Teddy and Warren, backdated to Sept. 3
Sep. 3rd, 2017 03:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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ax_mainTeddy meets the Avenging Angel, and Warren offers some flight help. Just shirtless blond dudes being bros.
The little map that had come with the school advertising brochure had promised a lake, and Teddy was pleasantly surprised to discover that it actually was a real pond rather than some kind of concrete reservoir or muddy marsh. It was obviously a pretty big draw; there were footprints on the path and some litter by the dock that suggested it was a common hang-out spot. Teddy bent and grabbed the couple of candy wrappers and shoved them in his pocket to throw out when he got back to the school. It was still a head-trip, thinking of this as his new home and school all at once, but so far... yeah, so far things seemed to be lining up pretty well.
Warren didn't know the blond head below him. Broad shoulders, looked like a big kid, about his age. He'd wondered if new students would start pouring in once the school year began. With a grin, Warren dove toward the lake, wings beating hard, and then pulled up over the dock just in time to touch down with one bare toe, gently.
Heh. He was getting awesome at that.
"Hey! New student?" he asked, all cheerful.
A shadow covered the sun and Teddy looked up reflexively. At first the shape was blurry, the light behind the silhouette gleaming out around it like a corona, then his eyes adjusted. The shape of a man, wide white wings - it was an image straight off of every stained glass window or baroque painting, and Teddy's breath caught in his chest.
Then he landed, the sun shining down on them again, and he was just a guy -- a tall, blond incredibly ripped guy, with golden hair and yeah, angel wings - but a person nevertheless. "Woah," Teddy breathed out, awestruck, before he caught himself. With any luck - oh man - he'd take it as it mostly was, commentary on the wings. "Yeah, new guy here. That's me. Do you practice those entrances?"
"On every new kid." Warren grinned, padding closer on bare feet. "Did it work? Good effect?"
"Yeah," Teddy got a grip - jeez, dude - and nodded, a smile tugging at his lips, while he waited for the guy to join him on the shore. "That was pretty slick. Add a halo on there and you'd freak a whole lot of people into deathbed confessions."
"Very nearly have once or twice," Warren admitted, holding out one hand as he approached. "Warren Worthington."
"Teddy Altman." Teddy took the offered hand and shook it, gauging his strength carefully to match Warren's. "Good to meet you." And then something struck him and he looked Warren over again, eyes narrowing a little while he turned the thought over in his head. "Wait. You're- the Central Park Angel, aren't you?" He asked, finally letting go, something approaching awe in his voice.
Holy crap. First day in and he met a superhero. But logically, how many winged guys could there possibly be?
Warren beamed. "Another local. Awesome. Yep, that's me--or was me, anyhow, before I came here."
Teddy nodded happily. "Brooklyn, yeah. So semi-local, anyway. I saw you once, from a distance -- in May, over the park. I was sure it was a trick or someone filming a movie, at least at first. You know, it never occurred to me that you would be a guy my age."
Teddy basked under the warmth of Warren's smile, at least until he realized what he was doing and pulled himself back in. This was supposed to be the year where he didn't fall in line under the charismatic senior, and it took him, what, four hours to start backsliding into old habits? Yeesh.
Mentioning that he'd occasionally worked on the Angel's wikipedia entry didn't seem like the best plan for recovering from that, either. "Is this why you stopped? Moving for school?"
"It was, ah, pointed out to me that without any training I was more likely to end up dead than not." Warren ruffled his feathers and scratched at the back of his neck, turning slightly pink in the cheeks. "But yeah, also because I need to finish school, and my last one--that wasn't happening with the wings."
He'd tried. And it'd sucked. Hard.
Teddy sucked in air and nodded in understanding. "I've been getting the feeling that this is a popular place for fresh starts."
Warren cocked an eyebrow. "You too? Or just--you've met people, I'm guessing. My roommate calls it the Island of Misfit Toys. He's a charmer."
Teddy laughed softly. "I always get that one mixed up with the Brave Little Toaster. Who are you rooming with?" The description didn't sound like anyone he'd met so far, but then he hadn't exactly met a lot of people yet.
"Scott Summers," Warren said, grinning from the toaster crack. "He's a tall guy, lanky, always wears red shades and looks like he thinks someone's about to shank him. Good people, though, once you crack through the cynical dick exterior." Like, Scott was still a cynical dick on the inside, but he was also fun... in a cynical dick way.
"I don't think I've seen him around yet. I'll keep the recommendation in mind," Teddy replied, grinning back.
"He's good people," Warren said with a chuckle. "Most everyone is, so far. A few cranky ones--watch out for a blond Japanese kid who glares a lot--but nothing to worry about."
"I'll keep an eye out." Teddy had met all of five people so far, two not counting the Professor and Mr. Corsi, and so far he was running slightly on the positive interaction side of the ledger. And he was highly motivated to keep it going that way. "I'm in a room with Billy Kaplan, and he seems friendly." Teddy paused, considered it, and his smile popped back on, knowing and bright - "a bit excitable, maybe. But nice. I think we'll do all right."
"Yeah, Billy's cool--I met him not too far from here. He blew up a tree. It was like Thor got drunk and had an accident." Warren chuckled. Billy had been cute, and, yeah, "excitable is a good word. Probably not gonna have many dull moments in that room."
