chewed. Malcolm parked, and then with a slight nod and quick reminder to head to the Astronomy Club during lunch he was off. King assumed it was second period by now, meaning his friend would be away in Home Ec. while King himself would have to honor of hanging out with the lovely Ms. Arlington in Math class.

He walked briskly through the old halls, breathing calmly for the first time all morning. KIng glanced around quickly, hands shoved deep into his jean pockets as he realized that no one else was really around. Second period had started already, and with a lack of crowd in the halls there was also a lack of “outsider influence” on his body. He quietly put a few things together on his way to class, the first being his apparent new ability to ‘see’ emotions as colors. There was a brief, fading memory in the back of his mind, a discussion he had somewhat paid attention to in art class. Synesthesia, a sensory pathway that allows those with it to experience a second sensory stimuli during certain experiences. While it was more of a science discussion in the end, Williams had brought it up due to a very interesting artist that had been used as inspiration for the next piece, a one Carol Steen. King had fallen asleep about halfway through the lecture, but a few interesting facts had left an imprint in his mind. Like Steen’s way of seeing colors when at an acupuncture session, and his apparent ability to see the notes of a song in vivid shades. Looking at his own new-found vision, King related it easily to Steen’s own abilities, but it was the first time he had heard about seeing emotions in that light.

King stopped in front of Ms. A’s classroom, rubbing the back of his head briefly as the second point came to mind. King could see the emotions of Mal and Marie, but that didn’t mean he could see everyones emotions, right?

right?

He opened the door to the classroom casually, but as he did a swarm of varying feelings overtook him, and King very nearly dropped to the floor in surprise. The feelings festered in the light, forming reds and blues and yellows along the bodies within, and King winced against them all as casually as he could muster. Ms. A walked up to him carefully, staring up at the much taller student with her usual poker face. King shied away from her gaze (and overbearing cloud of anger) cautiously, eyebrows upturned slightly, and she merely shook her head and pointed towards his seat.

”I won’t tolerate you being late again, Richard.” She said calmly, flicking her usual ponytail over her shoulder, and King merely nodded in response and waddled awkwardly over to his seat. As he settled among the other students, his heart began to thump painfully, and an array of expressions passed across his face. Dear Lord, and he thought Malcolm had been hard to handle. A crowd of this size was enough to send his head spiraling into a mist of confusion. Was he happy or scared, mournful or excited? King glanced about cautiously as Ms. Arlington continued on with her lesson, focusing in on a few faces that seemed to beam the brightest. This was odd, he barely knew some of these kids and yet just by seeing these colors surrounding them he felt as though he was them. Talk about losing your sense of identity. King tried his best to breath normally, and attempted to block the outside emotions from his mind, but with so many of them around it was becoming nearly impossible to focus on just one to ignore.

cant make a scene just relax and ride it out

He huffed a few times, and then tried to focus in on the whiteboard, eyes tracing every curve of the equations being written down. That’s right, all he had to do was wait until lunch time. Wait until everything would come together, and hell, if he waited long enough then maybe this weird phenomenon would vanish. King gritted his teeth, forming an awkward, tense smile as someone whispered in his ear about the memorial tomorrow, and prepared his mind for the worst few hours that laid ahead.

The Mundane [Small-Town Teenage Superheroes]

Location: Lincoln Memorial High
Interacting With: Jay Hunter-Darling via Text @McHaggis

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From: Jaaaaay
Guess which one of ur friends accidentally walked into the little girls room at Lincoln

From: Jaaaaay
Hint: his name starts with j and ends with y and it's me ok i'm stuck can somebody help

From: Jaaaaay
I'm in the last stall and theres someone in the toilets with me... I'm scared...

The string of text messages came about halfway through first period, all carrying the usual Jay-feeling most of his text messages seemed to hold. At first Scout was rather confused, maybe even a bit concerned, but then something that resembled laughter bubbled in her chest and a soft giggle escaped her lips. She chuckled softly, placing her head on her desk as she thought of something to send back. Honestly, Scout wasn’t the best at texting. The old flip phone she owned didn’t help much for her rather round fingers, and while she could be eloquent with pen and paper casual words always seemed to escape her. Blonde hair tumbled over the slightly-dimmed screen as her forehead tilted too and fro on the hard desk, and her fingers drifted over the keys delicately as she sent back and quick and playful comment;

