ax_main | Teddy and Nick | September 3 (backdated)

Teddy's looking for a place to chill, and he finds Nick. Chilling ensues.

Teddy turned the corner in the hall and mentally ran through his checklist. He’d found the bathrooms and kitchen, cafeteria and the gym – hopefully his class schedule would include some kind of list of rooms, but he hadn’t checked that one off yet. If he was oriented right, then there was some kind of student lounge down this way. The open door looked promising, and Teddy paused to take a look inside.

Nick was playing video games in the rec room; it was pretty much the only way he passed the time between summer school classes and meals. It had been a good enough way to meet new people, so far, after all. He glanced over his shoulder when he heard someone approaching, and smiled a lupine smile at the newcomer.

"Hi," Nick said, offering a small wave. He hoped that his appearance wouldn't throw the guy off; Nick was aware that he looked like something out of a horror movie, but he hoped his friendly demeanor was enough to break the ice and make people less afraid of him.

Teddy barely blinked. He’d tried a couple of versions of werewolf faces in the mirror before and still hadn’t quite nailed the proportions, so this boy’s look was more inspirational than scary. “Hi,” he replied, smiling, and headed further into the room. “I’m trying to find my way around this place – I hope this is actually the lounge and I haven’t just invaded your space.”

Nick hoped that his relief that he hadn't run off wasn't too obvious. "No, I mean, yeah. This is the rec room. Lounge. Thing," he said, awkwardly. "I just kinda... veg out here a lot," he explained. Oh god, had he been shedding all over the couch in here? Now he was worried...

"It's a nice spot for it." Teddy took a better look around, and homed in on an overstuffed armchair that looked promising. "Do you mind if I join you? I'm mostly killing time until dinner."

"It is," Nick agreed. "And I don't mind at all." It was a public space, after all, but he had to appreciate ... whoever this kid was for asking. "I'm Nick, by the way," he added, realizing he hadn't made an introduction yet.

"Teddy, hi." Teddy paused before sitting down, extending his hand. "Nice to meet you."

Nick extended his own hand, though he was careful as always with his claws. He didn't want to scratch anyone on accident, after all. "It's nice to meet you too," he said, cracking a lupine smile. "You arrive recently?" he asked.

Lotsa teeth! Maybe that was where Teddy had gone wrong with his first tries at a decent werewolf face - not enough teeth. "This morning," he replied, flopping down into the chair. It was just as comfy as he'd suspected, and he relaxed into it. "I've been exploring the place some, it really does go on forever. Have you been here long?"

"Been here since just after the place opened," Nick said, shrugging. "I was homeschooled before that," he added. "I've been like this since I was eight or so," he explained.

Teddy nodded at the explanation. "I'm not sure if that would make it easier -- to have it over with, I mean -- or harder than going through getting powers and surviving junior high at the same time," he commented sympathetically. "Homeschooling too. Was it lonely, or more like a co-op thing?"

"Mom quit her job for it," Nick said. "It was nice, actually. B-but not changing. I ... it took like, a month," he said. "Fur itches growing in. Same with the teeth." And he didn't want to talk about the first few days, when his skeleton was warping, and his muzzle was growing...

"I'll bet!" Shifting was strange enough, doing it all at once; imagining the same weird stretching and changing sensations lasting a month or more was enough to make Teddy's skin crawl. "How are you feeling now? Does it still bother you, or did it settle in eventually?"

"I got used to it," Nick admitted, shrugging. "Mom helped me manage the fur. And the claws. I have 'em on my feet, too. So I have to wear steel-toes," he said, pointing at his boots. "So that they don't dig through. 'Cause... they stay pretty sharp. Even with filing."

"It's awesome that she's been so supportive." Teddy's reply might have been a little wistful there, on the whole. Not that he was homesick - he was absolutely way too old for that - but it was starting to sink in that there weren't going to be any more random hot-chocolate hangouts with his own mother, the way her laugh seemed to completely fill up the cozy (tiny) kitchen in their apartment. "My mom's been great about dealing with the whole mutant thing as well, but not everyone gets so lucky. How about your dad?"