Teddy nodded along with Warren's assessment. "Probably not. He only scorched the floor - and himself - earlier, but thankfully it doesn't seem to hurt him any. I have to admit that I'm kind of glad my powers aren't likely to go too haywire. Not and effect anyone but me, anyway."
Warren cocked an eyebrow, but a few pieces fell into place before he could ask something too stupid. "Your party trick make you, like, okay with that somehow?"
Teddy cocked his head. "With going haywire, or do you mean Billy's electricity?"
"Well, either, but I guess both would have to have some kind of electricity resistance. Are you, like, made of rubber or...?"
Teddy shook his head with a small laugh. "Nothing quite so on-the-nose, though that would be pretty cool.
"I'm tough, though I think a full lightning strike would probably hurt like heck. A bigger reason we've been put together is probably my healing factor. I'm honestly more worried about our computers surviving than if he zaps me in his sleep. I'm not going to throw myself in front of it to find out, but he won't do any real damage to me. I don't think."
Hurt like heck made Warren smile. The guy kind of looked like a meat head, but he was... something else. Warren wasn't sure what, but something better, anyhow. "Healing factor is cool--though if you don't get pain dampening in the bargain I'm not sure if it'd be so great. The lightning strike I mean."
"I definitely still feel pain," Teddy confirmed, wincing. "Not nearly as badly as before my powers came in, though. It takes a lot more to knock me down. I'm not entirely sure how that connects to the shapeshifting, but I assume it's all linked somehow. Maybe it's so my body can cope with bigger changes." He shrugged a bit awkwardly, hands in his pockets. Talking about his powers openly -- it was strange, guilt lying behind it like it was something he shouldn't be doing. But it was safe here. He had to trust that promise.
Warren noticed the discomfort and clamped down on the many, many questions he had about 'shapeshifting' (Was it like the green kid's? Different? Specialized? Could he look like a chair? A famous person? Change color?) to say, sympathetically, "Would you rather I changed the subject? Being here for a few months, I've started to forget all this powers stuff used to be weird." That was a polite lie, in fact, because Warren was pretty sure he'd never forget the harrowing experience of trying to hide tiny sprouting wings from everyone and anyone, including his roommate and supposed best-friend.
Teddy's eyes flashed back up, surprised at the offer, and confusingly enough found himself relaxing a little more. "No, it's fine," he reassured Warren. "I'm just not used to being able to talk about it openly. I'm luckier that way, I guess, in that I can hide my powers most of the time, but it also still feels as though I should be watching over my shoulder, or like I'm giving away state secrets." He grinned, laughing at himself a little. "Which is ridiculous, considering where we are. Everyone's going to know almost everything about everyone else's abilities eventually."
Warren nodded, hands sliding into his pockets and dragging down his jeans, wings rustling thoughtfully. "We've got just about every comfort level here, so far. But I mean, just because we're all mutants doesn't mean we have to be all--whatever. Open and sharing our life stories." He grinned.
Teddy's gaze was caught by the movement, then the sleek V of muscle heading down to vanish beneath the waistband of Warren's jeans- see now, that was just unfair.
He glanced away again, forced his cheeks to ignore the flush that wanted to rise. With any luck his momentary distraction wouldn't be noticed. And speaking of distractions - he needed one, or this was probably going to go downhill fast. "Fair enough. Gotta leave some air of mystery," he added, keeping his eyes firmly above the belt. Wings - that was an excellent thing to look at instead.
"Can I ask about your wings? I'm dying to know more about the structure. How they attach, I mean."
To Warren's eyes, Teddy still didn't look entirely comfortable for some reason--but hey, new people, new place, weird powers. Who could blame the guy? "Ask away."
Warren turned his back and spread his wings out to each side, revealing his massive wingspan. The cords of muscles in his back worked visibly, flexing right into the wings. The feathers rarest his bare skin were small, almost downy, and they grew larger and larger as they got farther from his shoulder blades, forming secondaries and primaries. He looked over his shoulder at Teddy. "Basically just a huge bird once you get past my shoulder blades. Also, hollow bones."
"They're amazing." Asking to see Warren's back - even more firm, naked muscle - was probably not the best plan in terms of finding something not to stare at, but at least this way Warren wasn't looking at Teddy's face. And, once he started mentally mapping out the differences, the parts that had to be supporting his wings, the rest of it faded away.
"Oh," Teddy said thoughtfully, more to himself than anything. "I think I get it now. I've wanted to try wings for just about ever," he confessed, stepping back to take a broader view of the whole system, "but artists usually just stick wings on a regular guy and move on. And this stuff is still so much easier with references."
Ah, to heck with it -- he was going to try. Warren didn't seem like he'd get offended at the copying, and what better chance was Teddy going to have? Except - "hang on." Teddy's words were muffled as he tugged his shirt off over his head. "I actually like this shirt."
Chuckling with amusement (and a little appreciation, though Warren wasn't trying to creep the new guy out), Warren turned and held out a hand for Teddy's shirt. "So you can do whatever you see? Like, anything?"
And now he was shirtless with another hot shirtless guy. Not Teddy's smartest tactical plan ever, though he couldn't deny the appeal. As long as he didn't stick his foot in his mouth. He handed his shirt over without worrying. If Warren ditched him and he had to shift himself a new shirt, he could probably manage that long enough to get back to his room.
