Duo and TJ - December 10

[ax_shinigami]

TJ invites Duo to shoot some hoops. Outside. In December. Hot Chocolate follows.


TJ had put up a front, because it was what she did, but now that she was alone, she had to admit that seeing any Wanda, teenager or not, defend the Brotherhood's usual ideals... To put it plainly? It sucked.

And since the Danger Room was being used and she'd had enough working out for the day, she'd grabbed a ball and headed to the outside court. Blue fur kept her warm despite wearing one of her usual outfits - a pair of shorts and a sports bra - and she'd tied her long black hair back some, so it would be out of the way. Add a couple of leather bracelets and that was the sum total of what she was wearing.

She wasn't even all that into basketball, but James had liked it, and shooting hoops was a bittersweet return to memories of her own world, her own X-mansion, and the people she had known and loved. After a while, the resentment and the heartache became part of the background, and she was just a girl shooting ball after ball, slam-dunking some of them, three-pointing others, mixing and matching styles and adding acrobatics into the mix before long.

Duo had wandered outside in a fit of stupidity, somehow thinking that because the sun was shining the air would be warm. No, not here in New York. Leggings and a skirt in this place only invited the cold and the short jacket wasn't much better. It was days like this when traveling north on nothing more than the urging of a few whispers at the back of their mind seemed like a ridiculously bad idea. They made a promise not to venture outside again until summer and started back to the mansion.

The scene at the basketball court made them stop. There was someone in next to nothing, throwing the ball around as if it weren't freezing. Duo stopped to watch for a bit, then found themself drawn in by what she was doing until they were close to the sidelines, and the cold was almost (only almost) forgotten.

"Hey," TJ greeted the - guy? girl? - with a quick smile, when she noticed them. ...guy, right? Or not. Whatever, that pink jacket they were wearing was the shit. Not on her, because blue and pink were not a good idea, but in general. "You wanna join in?"

Her greeting broke the spell and Duo shivered as he remembered the cold. Apparently, the cold wasn't much of a problem for her, but then it looked like she had fur, not the blue skin Duo had first assumed. Still, she was a beautiful colour and not for the first time they wished their mutation had come with something a little extra to mark them out - Warren's wing's or maybe just this girl's golden eyes. "I think... I think maybe it's little too chilly for me." Although the exercise might warm them up. They stuck out a hand. "But we haven't met, so I should at least introduce myself. I'm Duo."

"TJ," she replied, and stepped over to shake his hand, the ball stuck between her hip and her other hand. He sounded like a guy, so she was going to go with guy. Guy with a hell of a fashion sense. "You wanna shoot some hoops? Nothing like exercise to warm you up, and it was getting boring on my own." They probably couldn't do proper one on one, not with him in that tight skirt; you needed something with a little more give to play basketball properly.

Duo gave the ball a skeptical look. "Throw that in the hoop? I can try." And they could freeze. Ah well, nothing for it but to try. Duo slipped off their bangles, earrings, ear cuff... more jewelery than they should have worn apparently, and tucked it into a jacket pocket and then, because the jacket was a bit tight, they took that off too. Holy Mother of God, it was cold. "I might die of hypothermia in the attempt, but I can try."

"I love that jacket, by the way," TJ told him with a sharp grin. "I promise I'll drag you back inside when your lips go blue. You never played basketball?" she asked, holding the ball out to him instead of throwing it to him.

"No. Baseball and football, but not this." They took the ball, looked it over and then back at TJ. "I just throw it? And hope it goes in?"

"Yeah, come on over here," TJ said, gesturing with her three-fingered hand as she stepped back towards an easier spot to score from. Squarely in front of the board, and not too far or too close. "Use one hand to steady the ball, and push up with the other one, that's how you'll make the best shots." She mimed shooting a ball a couple of times for him to get a sense of what she was saying.

Duo set himself up as TJ had shown them and then tried a shot. It went a little wide and wasn't high enough, but that was just a matter of practice. They ran after the ball and scooped it up to pass back to TJ. "First basketball thrown. I think I'll need a little longer to match your skills."

It still felt weird to talk of James as 'her ex', so TJ went with, "My boyfriend back home, now he had skills. I just like it." She jumped a little as she made a shot of her own, sinking the ball easily at this distance. She jogged over to catch it. "So where are you from?" she asked with a smile, and passed the ball back to him.