"He's great," Nick said, happily. "I really got lucky, I know," he said, a bit sympathetically. "But my dad's great. He and I had video game nights on the regular, since, y'know, I couldn't go out and see people."

"My mom's not so into video games." Teddy's guard was coming down, a little slowly, but it felt nice to relax into a conversation. No expectations or hidden traps, just two guys, with things in common, hanging out. "Coming to boarding school after being at home all the time must be a shock to the system. It's strange enough coming from a day school."

"It's just great to be able to see people again," Nick confessed. "Mom and dad kept me inside 'cause they were worried that people would get ... well, y'know." He shrugged. "Like they were on the news. It's nice here, though. The cafeteria is great, and they don't limit what you can eat. Which is really nice. I've been hungrier lately; mom says I'm growing more," he chuckled. "It's nice, though. I mean, I call them almost every night. They're glad that I'm making friends. Mom--mom cried, the first night, when I told her I'd met someone and they were super nice. She was so worried that even here I wouldn't fit in."

"The cafeteria's definitely awesome," Teddy agreed. "I can cook, and I'm not bad at it - mom has to do a lot of house showings in the evenings so it was that or order pizza way too much - but it's nice not to have to." There was something so... young about Nick's voice, the way he spoke, and Teddy couldn't help his curiosity. "What grade are you going into? I'm a junior, but with so few students actually here I wonder if we'll have any classes together."

"Well, I'm fifteen, so... I guess I'm going into sophomore year?" He scratched the back of his head. "Jeez, I haven't even thought about that, really. I've just been doing my catch-up work to make sure that I'm on board with the curriculum here," he said.

"The summer school, right? How'd that go?" Teddy asked, pulling one leg up underneath himself.

"Pretty smoothly," Nick said, honestly. "I think for me it was mostly just making sure I was on the same page as everyone else."

"Was it set up like real classes? I still haven't met any of the teachers other than the Professor and Mr. Corsi. I hate to admit it, but I'm a bit nervous about what classes might be like here." Nick had been homeschooled so there wasn't much point in asking him how Xavier's compared to a regular high school, but maybe he'd have some tips anyway.

Nick shook his head. "It was all online, for the most part," he said. "But it was great. I mean, teachers were available to chat and stuff if you had questions."

"Ah well; so much for learning the cheat codes off of you," Teddy joked. "I'll have to get to know which ones to avoid on my own."

"I mean, everyone seems great so far," Nick said, shrugging. "But that's all from just sort of meeting in-person once or twice and some emails."

"Still, that's a good sign," Teddy replied, determined to be positive. "Especially with this being a new school and all. If we had Professor Snape dropping in on us, it would be pretty obvious from the start."

"Yeah. I don't think the Professor would let anyone like that around," Nick said. Even though Snape was technically a good guy. If he was remembering the movies right. "Not exactly great for mutants to be around someone like that."

He was in earnest, as far as Teddy could tell, rather than carrying the joke forward. Better to let it go. "Not so much, no," he replied instead of riffing on it some more. "What were you playing when I walked in? I'm sorry for interrupting you for so long-"

"Oh, don't worry about it," Nick said, grinning just a bit. "I was playing Breath of the Wild. I had a pretty sizable backlog even before coming here so I'm more or less just now getting around to playing it," he said.

"Oh, that's a great game," Teddy nodded along. "I won't spoil anything, but do you mind if I stick around and watch?"

"No, I don't mind at all," Nick said, amiably, smiling. "If you'd prefer, I could put in something we could play together. There's always Mario Kart," he said, shrugging.

Teddy considered it, but- "Maybe some other time? I'll definitely take you up on that, but right now, honestly, watching someone else make Dubious Food sounds just about perfect."

"As long as you're sure," Nick said. He didn't want to be rude, after all. "I mean, it's not like you'll have to twist my arm about it," he chuckled. "I love hints, by the way," he added. "I like to do things without guides, but friendly hints and tips are always welcome."

"Ask away when you need them," Teddy smiled, and he settled in. Low-key, easy, and a friendly face - the perfect way to end what had already been a deeply weird first day.