"Not anything, I don't think. I haven't tried to do anything non-humanoid yet. And I don't actually need to see something - it just helps a lot if I can visualize how everything's supposed to work. The Professor said that a lot of this will become instinctive eventually."
Teddy frowned, folding his arms across his chest (and if he'd shifted his muscles a tiny bit more defined and his abs to be a little more cut when his shirt came off, well. There was no way Warren would know). He closed his eyes and tried to picture it, the way Warren's back was different than a regular guy's, the way the muscles moved under his skin, the feathers and the span-
Wings sprouted from his shoulders, small at first, Teddy's back shifting, bulking out to support the weight of the new limbs. It stretched and ached a bit, the weight pulling him backwards until he figured out how to draw them in and splay them out sideways, even just balancing so much more complicated than he'd thought.
Warren watched in amazement as small, white wings, just like his own (but somehow bigger? fatter, like?) sprouted from Teddy's back. No, sprouted wasn't the right word. It was almost like Teddy's back--or maybe his whole self?--was made of clay, and it was molding itself as he watched. Like living sculpture, really. "Whoa..."
Then Warren shook it off and realized Teddy looked kind of unsteady. "It's weird to balance at first. I think the muscles in my legs and stomach took as long to adjust as the ones in my back."
"Oh man, of course! That's what I forgot." Teddy rearranged a few things, strengthened his core-- wow, that took more than he'd thought it would. "And that explains your ridiculous six-pack," he muttered, amused and half under his breath. Teddy straightened and dropped his arms, much more stable now than before. He unfurled them, elated, craning his neck to look back over his shoulder at his new wingspan. "Okay, these are awesome. You must spend all your time in the air."
Warren smacked his abs--which were ridiculous, thanks very much--and grinned at the mumble. But the proud look was replaced by more amazement as he examined Teddy's wings. "As much as I can, for sure. There's nothing like it in the world. Will they work?"
"Beats me," Teddy confessed sheepishly. "But theoretically yes? I mean, I can flap them-" and he did so, just to get the feel for it, trying to make sure Warren was out of the way. "But that's the second reason I didn't start jumping off buildings the moment I got my powers. I'm a bit concerned about the sudden stop. How long did it take you to get the hang of it?"
Warren took a few steps back to clear the area, tucking Teddy's shirt into his belt loop and watching with interest. "I mean, I'm not the best example. I literally jumped out of a building the first time I flew. But in my defense it was on fire. And also I wasn't very good at it."
"Yeah, that'd be pretty serious motivation." Teddy frowned, tried a couple more flaps, but it didn't feel like the wings would be able to lift him. Maybe he'd done something wrong. He started to pull them back in. "I definitely want to give it a shot, but I should probably do some looking in to flight mechanics first. That or try it over a stack of crash mats," he added with a grin that dimmed after a moment. "The building that was on fire - you weren't hurt, I hope."
Warren cocked his head, appropriately enough, like a curious bird, watching and trying to figure out what was going on with Teddy's new wings. "I made it fine. Then went back up and grabbed some others. Superhero origin story right?
"Give it a try. If you crash, I can catch you. I'm stronger than I look, too."
Teddy hesitated for a beat, catching his bottom lip between his teeth as he considered the offer. Then the thought of it took over and his adrenaline started to rush at the mental image and-- "Sure, what the hell," he grinned again. "Healing factor, right? I may as well take advantage of that."
"I got you," Warren promised, ready to move in, grinning in anticipation. Hey, new wings were exciting.
Warren was definitely not flirting (okay, maybe almost definitely), but Teddy's pulse picked up a little anyway. I am way too easy. Yeesh. But he was talking about spotting Teddy, not about anything else, and so he had to focus. Which brought up its own set of problems. Teddy flapped his wings, then let out a sheepish laugh. "So, um. Dumb question, but how do you take off?"
"I just sort of jump and beat my wings in synch--it takes some practice though." Warren frowned thoughtfully, feathers ruffling. "I hate to say it, but on a first try it might better to jump off... something. Not a building but something like a reasonably high branch or a diving board or something."
There weren't any diving boards around, but there were some trees, and Teddy looked at them with a combination of anticipation and doubt. "So climb one of those, jump off, flap a lot, and hope you catch me before I eat dirt?" Teddy grinned. "Sounds like fun."
Warren chuckled. "That's about the size of it, yeah. Need a boost up, or you got this?"
"Nah, I got this." Teddy memorized the feeling of the wings and the muscle structure he had tweaked into place, then shifted back to his usual baseline (with the better abs, because - yeah. Half naked with someone watching. He may as well be his best self.) One of the nearby trees looked like it had half-decent handholds, and he jumped for the lowest branch, a couple of feet above his head. He swung himself up and over to sit on it.
The rest of the climb was easy enough, and a couple of minutes later he sat on a branch about halfway up, as high as he could go and still have the branch take his weight without bending too much. The wings went like that and the rest had been like so-- Teddy shifted again, the branch bouncing with the sudden redistribution of his weight.
"Okay," he called down, pushing up to standing and grabbing on to the next branch above him. The ground looked very far away, all of a sudden, and Teddy's heart thumped painfully inside his chest. This is either one of the dumbest things I've ever done, or the last thing I'll ever do. Or both. Probably both.