"San Salvador." Duo realized he usually mentioned the city before the country, if he mentioned the country at all. It made sense. The city was home while the country had always been more of an abstract, except when it had been hostile to him. He threw the ball and almost got it in. Next time. "You?"

"Right here," TJ stated as she caught the ball. "But also really not. I grew up in this mansion, but in an alternate dimension." She missed her next shot, tail flicking irritably behind her.

Duo didn't bother going after the ball because that last bit of news wasn't anything they had expected to hear. "You're serious? That sort of thing is possible?"

TJ went for the ball again. "I'm living proof," she told him with a grin, then threw him the ball.

They snatched the ball from the air and tossed it at the hoop. It caught the rim, but almost went in. Of course, she was proof only as long as Duo choose to believe her, but then they believed things about themself that she might call outlandish. They were in no position to be skeptical. "Then I believe you, and consider myself very lucky that you happened to drop into my dimension."

That was a weird assertion for someone who'd just met her, and hardly knew her, but TJ wasn't the sort to question that kind of thing. She trusted her instincts too much. So she grinned at him. "Thanks." Here, some normal interaction with a random kid, that was all she'd really needed to get out of her own head. "You nearly had it there." She threw him the ball again. "Give it another shot."

"One more, but if I make it, I'm heading in where it's warm and making a hot drink" Duo was usually a pretty quick study where sports were concerned and now was no exception. They raised the ball, took a breath, took the shot and... In it went. "Thank God. I'll be making hot chocolate if you'd like some?"

"Sure," TJ agreed after catching the ball again. "Let me pop by the gym to stash this, I'll come find you in the kitchen." She smiled at him. "Nice shot, by the way."

***

Duo had smiled at the compliment, then collected their things and run back inside. They made a quick stop in their room to grab a blanket to throw over their shoulders before making it back to the kitchen to pull out what they'd need. Plans for something more elaborate came to an end when they found the box of instant hot chocolate packets. Maybe it was a heresay, but Duo filled up the kettle with water and put it on the range. Speed was more important than quality tonight, at least when it came to a warming drink.

"Hey," TJ greeted him again as she bounced into the kitchen. She was wearing as little as she had been outside, only she'd untied her long black hair, which now partly hid her pointy ears, only the tips peeking out of it. "How's the chocolate coming?"

"The water is almost ready. I have to admit that I cheated horribly; we're having instant hot chocolate." As if on cue, the kettle began to whistle and Duo poured it into the cups, gave each a stir and handed one to TJ.

"It's okay, I'm a heathen," TJ assured him with a smile, and reached out to take the mug. She crouched comfortably on one of the chairs, three-fingered hands wrapped around the warm mug. "By the way, you really are rocking that jacket." It had to be said. Again.

"You said you liked it before, thank you." Duo grinned and sat down at the table. "I can't even remember where I got it, but I imagine it was a thrift shop somewhere between here and El Salvador. That's where most of my clothes have come from."

"Thrift shops are the best," TJ stated with a bit of a sigh. There was really no way she was staying stuck here, and no way she was using an image inducer either. The outside world was going to have to suck it up and get used to obvious mutants. She took a sip of chocolate, then licked her lips happily. Hot chocolate made everything better. "Did you come all the way here on your own, then?"

Duo nodded then a bit of the drink. It was a little weak, but the warmth of it finally started driving away the chill from outside. "Sort of. I borrowed... well, I traveled in other people. That's my power - phase into people and take over their bodies." They winced. The longer they had to think of it now that the journey was over, the more uncomfortable Duo got with what they'd done.

TJ's eyebrows raised, and there was the beginning of an incredulous smile on her face. "Are you for real?"

"Yes. There have been a few times I wasn't sure, but I'm confident of it now." They gave TJ a puzzled smile.

"Sorry," TJ said with a surprised chuckle. "I just - I never met anyone else who had possession as a mutation. Welcome to the club!"

"You can do it too?!" Duo set their mug down hard enough to splash hot chocolate over the table, then leaned forward excitedly. "Really? I'm not the only one?"

"Not anymore," TJ confirmed with a fang-baring grin. "This is out there." How many worlds had she had to hop around before she found someone who shared that power set?

Or it wasn't. How many students had wings? How many had super speed? "I don't know. I've seen others with similar powers - the telepaths for instance. I suppose it was just a matter of time until I met someone else who could do what I do."