To: Jaaaaay
sounds like quite the predicament watch out for any stray tampons <3

And then before the Mrs. Smith wandered over she straightened her back, shoved her phone into her back pocket, and glanced about the room innocently. A gleaming smirk still curled at her lips, but her eyes were as blank as they could be and her posture was one of a tired, lazy teenager. Alicia’s mother passed her table with a soft nod towards the current cooking book they were assigned to read and then went on towards the rowdier children in the class. Scout watched her walk until she was positive she was out of sight before settling down in a more comfortable position on the stool, flipping open the cooking book with a bored expression forming on her mug. She scanned the colorful pages for a total of ten seconds before her eyes began to wander again.

Most in the class were only somewhat familiar, but she always seemed to focus in on those closest to her. Olivia was the first to come into view and the first to leave. Her pretty face looked to be as cheerful as ever, and after a few moments of Scout quietly watching her she was up and out of the room. Probably heading to the bathroom? Scout leaned back in her seat and glanced to where she assumed Gerard would be sitting but her eyes were met with air instead. Odd. Wasn’t he… Didn’t he walk in this morning? Scout blinked the surprise from her eyes, a wave of deja vu swarming over her briefly before she was once again distracted by her vibrating phone.

From: Jaaaaay
Astronomy Club today and no I don't care if you're not a nerd cos something's fucky and Moon is flying and I wormhole'd into the girl's bathroom Voyager-esque and wtf is a tampon

Her eyebrows rose with curiosity as she read the text, a sense of disbelief making her lips curl nervously, but the text message seemed rather serious… Save for the last part. Her gaze shifted to the clock briefly, noting that the period was about to end soon, and then with all the grace she could muster Scout stood and gathered her items before heading for the door. The bell rang as soon as she passed through the door, and a crowd slowly began to form within the halls of Lincoln Memorial.

Scout wandered the halls semi-cautious, looking out briefly for the tall figure of Jay or, apparently, the flying shape of Moon., but in the end she simply decided to head off to her next class, Politics. If anything really exciting had happened, she would apparently find out in the Astronomy Club meeting.

The Mundane [Small-Town Teenage Superheroes]

Okay, for those of you not aware, I have been appointed as the third GM of this roleplay? You know what that means?

Kneel down to me, I am your goddess!



I kid.

@Undine

The Mundane [Small-Town Teenage Superheroes]

Location: King's Estate -> Lincoln Memorial High
Interacting With: Malcolm Okada @McHaggis

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Mal wandered downstairs ten minutes later on the dot, just as he said, and helped himself to the orange juice in the fridge. It was probably testament to how many times he’d been in King’s house that he knew where all the food, drink and kitchen utensils were – probably better than his best friend himself. Drinking from a glass because only barbarians drank it straight from the bottle, he waved awkwardly at Marie, who returned the gesture.

It was weird. Despite being an only child himself, Malcolm liked to treat King’s little sister like his own lil’ sis, though of course his own mother wouldn’t have had it any other way. She kept telling him to extend the weekly (or sometimes bi-weekly) dinner invitation to Marie as well as King.

Mal rolled up the sleeves of the flannel shirt that was way too big on him in the arms – probably because he just picked it out of the pile of his stuff stowed away in King’s wardrobe for emergencies and it likely wasn’t his – and sat at the breakfast bar, lost in thought. What was wrong with him? What was wrong with King? There was an infinitely more important question to answer, because in all his years of being buddies with the overdramatic, loveable prat, he’d never seen him act like that before, especially not after a night of drinking.

Flopping over him like that did not help Mal’s little-big crush, either. Like the meaningless flirting King did to everyone, it just made it worse.

King, while Malcolm had spent a total of ten minutes preparing (how he was so quick King would never know), had taken to wandering the top floor of his family’s home. It had been quiet, maybe deathly so, and yet he still felt the overwhelming pressure of anxiety, worry, and just the tiniest bit of endearment. Something was very, very wrong and King couldn’t decipher just exactly what it was, which just seemed to add to his own panic. Maybe the booze from last night was bad, super bad, poisonous even... Can beer go bad? Malcolm seemed fine, so it probably wasn’t the alcohol. But... Malcolm… King froze at the end of the main hall and turned to watch his friend descend downstairs, leaving his bedroom door slightly ajar. As the boy had passed, King swore he could see those colors emanating off of the smaller boy’s body. And then he felt his own heart start thumping painfully and his lungs heave for air. Malcolm, Malcolm.