Warren nodded, wings tucked up and out of the way, arms at the ready. "Go for it, dude!"
At first, Warren was impressed. Teddy went for it, all right, and flapped. It looked a little awkward, but hey, he was leaving the nest for the first time, right? Flap, flap, flap.
"Shit!" Warren ran beneath him and lifted off the ground a little, to cushion the impact for the poor dude.
It was one of those moments that went both too fast and way too slow for Teddy's tastes at the same time. He thought he had the general hang of things, the wings growing back the way they were supposed to, but two wing-beats in and it was brutally obvious this wasn't going to end well. He might as well be waving paper fans around for all the lift they were giving him, and the ground was coming up at him at a pretty awful pace.
Teddy curled in and braced for impact, but something grabbed him before he hit.
"Gotcha!" Warren had both arms around Teddy's middle. He beat his wings once to keep them in the air in spite of the sudden extra weight, then let them fall to the ground, bending his knees to set Teddy down gently.
Because who didn't love getting a strange cute boy in their arms on the first meeting? Warren would've laughed if he hadn't wanted to keep the situation from being more awkward than it had to be.
Relief at being set down safely got quickly trumped by the realization that Warren had his arms around Teddy and they were both half naked, and- yeah. Teddy got on tamping down that particular physical reaction before something really inappropriate could happen. Ow.
"Thanks," Teddy replied, taking a step back and relieved to find himself really on solid ground. He pulled in his wings at the same time, shifting them away into nothingness. Traitors. "I guess that one still needs work," he finished ruefully.
"There's a lot of weird physiological stuff going on with me too that I--neglected to mention." Warren stepped back too, though his slight flush was accompanied by a definite smile. Again, hard not to laugh, but since Teddy hadn't, he wouldn't. No point in making it weird. Worthingtons were nothing if not socially appropriate... even when half naked with cute people. "I mean, my bones are hollow? That might be part of it. I can still carry people, which adds tons of weight, but it took some getting used to not to just--you know. Plummet." Which Warren'd had to learn right quick, but hey. He'd managed. The wings always just made sense to him.
"Hollow bones," Teddy groaned. "You know, you mentioned that before and I didn't think. Surface shifts are a lot easier," he sighed. "I could look like my gym teacher to get out of cutting class, but I didn't have to think about how to be him."
Warren's eyes went wide. "Oh man. That is fucking awesome. I would've loved that at my last school!" He somehow had a feeling that here, that'd be more difficult.
Teddy took the chance and snagged his shirt back from Warren's belt loop. "It's not as cool as it sounds, believe me," he said, his voice muffled as he pulled the t-shirt over his head. "Looking like real people causes a lot more trouble than it's worth." He settled the shirt down around his waist. "Thanks for the help, though. Abject failure or not, I appreciate the save."
Warren bit down on a smart remark about Teddy taking his shirt out of the belt loop like that. Instead he just watched the guy pull the shirt on without being too obvious (he hoped) and carried on with the conversation. "Wanna try again, you know where to find me. Actually--wait, you have a phone? Put me in your contacts. Or just call yourself." He tugged his own out of his back pocket and held it out to Teddy.
"Oh, sure." Teddy took it, and quickly typed in his name and number before both saving and texting himself. "There, and I've got yours now. Though it's not like it'll be hard to find each other around here," he added, handing the phone back. "Unless you're off-campus a lot. I'm still not sure how permission for that works."
"Don't think we need permission," Warren said, tucking his phone into his pocket. "But I don't get out much. They have these image inducer things that can make my wings seem to disappear, but if someone bumps into them--ugh." His wings ruffled in frustration. "The best thing is to strap them down and tuck them under a coat, which sucks.
"Uh, which is a long way of saying I'm usually around." Warren chuckled at his own rambling. God, he needed to get out more. "But often up In the air."
Oh yeah, that was fair. Teddy nodded. "That's got to suck," he empathized. Campus was great so far, but to be confined to it most of the time? He'd probably end up with killer cabin fever eventually. No wonder Warren preferred the air. "I hope it doesn't feel like I'm co-opting something, or ... I dunno. Making fun, by trying your wings," he asked, his brow furrowing. "Because I can put them away again, I mean." Shen could drop hers, but that didn't feel like the same sort of thing.
Warren clapped Teddy on the shoulder. "You're a pretty woke dude, Teddy. Appreciated, but I'm cool. The way I see it, imitation is the finest form of flattery." He winked.
Teddy was pretty sure that 'woke' was not a thing that he actually was, but he didn't directly challenge the label. "It's more that my powers are really easy to use the wrong way," he said instead, introspective. "And questions of mutant ethics haven't started showing up in philosophy classes yet."
"Yeah, that's gonna be interesting," Warren said with a chuckle. "But then, pretty much everything about this year should be."
"Amen to that." Teddy's phone buzzed his pocket -- his text from Warren's phone coming through, probably, but it was enough to get him thinking about the time, and everything else he'd meant to be doing. "I should let you get back to it. And thanks again for the offer."
Warren gave a casual salute. "Lemme know when you need me. Good to meet you, Teddy."