"I've never met anyone who could dive into other people," TJ replied with a shake of her head. "Not anyone with a body, anyway. And I've met a lot of mutants."

"And that's what you do? Just go right inside them, body and all?"

"Isn't it what you do?" TJ asked with a frown. Had she misunderstood what he was saying? Damn, she'd totally thought she'd met another!

"Yes! I should have added, 'like me'." They grinned. "It's like stepping into a pond. But I can't hear them when I'm inside - no thoughts or memories." Duo didn't their eyes off TJ's face, watching for her reaction.

"Me neither," TJ confirmed with a shake of her head. "I know I've got some latent telepathy, and Jean used to say maybe in time I'd be able to get some stuff from the people I possessed, but -" she died before we could get there, "still nothing for now. The possession takes so much out of them anyway, I'm not sure their psyche's up for much while I'm inside."

Duo nodded slowly, but they weren't quite agreeing. They'd stayed with a few to make sure they were alright, but most of what they'd seen had been disorientation, not exhaustion. "I have good shields against that sort of thing, telepathy and such, but I don't think I have it myself. I just shut them out somehow I suppose."

"See, I have to work on my shields," TJ replied with a purse of her lips. "Not fair."

"Well, I don't really know how I do it so it's not something I can turn off. That may have it's own challenges. But it comes in handy keeping my hosts out of my head perhaps." They slumped back in their chair. "That's an awful word for them, but I can't think of anything more respectful."

"I tend to call them my rides," TJ stated, then shrugged. "Then again, outside of practice, I don't really do it to anyone who doesn't deserve the beatdown." Her yellow eyes widened. "Wait, you traveled all the way from El Salvador possessing people?"

"Yes, in people who mostly didn't deserve the 'beatdown'. I didn't have money, no papers or identification, wasn't quite... " Sane wasn't exactly the right word. 'Put back together' might cover it but required explanations thy didn't want to give. Besides, it sounded too much like an excuse when for most of the journey they'd been quite capable of choosing not to do that. "I wasn't quite as thoughtful as I should have been about the whole thing."

"...yeah," TJ agreed, sedately. She was rarely sedate about anything, but she didn't really have context to judge what he'd done. She could only agree about his assessment. It sounded fair, no matter what the context had been. She smiled at him. "But now you're here, and in a position to be more thoughtful. And we can share tips."

That made Duo chuckle. "Tips? Have you got any?"

TJ hummed curiously. "Well, you've already noticed all the weird mass distribution depending on bodies - and the hips on bodies of the other sex! I looked like such an idiot, my first time walking in a guy. So how about... Oh, TK's a great one to practice. It's very multipurpose, and every telekinetic I've possessed has more or less the same way to use theirs."

She'd lost them for a moment. "Wait a moment. I've never been inside someone who has powers as far as I know. Do you mean you can use their powers? And the other... I don't know. I never had a problem with that. Each body had a way of moving all it's own I thought."

TJ frowned. "Wait wait wait. If you got a shortcut for walking, you're probably gonna get one for their mutations, too. You've got so many upgrades on mine!" Not that it was her only ability, but still.

"But there's no shortcut?" Duo cocked their head to the side in confusion. "Yes, there's a difference between some men and some women, but there are differences in them all. I once had a host who was an older woman, heavier, with horrible pain in her knees. It did take a bit to learn how to move, but the body sort of dictates that, doesn't it? "

"I'm just telling you what my experience was," TJ replied with a shrug, leaning back a little.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to challenge you. Maybe it's not a difference in our powers, rather in us and how we approach them." That would be interesting. Maybe their mutations were similar, but they were still bringing themselves into their experience in the most intimate ways, and that was bound to mean differences in how the mutations were expressed, wasn't it?

TJ frowned a little. Was he saying she was approaching her power wrong, now? She'd been coached by the best! "What do you mean?"

Duo leaned forward and put their chin in their hand. "I'm digging myself in deeper, aren't I? I just mean that who we are probably plays a role in how we adjust to what we can do. You were talking about the differences between men and women's bodies. Well, I don't even think of myself in those terms - I'm sort of in-between or outside those - so maybe that affected how I adjusted to different bodies. And the first few possessions weren't... I wasn't very clear in my own head, so I just poured myself in and let the body dictate things so... maybe that was formative in how I approach it? But it's not a better way. I would have bumbled around forever without realizing I could use powers, if I even can, if you hadn't mentioned it."