Were these Malcolm’s emotions?

King eventually joined his friend and sister in the kitchen, taking a seat on one of the counter stools with a slightly strained smile clear on his face. Marie greeted him with a cocked eyebrow and a devious smile, but it faded to a soft frown as she examined him closely.

”You feeling okay, Rich?” She asked cautiously, leaning over the counter as she held a hand to his forehead. Annoyed by the new and improved feeling worry he felt and saw coming off his little sister, he pushed her hand away and leaned forward, sneering playfully in her direction.

”I’m good, sis. Allll good, never better!”

”You’re lying.” Marie responded automatically, like a robot. King tilted his head slightly, a bit shocked by her quick tongue and almost sudden lack of emotion, but she soon returned to her small-smiling self. King opened his mouth to say something, but Marie lifted a hand as if to silence him before turning towards the front door, stepping away from the two as quickly as she could. ”It’s nice today…” She began, curling strands of hair around an outstretched finger as she gathered up her school supplies, ”I’m gonna walk to school today. See you two later.” And then with a small wave and a loud slam she was gone. King watched the whole exit with wide eyes, and then he forced a laugh, turning towards Malcolm with curling lips,

”That was weird, right? Hahah.” The laugh sounded forced, and his eyes were entirely too focused on the colors around Mal and not Mal himself, but a finally genuine smile had planted itself onto King’s face.

“Weird but, well, if you did try and lie to Marie, I’m not sure what you were expecting,” Mal said carefully, though the smile did make his heart go all aflutter. Malcolm stood up to put his empty glass in the dishwasher to distract himself, though the corners of his lips did turn up at seeing King get shot down completely by his little sister. Owned, would be the word. Mal decided it was probably best not to repeat what she had asked and rooted around in the cupboards for a granola bar to take with him and practically threw another one at King. “I can drive today, if you’re still feeling like crap from this morning’s mysterious plague,” Mal offered with just a dash of added worry. “But if I do you need to come to Astronomy Club with me because you haven’t been right since the eclipse.”

Mal had been trying to get him to go to the Astronomy Club with him for months, but every time they made a deal like that, he always let him back out graciously. It was empty.

King was beginning to get annoyed at the constant waves of worry that poured from Mal, and he couldn’t fight the urge to upturn his brows and stare at his friend with an intense look of concern. Honestly, he felt extremely unwell, almost sickly, just sitting so close to his friend, but he really didn’t want to go to the Astronomy Club. Going there meant he’d have to sit in the same room as Jason and his stupid owner Scout, and he had already had enough of those two, but as Malcolm put forth the negotiation he noticed a slight blip of a color and feeling appear. Perhaps it could be called… Curiosity? What was he thinking?

”... It might be best if you drive after all, and… I’ll go to the Astronomy Club if you want me to.” Usually he would have quickly shot down the idea, but here he was, following after Mal’s frantic emotions like some frantic puppy. King smiled faintly, rubbing the back of his head carefully before opening the granola bar with ease. He nibbled it at first, obviously not feeling very hungry, and tried his best to ignore the constant colors curling form Malcolm’s figure.

“Good. I knew I could make a nerd out of you,” Mal said, and smiled softly. Shades of blue pour from King’s right, and a soothing emotion filled his chest. He deciphered it as ‘relief’, and a small smile displayed on his face and he relaxed on the seat, head tumbling to the side to watch Malcolm once more. This boy was something else entirely, huh? Last night he just seemed like his usual Malcolm self, friendly and stupidly drunk-sad, but now it was like he was viewing a whole different person. This Mal wasn’t stoic or quiet, this Mal was bursting with a combination of colors and emotion and King was drowning in it all. He didn’t know whether to hate it or love it.

well it hurts so i guess i hate it huh

King leaned forward after a moment, eyes tracing the faint colors loosely. In his mind he could distinguish each one’s meaning; blue was calmness, purple was guilt, green respect but… All of them mingled together like wet paint, infecting his mind with their odd powers. King wondered briefly if his eyes had gotten infected by some mood-ring-juice or whatever was in those colorful bands, but all thoughts seemed to fade when a bright yellow seemed to outline most of Mal’s other colors. Yellow…

Lust.