Teddy returned the salute, then tucked his hands in his pockets. "Same," he replied, walking backwards a few steps to finish the conversation before he headed away.
The little map that had come with the school advertising brochure had promised a lake, and Teddy was pleasantly surprised to discover that it actually was a real pond rather than some kind of concrete reservoir or muddy marsh. It was obviously a pretty big draw; there were footprints on the path and some litter by the dock that suggested it was a common hang-out spot. Teddy bent and grabbed the couple of candy wrappers and shoved them in his pocket to throw out when he got back to the school. It was still a head-trip, thinking of this as his new home and school all at once, but so far... yeah, so far things seemed to be lining up pretty well.
Warren didn't know the blond head below him. Broad shoulders, looked like a big kid, about his age. He'd wondered if new students would start pouring in once the school year began. With a grin, Warren dove toward the lake, wings beating hard, and then pulled up over the dock just in time to touch down with one bare toe, gently.
Heh. He was getting awesome at that.
"Hey! New student?" he asked, all cheerful.
A shadow covered the sun and Teddy looked up reflexively. At first the shape was blurry, the light behind the silhouette gleaming out around it like a corona, then his eyes adjusted. The shape of a man, wide white wings - it was an image straight off of every stained glass window or baroque painting, and Teddy's breath caught in his chest.
Then he landed, the sun shining down on them again, and he was just a guy -- a tall, blond incredibly ripped guy, with golden hair and yeah, angel wings - but a person nevertheless. "Woah," Teddy breathed out, awestruck, before he caught himself. With any luck - oh man - he'd take it as it mostly was, commentary on the wings. "Yeah, new guy here. That's me. Do you practice those entrances?"
"On every new kid." Warren grinned, padding closer on bare feet. "Did it work? Good effect?"
"Yeah," Teddy got a grip - jeez, dude - and nodded, a smile tugging at his lips, while he waited for the guy to join him on the shore. "That was pretty slick. Add a halo on there and you'd freak a whole lot of people into deathbed confessions."
"Very nearly have once or twice," Warren admitted, holding out one hand as he approached. "Warren Worthington."
"Teddy Altman." Teddy took the offered hand and shook it, gauging his strength carefully to match Warren's. "Good to meet you." And then something struck him and he looked Warren over again, eyes narrowing a little while he turned the thought over in his head. "Wait. You're- the Central Park Angel, aren't you?" He asked, finally letting go, something approaching awe in his voice.
Holy crap. First day in and he met a superhero. But logically, how many winged guys could there possibly be?
Warren beamed. "Another local. Awesome. Yep, that's me--or was me, anyhow, before I came here."
Teddy nodded happily. "Brooklyn, yeah. So semi-local, anyway. I saw you once, from a distance -- in May, over the park. I was sure it was a trick or someone filming a movie, at least at first. You know, it never occurred to me that you would be a guy my age."
Teddy basked under the warmth of Warren's smile, at least until he realized what he was doing and pulled himself back in. This was supposed to be the year where he didn't fall in line under the charismatic senior, and it took him, what, four hours to start backsliding into old habits? Yeesh.
Mentioning that he'd occasionally worked on the Angel's wikipedia entry didn't seem like the best plan for recovering from that, either. "Is this why you stopped? Moving for school?"
"It was, ah, pointed out to me that without any training I was more likely to end up dead than not." Warren ruffled his feathers and scratched at the back of his neck, turning slightly pink in the cheeks. "But yeah, also because I need to finish school, and my last one--that wasn't happening with the wings."
He'd tried. And it'd sucked. Hard.
Teddy sucked in air and nodded in understanding. "I've been getting the feeling that this is a popular place for fresh starts."
Warren cocked an eyebrow. "You too? Or just--you've met people, I'm guessing. My roommate calls it the Island of Misfit Toys. He's a charmer."
Teddy laughed softly. "I always get that one mixed up with the Brave Little Toaster. Who are you rooming with?" The description didn't sound like anyone he'd met so far, but then he hadn't exactly met a lot of people yet.
"Scott Summers," Warren said, grinning from the toaster crack. "He's a tall guy, lanky, always wears red shades and looks like he thinks someone's about to shank him. Good people, though, once you crack through the cynical dick exterior." Like, Scott was still a cynical dick on the inside, but he was also fun... in a cynical dick way.
"I don't think I've seen him around yet. I'll keep the recommendation in mind," Teddy replied, grinning back.
"He's good people," Warren said with a chuckle. "Most everyone is, so far. A few cranky ones--watch out for a blond Japanese kid who glares a lot--but nothing to worry about."
"I'll keep an eye out." Teddy had met all of five people so far, two not counting the Professor and Mr. Corsi, and so far he was running slightly on the positive interaction side of the ledger. And he was highly motivated to keep it going that way. "I'm in a room with Billy Kaplan, and he seems friendly." Teddy paused, considered it, and his smile popped back on, knowing and bright - "a bit excitable, maybe. But nice. I think we'll do all right."
"Yeah, Billy's cool--I met him not too far from here. He blew up a tree. It was like Thor got drunk and had an accident." Warren chuckled. Billy had been cute, and, yeah, "excitable is a good word. Probably not gonna have many dull moments in that room."