TJ's frown turned thoughtful now, and her tail, which had begun to swing more aggressively, slowed. That was a lot to unpack. But mostly... "Shit, I hadn't thought. I freaked out when I first possessed someone, and I was here, with all the X-Men!" It must've been so awful, going through that on his own!

"The first person I possessed was dying." He hadn't been when Duo had jumped, but the sudden shift in the gunman's behavior had caused panic in his companions and it wasn't long before bullets were flying. They'd died with that man, was reborn, and then found out that Father Maxwell and Sister Helen were dead too. It had happened only weeks ago. "But I don't think the first time would be easy for anyone."

TJ looked horrified. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry."

"I'm not." And it was true. The experience might have been awful, but Duo had never once regretted the man's death. "It wasn't fun, but the man deserved what he got."

TJ hadn't even thought about that - she had no context for who the man had been or what his death had been. If he deserved it, then it was even less of a question. She shook her head to clear up the misunderstanding. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"Thank you." They smiled at her, an attempt to reassure her, but Duo had to admit the concern was comforting and, coming from someone who understood what it felt like to step into another persons body, appreciated.

"Seriously, it sounds like the shittiest way possible to manifest," TJ stated with a grimace. But he sounded cool with his power now, which was pretty impressive, if she wasn't mistaken. "But you're cool with what you can do now?"

Duo nodded, glad for the slight shift away from the story they didn't want to tell. "It was very confusing at first, but once I realized what had happened I got better, but it's my one power." They'd learned others here had more than one gift and looking at TJ, with her blue fur and tail, they could believe she might be one of those. "Is that all you do?"

"Really not," TJ told him with a grin. "I mean, apart from looking this good, there's also the agility, the flexibility, the wall-climbing, and the hex bolts." She sent a harmless little bolt at the countertop, so he could see. "I don't recommend getting close enough to smell them."

"Really not," Duo repeated before laughing. "just a few little things that no normal person can do."

"Normal's highly overrated," TJ replied with a proud grin. "Mutant's the way to be."

"Now that I know that's what I am, and that's there's a place like where I'm welcome, I'm inclined to agree." Of course, her smile helped convince them too. She was beautiful in a way only mutations could offer.

"Sing it..." She'd been about to say brother, but with what he'd said earlier, that was maybe wrong? So she trailed off, and frowned, puzzled. "Sorry. You said you didn't think of yourself as male or female?"

That was another wonderful thing about this place. "I think the term here is non-binary. And thank you. I should probably just start telling people that straight away I suppose, but I'm used to... not saying anything. That sort of admission could be dangerous at home."

TJ made a sympathetic grimace at that last bit. "Sorry." Non-binary. She'd never met a non-binary person before. "So how should I refer to you? Sometimes he, sometimes she, or...? I'm a total newbie to all this," she warned... him-her.

Duo shrugged. "I'm new to people asking that. I think... 'they' is good? That's what the school put on my forms and it feels right, but honestly, he or she isn't wrong either." But in their head, they usually didn't bother with gender, at least not with any permanence. So... " 'They' is probably best. But no worries if you use other terms."

They. It was going to be so weird. "I'll probably mess up now and then," she acknowledged. "So, sorry in advance, and cool if you don't mind."

"No problem, but you've been in two dimensions, and you're a newbie to this?"

"Two? I've been in way more than two dimensions," TJ stated with a shake of her head and a small chuckle. "But, yeah? I've never met a non-binary person before. Why?"

Way more? That was something thy might have to ask about at some point. "I just didn't think we were that rare. That's all."

"Well, maybe it's more like I've never met a non-binary person before, that I know of," TJ amended. She didn't really understand the non-binary thing, anyway. Was he - were they - both? Or... whatever, it was their thing. "I mean, we didn't really hop around worlds asking people about their gender."

"A missed opportunity." Duo shook their head as sadly and dramatically as possible before smiling again. "Although I'm quite sure whatever you were doing was just a touch more important." Then before she thought they were prying for more information, "If you ever want to tell someone stories about that, I volunteer, but right now I think I have to get back to my room. They want me to pick out classes by tomorrow apparently. No free rides here."

"Tell me about it," TJ agreed with a purse of her lips. "Good luck with that! And it was nice meeting you."