Why, why lust? Reasons swirled through his mind, but his thoughts were consumed by the colors once more and he slowly let his head hit the counter, breathing as calmly as he could. Was Malcolm hiding something important? Lust meant interest, and there was no one to be interested in besides King at the moment unless Mal’s mind was thinking of… Other things. King just wanted to ask, but right now he also wanted to sit up and smooch his best friend, which was an odd but not unfamiliar feeling. Perhaps instead, he should try to experiment a bit. It wouldn’t be too hard to prove these were Mal’s emotions, but he just had to think of something to say that would perhaps shock his friend. Words filled his throat and then vanished into thin air as he sighed, mind whirring with things to do to instigate Malcolm’s mood, but as he glanced to the side and saw the shining yellow swirl just beyond his vision a question quickly came to form.

”Yooooo…. Mal…. Are you, like, gay?” The question was asked in a quiet voice, and it had all formed from the feelings emanating off of his friend. Hopefully he was either far off the mark or spot on. Either way, King assumed he was about to find out which was which.

Mal froze. He hadn’t really been doing anything meaningful before he stopped moving, other than fidgeting with the hem of his shirt and the counter top behind him. Like a deer caught in the headlights, wide-eyed, he glanced towards King without taking a breath. He’d been too obvious. He’d blushed too dark and too frequently. Maybe he did something stupid when he was drunk again.

There was an easy answer to the question – ‘no’ – that would stop the bone-deep fear that instinctively flooded his system, the same way it always had whenever he considered telling someone. Alice had been a one-off, he had told himself. But it was difficult to quell the rising tide of hope that rose like a helium balloon and lodged itself in his throat. “What...– Why?” Mal choked out. “I mean… _yes... but why?” The answer he gave was much quieter, betraying the more truthful side of himself: the shy, anxious kid that filled himself with bluster to be King’s number one friend.

Panic, fear, anxiety, and then the truth. King let out a semi-relieved sigh, but the breath caught in his throat as the emotions swarmed his mind and filled his chest like water. He struggled to breath for a second, his hands shakily reaching up to clutch Mal’s shoulders, and then with a weak smile he said,

”I can just tell.” King slowly stood up from the stool, sauntering unbalanced towards the door. He gathered up his bag and grabbed a key from a hook by the door, dangling them from an outstretched finger for Mal to grab. His breathing was still shallow and his eyes were half-closed as he attempted to block out the furious colors, ”I think something happened to me last night, but… I can’t explain it. Not yet. Let’s get to school, maybe your nerd club knows something.” Banking on the Astronomy Club to know something was just a hunch, but it was also the only thing close to a lead he had.

Mal hadn’t quite regained full respiratory function, but he took the keys from King. He wasn’t quite sure what to do or say at that moment other than pretend like everything was normal, and he wasn’t feeling faint. He shook his head to clear it of any of those stray thoughts and – unable to focus on the ‘something’ that happened to his best friend last night – started towards the door. He believed him, but there was a time and a place for logical thinking, and it was not right now.

Mal let King leave the house first, and watched him go. He supposed that what he was feeling in the pit of his stomach was disappointment. Yeah, King liked everything with a pulse, but there was no way in hell that he like-liked Mal. The display earlier was just a side-effect of a much worse problem. Feeling all too much like a ball of negativity, he headed out to the car. The two would be officially late for class in a matter of minutes, but neither said anything, and as the car seemed to steam with an unhealthy amount of negativity for King to just soak in, they went off to school.

The Mundane [Small-Town Teenage Superheroes]

@Wade Wilson

wow look at this big fuckin hot nerd. lookin good so far, but im not sure if we can allow the healing factor. @McHaggis confirm?

The Mundane [Small-Town Teenage Superheroes]

Location: King's Bedroom
Interacting With: Malcolm Okada @McHaggis

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The King estate was as quiet as it could be during the mornings. Knight was lounging lazily in the living room, breathing ever so softly as the soft-footed Marie quietly prepared for the day. She would usually be getting Richard up by now, but, of course, she had heard him talking so loudly last night with another that she had no interest in barging in and possibly seeing her brother in a compromising situation. So, instead of waking him up, she silently made breakfast and fed Knight, humming a soft tune as she gazed peacefully out the window. Oh yes, it was going to be an interesting day today.