Teddy nodded along with Warren's assessment. "Probably not. He only scorched the floor - and himself - earlier, but thankfully it doesn't seem to hurt him any. I have to admit that I'm kind of glad my powers aren't likely to go too haywire. Not and effect anyone but me, anyway."
Warren cocked an eyebrow, but a few pieces fell into place before he could ask something too stupid. "Your party trick make you, like, okay with that somehow?"
Teddy cocked his head. "With going haywire, or do you mean Billy's electricity?"
"Well, either, but I guess both would have to have some kind of electricity resistance. Are you, like, made of rubber or...?"
Teddy shook his head with a small laugh. "Nothing quite so on-the-nose, though that would be pretty cool.
"I'm tough, though I think a full lightning strike would probably hurt like heck. A bigger reason we've been put together is probably my healing factor. I'm honestly more worried about our computers surviving than if he zaps me in his sleep. I'm not going to throw myself in front of it to find out, but he won't do any real damage to me. I don't think."
Hurt like heck made Warren smile. The guy kind of looked like a meat head, but he was... something else. Warren wasn't sure what, but something better, anyhow. "Healing factor is cool--though if you don't get pain dampening in the bargain I'm not sure if it'd be so great. The lightning strike I mean."
"I definitely still feel pain," Teddy confirmed, wincing. "Not nearly as badly as before my powers came in, though. It takes a lot more to knock me down. I'm not entirely sure how that connects to the shapeshifting, but I assume it's all linked somehow. Maybe it's so my body can cope with bigger changes." He shrugged a bit awkwardly, hands in his pockets. Talking about his powers openly -- it was strange, guilt lying behind it like it was something he shouldn't be doing. But it was safe here. He had to trust that promise.
Warren noticed the discomfort and clamped down on the many, many questions he had about 'shapeshifting' (Was it like the green kid's? Different? Specialized? Could he look like a chair? A famous person? Change color?) to say, sympathetically, "Would you rather I changed the subject? Being here for a few months, I've started to forget all this powers stuff used to be weird." That was a polite lie, in fact, because Warren was pretty sure he'd never forget the harrowing experience of trying to hide tiny sprouting wings from everyone and anyone, including his roommate and supposed best-friend.
Teddy's eyes flashed back up, surprised at the offer, and confusingly enough found himself relaxing a little more. "No, it's fine," he reassured Warren. "I'm just not used to being able to talk about it openly. I'm luckier that way, I guess, in that I can hide my powers most of the time, but it also still feels as though I should be watching over my shoulder, or like I'm giving away state secrets." He grinned, laughing at himself a little. "Which is ridiculous, considering where we are. Everyone's going to know almost everything about everyone else's abilities eventually."
Warren nodded, hands sliding into his pockets and dragging down his jeans, wings rustling thoughtfully. "We've got just about every comfort level here, so far. But I mean, just because we're all mutants doesn't mean we have to be all--whatever. Open and sharing our life stories." He grinned.
Teddy's gaze was caught by the movement, then the sleek V of muscle heading down to vanish beneath the waistband of Warren's jeans- see now, that was just unfair.
He glanced away again, forced his cheeks to ignore the flush that wanted to rise. With any luck his momentary distraction wouldn't be noticed. And speaking of distractions - he needed one, or this was probably going to go downhill fast. "Fair enough. Gotta leave some air of mystery," he added, keeping his eyes firmly above the belt. Wings - that was an excellent thing to look at instead.
"Can I ask about your wings? I'm dying to know more about the structure. How they attach, I mean."
To Warren's eyes, Teddy still didn't look entirely comfortable for some reason--but hey, new people, new place, weird powers. Who could blame the guy? "Ask away."
Warren turned his back and spread his wings out to each side, revealing his massive wingspan. The cords of muscles in his back worked visibly, flexing right into the wings. The feathers rarest his bare skin were small, almost downy, and they grew larger and larger as they got farther from his shoulder blades, forming secondaries and primaries. He looked over his shoulder at Teddy. "Basically just a huge bird once you get past my shoulder blades. Also, hollow bones."
"They're amazing." Asking to see Warren's back - even more firm, naked muscle - was probably not the best plan in terms of finding something not to stare at, but at least this way Warren wasn't looking at Teddy's face. And, once he started mentally mapping out the differences, the parts that had to be supporting his wings, the rest of it faded away.
"Oh," Teddy said thoughtfully, more to himself than anything. "I think I get it now. I've wanted to try wings for just about ever," he confessed, stepping back to take a broader view of the whole system, "but artists usually just stick wings on a regular guy and move on. And this stuff is still so much easier with references."
Ah, to heck with it -- he was going to try. Warren didn't seem like he'd get offended at the copying, and what better chance was Teddy going to have? Except - "hang on." Teddy's words were muffled as he tugged his shirt off over his head. "I actually like this shirt."
Chuckling with amusement (and a little appreciation, though Warren wasn't trying to creep the new guy out), Warren turned and held out a hand for Teddy's shirt. "So you can do whatever you see? Like, anything?"
And now he was shirtless with another hot shirtless guy. Not Teddy's smartest tactical plan ever, though he couldn't deny the appeal. As long as he didn't stick his foot in his mouth. He handed his shirt over without worrying. If Warren ditched him and he had to shift himself a new shirt, he could probably manage that long enough to get back to his room.
"Not anything, I don't think. I haven't tried to do anything non-humanoid yet. And I don't actually need to see something - it just helps a lot if I can visualize how everything's supposed to work. The Professor said that a lot of this will become instinctive eventually."
Teddy frowned, folding his arms across his chest (and if he'd shifted his muscles a tiny bit more defined and his abs to be a little more cut when his shirt came off, well. There was no way Warren would know). He closed his eyes and tried to picture it, the way Warren's back was different than a regular guy's, the way the muscles moved under his skin, the feathers and the span-
Wings sprouted from his shoulders, small at first, Teddy's back shifting, bulking out to support the weight of the new limbs. It stretched and ached a bit, the weight pulling him backwards until he figured out how to draw them in and splay them out sideways, even just balancing so much more complicated than he'd thought.
Warren watched in amazement as small, white wings, just like his own (but somehow bigger? fatter, like?) sprouted from Teddy's back. No, sprouted wasn't the right word. It was almost like Teddy's back--or maybe his whole self?--was made of clay, and it was molding itself as he watched. Like living sculpture, really. "Whoa..."
Then Warren shook it off and realized Teddy looked kind of unsteady. "It's weird to balance at first. I think the muscles in my legs and stomach took as long to adjust as the ones in my back."
"Oh man, of course! That's what I forgot." Teddy rearranged a few things, strengthened his core-- wow, that took more than he'd thought it would. "And that explains your ridiculous six-pack," he muttered, amused and half under his breath. Teddy straightened and dropped his arms, much more stable now than before. He unfurled them, elated, craning his neck to look back over his shoulder at his new wingspan. "Okay, these are awesome. You must spend all your time in the air."
Warren smacked his abs--which were ridiculous, thanks very much--and grinned at the mumble. But the proud look was replaced by more amazement as he examined Teddy's wings. "As much as I can, for sure. There's nothing like it in the world. Will they work?"
"Beats me," Teddy confessed sheepishly. "But theoretically yes? I mean, I can flap them-" and he did so, just to get the feel for it, trying to make sure Warren was out of the way. "But that's the second reason I didn't start jumping off buildings the moment I got my powers. I'm a bit concerned about the sudden stop. How long did it take you to get the hang of it?"
Warren took a few steps back to clear the area, tucking Teddy's shirt into his belt loop and watching with interest. "I mean, I'm not the best example. I literally jumped out of a building the first time I flew. But in my defense it was on fire. And also I wasn't very good at it."
"Yeah, that'd be pretty serious motivation." Teddy frowned, tried a couple more flaps, but it didn't feel like the wings would be able to lift him. Maybe he'd done something wrong. He started to pull them back in. "I definitely want to give it a shot, but I should probably do some looking in to flight mechanics first. That or try it over a stack of crash mats," he added with a grin that dimmed after a moment. "The building that was on fire - you weren't hurt, I hope."
Warren cocked his head, appropriately enough, like a curious bird, watching and trying to figure out what was going on with Teddy's new wings. "I made it fine. Then went back up and grabbed some others. Superhero origin story right?
"Give it a try. If you crash, I can catch you. I'm stronger than I look, too."
Teddy hesitated for a beat, catching his bottom lip between his teeth as he considered the offer. Then the thought of it took over and his adrenaline started to rush at the mental image and-- "Sure, what the hell," he grinned again. "Healing factor, right? I may as well take advantage of that."
"I got you," Warren promised, ready to move in, grinning in anticipation. Hey, new wings were exciting.
Warren was definitely not flirting (okay, maybe almost definitely), but Teddy's pulse picked up a little anyway. I am way too easy. Yeesh. But he was talking about spotting Teddy, not about anything else, and so he had to focus. Which brought up its own set of problems. Teddy flapped his wings, then let out a sheepish laugh. "So, um. Dumb question, but how do you take off?"
"I just sort of jump and beat my wings in synch--it takes some practice though." Warren frowned thoughtfully, feathers ruffling. "I hate to say it, but on a first try it might better to jump off... something. Not a building but something like a reasonably high branch or a diving board or something."
There weren't any diving boards around, but there were some trees, and Teddy looked at them with a combination of anticipation and doubt. "So climb one of those, jump off, flap a lot, and hope you catch me before I eat dirt?" Teddy grinned. "Sounds like fun."
Warren chuckled. "That's about the size of it, yeah. Need a boost up, or you got this?"
"Nah, I got this." Teddy memorized the feeling of the wings and the muscle structure he had tweaked into place, then shifted back to his usual baseline (with the better abs, because - yeah. Half naked with someone watching. He may as well be his best self.) One of the nearby trees looked like it had half-decent handholds, and he jumped for the lowest branch, a couple of feet above his head. He swung himself up and over to sit on it.
The rest of the climb was easy enough, and a couple of minutes later he sat on a branch about halfway up, as high as he could go and still have the branch take his weight without bending too much. The wings went like that and the rest had been like so-- Teddy shifted again, the branch bouncing with the sudden redistribution of his weight.
"Okay," he called down, pushing up to standing and grabbing on to the next branch above him. The ground looked very far away, all of a sudden, and Teddy's heart thumped painfully inside his chest. This is either one of the dumbest things I've ever done, or the last thing I'll ever do. Or both. Probably both.