Sunlight streamed through half-closed blinds, gleaming directly onto the resting face of Richard King. It was a September morning, so of course the burn ball in the sky was still at its peak of warmth and clarity. He had tried to ignore the light, and it had worked for about half an hour before King swore the sun had begun to burn his eyelids off. It was an odd feeling, like his entire upper head was on fire, but that seemed like the usual feeling after a night of drinking and talking. Usual yes, but not something he really wanted to deal with for the time being. Slowly, with a slight groan and heavy sigh, King turned away from the light to something much more pleasing to look at, the sleeping face of Malcolm.

Mal had come over the night before after King’s conflict with Jay. They had both felt pretty lousy, and with nothing left to do in the pitch darkness of King’s bedroom they just fell right into their routine of drinking and talking until they passed out. He was rarely the first awake, but when the occasion presented itself King was usually in good spirits. He would usually grin happily at his friend’s serene face, giggling quietly to himself as small details seem to stand out, but right now King couldn’t help but feel oddly… Sad. Depressed. And tired. God was he so tired, it was like he hadn’t slept a wink last night. Perhaps that weird eclipse was the cause? Could the moon changing make someone more tired? Lost in thought, he continued to stare at Malcolm, blank face stone still, and eventually he shifted again, slowly sitting up in an effort to keep his head from screaming in pain. Carefully, he glanced about his abode, finding comfort in the familiar surroundings.

The room around the two was slightly messy, covered in pillows and blankets and empty beer bottles, and to King it seemed to be flowing with some kind of… Energy. The initial feeling of comfort was replaced almost instantly. Honestly, he felt extremely oppressed in the room, as if some kind of overhanging anxiety or sadness was just crushing him. Where was it coming from? Nothing had changed? Only… King turned slowly to stare at Malcolm, eyebrows furrowing tightly, and then in an instant he was up and wobbling towards the large windows. He moaned in pain as the sudden movement rattled his aching mind, but instead of slowing down he simply threw open the blinds to welcome in the morning.

”Up up up! Mal, we have school today!” He yelled hoarsely, wincing as sunlight suddenly filled the dim room and his own voice seemed to reverberate painfully within his skull.

Somewhat quieter, Mal’s eyes fluttered open and his breathing hitched in alarm but evened out a few seconds later as he became fully alert. And after that, he groaned. “Christ, what were we drinking? I’m a lightweight but I feel like I’ve been hit by an eighteen-wheeler.” He rolled over but was already on the edge of the bed, resulting in him flopping limply to the ground. “I wouldn’t mind staying here all day,” he grumbled.

His phone buzzed. A text from Jay – Jason, he corrected, since they were officially not-friends – about the Astronomy Club meeting. It must have been about the solar eclipse last night. Malcolm barely remembered it, if only because he had the presence of mind to stop before he was blackout drunk, but he was sure it happened just after the first beer was cracked open, and he had exuberantly explained why it was so important to King whilst blaming a budding headache on the crappy alcohol.

Mal peered up at King, at the diffused light surrounding him from the sun, and looked away quickly, rubbing at his bleary eyes. He pinched the bridge of his nose instead to avoid the headache. Having a cold hand on the apparent source of the pain seemed to soothe it, which was grand, because Mal wasn’t a fan of popping pills to deal with his problems. ”Yeah…”

At the sight of Malcolm’s open eyes a flurry of colors seemed to fill King’s vision. Purples and yellows, intense swirls of both that just felt so heavy. He teetered slightly, feeling a bit faint from the psychedelic trip he was apparently experiencing, but all at once everything seemed to fall into place. The colors seemed to fill him, and his mind shifted and fell in line with something or someone that felt completely alien. The instinctive lip-chewing came first, and then the hand that played with his own disheveled hair. Lust was a feeling King felt often, but he never really acted on it like he was now. Perhaps it was the intense warmth in the pit of his stomach cheering him on, or the fact that he just knew that Mal was feeling the same way, but all King could fathom was he just felt so guilty and so so very bothered. And that he had to quench this thirst. It was weird, going from one to one hundred in the fraction of a second, but here he was, shivering like a schoolgirl and craving affection.

what the fuck is going on

King stepped back towards his bed slowly, fist clenching and unclenching. Watching Mal, watching him sit so daintily and glance about calmly, for some reason it was so tempting. So… Familiar. King froze above his friend and then all at once he was on top of Malcolm. His hands held him up as not to crush the smaller boy, and his eyes glared down with a mix of yearning and confusion and just a bit of guilt.