Warren nodded, wings tucked up and out of the way, arms at the ready. "Go for it, dude!"
At first, Warren was impressed. Teddy went for it, all right, and flapped. It looked a little awkward, but hey, he was leaving the nest for the first time, right? Flap, flap, flap.
"Shit!" Warren ran beneath him and lifted off the ground a little, to cushion the impact for the poor dude.
It was one of those moments that went both too fast and way too slow for Teddy's tastes at the same time. He thought he had the general hang of things, the wings growing back the way they were supposed to, but two wing-beats in and it was brutally obvious this wasn't going to end well. He might as well be waving paper fans around for all the lift they were giving him, and the ground was coming up at him at a pretty awful pace.
Teddy curled in and braced for impact, but something grabbed him before he hit.
"Gotcha!" Warren had both arms around Teddy's middle. He beat his wings once to keep them in the air in spite of the sudden extra weight, then let them fall to the ground, bending his knees to set Teddy down gently.
Because who didn't love getting a strange cute boy in their arms on the first meeting? Warren would've laughed if he hadn't wanted to keep the situation from being more awkward than it had to be.
Relief at being set down safely got quickly trumped by the realization that Warren had his arms around Teddy and they were both half naked, and- yeah. Teddy got on tamping down that particular physical reaction before something really inappropriate could happen. Ow.
"Thanks," Teddy replied, taking a step back and relieved to find himself really on solid ground. He pulled in his wings at the same time, shifting them away into nothingness. Traitors. "I guess that one still needs work," he finished ruefully.
"There's a lot of weird physiological stuff going on with me too that I--neglected to mention." Warren stepped back too, though his slight flush was accompanied by a definite smile. Again, hard not to laugh, but since Teddy hadn't, he wouldn't. No point in making it weird. Worthingtons were nothing if not socially appropriate... even when half naked with cute people. "I mean, my bones are hollow? That might be part of it. I can still carry people, which adds tons of weight, but it took some getting used to not to just--you know. Plummet." Which Warren'd had to learn right quick, but hey. He'd managed. The wings always just made sense to him.
"Hollow bones," Teddy groaned. "You know, you mentioned that before and I didn't think. Surface shifts are a lot easier," he sighed. "I could look like my gym teacher to get out of cutting class, but I didn't have to think about how to be him."
Warren's eyes went wide. "Oh man. That is fucking awesome. I would've loved that at my last school!" He somehow had a feeling that here, that'd be more difficult.
Teddy took the chance and snagged his shirt back from Warren's belt loop. "It's not as cool as it sounds, believe me," he said, his voice muffled as he pulled the t-shirt over his head. "Looking like real people causes a lot more trouble than it's worth." He settled the shirt down around his waist. "Thanks for the help, though. Abject failure or not, I appreciate the save."
Warren bit down on a smart remark about Teddy taking his shirt out of the belt loop like that. Instead he just watched the guy pull the shirt on without being too obvious (he hoped) and carried on with the conversation. "Wanna try again, you know where to find me. Actually--wait, you have a phone? Put me in your contacts. Or just call yourself." He tugged his own out of his back pocket and held it out to Teddy.
"Oh, sure." Teddy took it, and quickly typed in his name and number before both saving and texting himself. "There, and I've got yours now. Though it's not like it'll be hard to find each other around here," he added, handing the phone back. "Unless you're off-campus a lot. I'm still not sure how permission for that works."
"Don't think we need permission," Warren said, tucking his phone into his pocket. "But I don't get out much. They have these image inducer things that can make my wings seem to disappear, but if someone bumps into them--ugh." His wings ruffled in frustration. "The best thing is to strap them down and tuck them under a coat, which sucks.
"Uh, which is a long way of saying I'm usually around." Warren chuckled at his own rambling. God, he needed to get out more. "But often up In the air."
Oh yeah, that was fair. Teddy nodded. "That's got to suck," he empathized. Campus was great so far, but to be confined to it most of the time? He'd probably end up with killer cabin fever eventually. No wonder Warren preferred the air. "I hope it doesn't feel like I'm co-opting something, or ... I dunno. Making fun, by trying your wings," he asked, his brow furrowing. "Because I can put them away again, I mean." Shen could drop hers, but that didn't feel like the same sort of thing.
Warren clapped Teddy on the shoulder. "You're a pretty woke dude, Teddy. Appreciated, but I'm cool. The way I see it, imitation is the finest form of flattery." He winked.
Teddy was pretty sure that 'woke' was not a thing that he actually was, but he didn't directly challenge the label. "It's more that my powers are really easy to use the wrong way," he said instead, introspective. "And questions of mutant ethics haven't started showing up in philosophy classes yet."
"Yeah, that's gonna be interesting," Warren said with a chuckle. "But then, pretty much everything about this year should be."
"Amen to that." Teddy's phone buzzed his pocket -- his text from Warren's phone coming through, probably, but it was enough to get him thinking about the time, and everything else he'd meant to be doing. "I should let you get back to it. And thanks again for the offer."
Warren gave a casual salute. "Lemme know when you need me. Good to meet you, Teddy."
Teddy returned the salute, then tucked his hands in his pockets. "Same," he replied, walking backwards a few steps to finish the conversation before he headed away.