For a moment, he wanted to just lean in and kiss the boy’s stupidly cute face, or maybe pull him into a deep embrace, but then reality seemed to set in and instead he let his entire body weight collapse onto Mal. King’s head buried into the bed just to the right of Malcolm’s neck, and with a shuddering breath he let out a quiet and hoarse cry. Something was very wrong.

“King..? Wha–” Malcolm turned beet red and his neck burned hot, but his brows furrowed in determination. Don’t make it weird Mal, he chided himself while looking nervously at his friend. God help him, he couldn’t look away, but anxiety burned low in his chest at the sound. He sounded like he was in distress. “King? Richard?”

Almost instinctively, he reached up to touch the side of Richard’s neck as if checking for a pulse. There was definitely one there, and Mal thanked his lucky stars that he was – or would be – a professional. He wet his chapped lips. Dilated pupils. Maybe it was a migraine? If it was a sign of anything worse than he’d need to call an ambulance, or maybe his Dad, and then things would go from bad to worse…

Of course, dilated pupils could mean other things, but – a small voice on his shoulder or perhaps a niggling one in his ear repeated, ’Don’t make this weird, Mal.’ He didn’t realise he’d pretty much mumbled it aloud until it was too late. He hastily tried to cover it by continuing. “Are you okay?”

The overbearing guilt and lust was replaced with the searing pain of anxiety. That was new, and awful. King winced, burying his head into the crook between Mal’s neck and shoulder. He felt so helpless, so confused, so… Out of control. It was as if he wasn't King anymore, he was someone else, someone with terribly heavy emotions. King slowly rose his head as Mal seemed to tinker with his body, and then all at once he was up and scurrying towards the bathroom door.

”Sorry, sorry, I’m still drunk I think, sorry…!” He yelled over his shoulder meekly before vanishing behind the white-painted door. Once inside, King sucked in a deep breath, and then promptly turned towards the toilet and coughed up whatever was left in his stomach from last night. He was reeling, emotionally and physically, and the fact that he had a hangover wasn’t helping much with either. He leaned into the toilet, breathing heavily, but the intense emotions just didn’t stop. King was aware of something new as well. These emotions that flooded around him were not his, they did not belong to his body. They were foreign and strong and not wanted. King shuddered a few times, hoping to expel the emotions along with the contents of his stomach, but in the end the anxious feeling remained, and King uncomfortably prepared for the day with a quick shower and long stare in the mirror.

Mal was waiting outside the door when he exited, sitting with a glass of water by his side and a little strip of ibuprofen in his hands. He must’ve silently exited the bedroom – like some sort of ninja – to get them. When King opened the door, Mal jumped to his feet and held them out for him. There was still a faint red tinge to his cheeks as if he hadn’t quite gotten over the events of the last hour or so, but he forced a smile. “Are you sure you want to go in today?”

Exiting the bathroom after dousing his face a few times, King was greeted with a new emotion, and as this swirl of purple sadness beat itself into King’s chest he wondered slightly if Malcolm was the source of his mood swings. Moving carefully, he reached for the glass and pills that Mal held out, and he took down both with ease. His brain was whirring now, attempting to block out whatever was causing him to accept these random emotions so easily, and as he did so King gave a shaky smile and said,

”This is the worst hangover I’ve ever had, but hey that's not gonna stop me. You better go get ready, Mally.”

Mal nodded, but not before another flash of worry passed through his eyes. “See you in ten minutes or so, then,” he said, hoping not to make such a big deal of it.

The Mundane [Small-Town Teenage Superheroes]

Location: Bedroom to Lincoln Memorial High
Interacting With: N/A

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_{tap tap tap}

Scout was dreaming. She didn't exactly remember falling asleep, only that there had been a searing pain promptly before her memory cut out, and now here she sat, in an empty golden field. The sky above was bright blue and expansive, gliding out far beyond her eyes. Not a cloud dared to taint the sky's pure color, and though it was quite obviously daytime there was no sun in sight. Instead, just above her head, was a rather familiar eclipse. Ah, that's right. Before blacking out, there was an amazing eclipse in the sky, and here it was again. It almost looked like there were two different moons in the sky, gleaming with their own mysterious light, and as they stayed suspended high above Scout felt oddly energized. Maybe even a bit powerful. However, whenever she tried to stand up, something kept her body still and tied to the ground. Glancing down, Scout drew back slightly at the sight of dead, blackened straw was tied tightly around her ankles and thighs.

Trying the rip the grass away proved to be impossible, as each strand that was ripped apart was replaced with two more, until Scout's entire lower body was tangled with dark treads. The blue sky above was setting, dying from purple to a pure red, and the moons gleamed darkly above. Around her, the golden field began to droop with death, an uneasy darkness overtaking the once flowing grasses. Scout herself felt entirely too aware, too knowing, as if she knew of ever dark shadow around her, and she sucked in breaths quickly trying to calm her beating heart. The straw wrapped around her legs tightened suddenly, and pain burned deep into the core of her stomach. Slow her eyes fell to stare at her legs again, and a scream filled her throat at the sight of shadowy hands clutching her flesh.

_{TAP TAP TAP}

The earth beneath her body was crumbling, creaking, and the hands pulled at her body, attempting to suck her deep into the hell beneath. Scout tried to kick herself free, hands clawing at the hard dirt, but the more she struggled the more the earth seemed to open up beneath her. As the land seemed to chip away and the darkness below came into view, Scout swore she could see faces. Smiling faces, with gleaming purple-white eyes. The sight of them made her chest burn and head ache, and her hands were soon clutching at nothing but air as she was finally dragged down into the depths.

TAP TAP TAP

As Scout's body hit something hard and cold the darkness shattered, and the familiar mess of her room. A loud tapping sounded from just below her ear, and Scout let out a heavy groan, slamming the heel of her hand into the carpeted floor. The tapping stopped after a moment, and the sound of a window opening replaced it. Scout wiggled to the left slightly, gazing at her own window from behind a veil of blonde hair.

"Scout! You better have your ass up! You have school in an hour!"

The familiar voice made Scout smile, and she army-crawled towards the window, opening it up slowly. She peeked her head out into the cool morning, glancing down at a window just below her own. Though the fire escape obscured most of her view, Scout could still see a sliver of a person below the metal rails, and a familiar smile beamed up at her, "up and at'em kiddo! Go get ready for school, 'kay?"

"Alright, Ella. Just for you." Scout said with a raspy voice, hair swirling gently in the wind. The black-haired woman soon vanished back inside, and Scout closed her own window, slowly standing up to inspect her room once. It was a mess, but in a very organized way. Shelves filled with useless, is not slightly pretty junk filled up most of her wall space, and random tapestries covered her floor and hid her bed from view. A pile of clothes sat in one corner, and a pile of shoes in another. The door that lead out of the room was blocked with a tall bookcase, and the doorway that leads to her own bathroom was hidden behind a thin, blue fabric. Scout sighed once, leaning over the pile of clothes for a few moments before vanishing behind curtain, into the slightly grimy washroom.

She was out in under twenty minutes, her blonde hair hanging damply against her back as she pulled on her usual ratty sweatshirt and paint-covered jeans. Old converse covered her mismatched socks, and once she felt properly disheveled she grabbed her backpack and shimmied out onto the fire escape. Wind instantly whipped whatever dampness was in her hair away, and Scout descended the rickety metal staircases like she had been doing it her whole life. Before leaving, she tapped on Ella's window and blew onto the glass until it steamed over, leaving the older woman a small heart before finally touching down in the alley between Ella's shop and the local furniture store. It was a cool morning, and the buzz of life was just filling the streets and Scout wandered noiselessly through them. The high school was a mere two blocks away, but it felt like miles due to Scout dragging her feet. She really hated that place, hated the teachers and the glares they gave, and the awful kids that pulled her hair and gave her odd stares. Perhaps if she stopped staring first they would ignore her, but being ignored seemed a lot worse then being made fun of.

Lincoln Memorial High school was small, just small enough to barely fit the entirety of Verona's teenage population, and kids were streaming in as Scout arrived. She silently entered the crowd, sighing softly at the sight of familiar and annoying people. No friends to mingle with? Oh well... First class, Home Ec. She pulled her way through the halls and entered the class silently, sitting in her usual seat in the corner and instantly zoning out.

The Mundane [Small-Town Teenage Superheroes]

WELP. i just formated my relationship sheet,,, time to work on a post instead i guess ;')