Infectious or Something

Log Info

Title: Infectious or Something
Emitter: None
Characters: Amber, Claire, Ian, Linus, Samantha, and Sunday.
Place: Taylor Hall and Residence Quad
Time: Friday, May 21th, 2010
Summary: Linus moves in and meets Amber, Claire, Ian, Samantha, and Sunday. It does not go as well as planned.

awkward [awk-werd]
adjective

  1. Lacking skill or dexterity; clumsy.
  2. Lacking grace or ease in movement: an awkward gesture; an awkward dancer.
  3. Lacking social graces or manners: a simple, awkward frontiersman.
  4. Not well planned or designed for easy or effective use: an awkward instrument; an awkward method.
  5. Requiring caution; somewhat hazardous; dangerous: an awkward turn in the road.
  6. Hard to deal with; difficult; requiring skill, tact, or the like: an awkward situation; an awkward customer.
  7. Embarrassing or inconvenient; caused by lack of social grace: an awkward moment
  8. Obsolete. untoward; perverse.

Linus is standing outside the front of Taylor like he's not sure what to do. At his back, are a pile of boxes, with the truck that dropped them off just pulling out, leaving the poor guy to sort of peer about. This, it seems, is one of those new life experiences. He's holding a key in his hand like he's hoping the doors will open and everything will happen on its own. Quite frankly, he looks lost.

Amber comes walking down the path to the dorms, looking at all the sights and sounds, when she sees the pile of boxes, and someone looking lost and confused. "Hello there, need some help?" Amber calls over and grins. "You have the look of a total newbie to this place. Welcome rookie." She giggles and says, "Hi, I'm Amber."

Linus twists his head at the sound of the voice. It takes a second before he's certain it's talking to him, a point he makes clear by looking over his shoulder and giving her a 'who, me'? look before he answers, "Oh, uh… yeah. I…" His voice trails off and he peers at the apparently foreboding entrance to Taylor… foreboding to him, anyway. "I'm just here for summer school and then I… I think I'm here for regular school. I mean, not -regular- school. Wow. You're…" He shrugs, "Hi. Linus - And yes, I packed a blanket." He smiles sarcastically.

"Good, it gets cold at night." Amber has never seen a Peanuts cartoon before, she doesn't get the reference. "Well, yeah we're all here for all kinds of schooling. You need a hand moving in? What's your room?"

Linus responds by way of showing Amber the room number connected to his card. First floor. Not bad. "I've never done anything like this before. They kinda dropped me off and.. well, you know, I've never even done sleepaway camp before."

Amber nods and says, "You'll get used to it. Here, let me give you a hand." She moves over and picks up a box…then another, and another, and another, piling them up on one hand. "How many boxes you got?"

Linus blinks at Amber. "Holy shit." He's also careful to take a step back the second she gets too close, as though he's terrified he might actually bump into her. Maybe he's afraid of girls. Either way, he looks up at the pile she creates on her hand. "I've never seen any… anyone do that. Just the five. Ho… that's not heavy at all??" He rushes for the door, tests his keycard out, and opens it.

Amber nods and picks up the other box in her free hand and says, "No, no. I can throw boulders, this is nothing." She laughs and says, "I'm sorry, did I frighten you? I thought you knew what kinda school this really was. Anyway, can you get the door?"

"I do, but…." As he holds the door open for Amber to get her into the lobby, it suddenly dawns on poor Linus. "You're American Girl Scout." It's almost said like an accusation. The second Amber gets inside, he'll move into the lobby with her and head towards the door with the proper number on it. It's already got a nameplate on it that reads 'Linus Young', a fact that makes him blink yet again.

Amber nods and says, "Guilty as charged!" She laughs and says as she follows, "So what do you do that got you sent to Super High?" Nodding her head, "You have to open that door too," she tells Linus as he pauses.

"It's already got my name on it!" The faintest hint of intimidation streaks across the guy's face. "Wait, what? Oh, right. Sorry." He fumbles for the key, and opens the door in a hurry. "I, uh… don't really do, I mean… it's nothing. You're American Girl Scout. That's insane!" He slips inside, making damned sure to stay away from the door, clearly not wanting to be in her way.

"I am not insane! I'm just eager." Amber laughs as she set stuff down in Linus' dorm room, but comes back out. "I won't invade your space too much. Besides, this isn't my dorm and for some reason the people around here get a little…possessive about their dorm spaces."

It's been a long day for Sunday Knight. She's gone into town earlier for a book signing and it did not end up like she'd thought. She'd come to Taylor trying to find out if Nick was back in his room, if he was okay, but he must still be at the hospital getting patched up. As the pair load things into Linus's new room, Sunday is just turning away from Nicholas Nelson's dorm room door, arms wrapped around herself and looking a little disappointed. It fades a touch when she spots "Amber!" Fuschia-painted lips lift into a small smile that doesn't quite change the look of preoccupation in her eyes as she approaches them. She does try to look a little more friendly as she regards the stranger, however. "Greeting the new students? They should really pay you as the welcome wagon, you know." Looking to Linus, the bleached-blonde teen introduces herself. "Sunday. She didn't throw anything heavy at you, did she?"

Okay. That's just about enough right there for Linus. He looks at Amber, "No… I mean it's insane that you're American Girl Scout. And it's okay. I share.. or used to share a room with my brother. I guess he's got it all to himself, now." He steps out of the dorm and, once Sunday makes herself known, takes a strategic step back from her, pressing his back against the wall. One might get the sense that he's afraid of them. If either girl is versed in tactics, it'll probably be not too hard to figure that he's trying to keep his distance. Maybe he's really afraid of girls. "Sunday?" he says it like he doesn't get it at all. "No… she… Thanks, Amber. She just brought my stuff in. I'm…" He can't even speak. He just points to the nameplate on his door.

Amber listens to Linus and says, "Why is it insane? Ohh, cause you know who I am…listen, I'm just a plain old ordinary 14 year old girl who can fly and bend a car. You know, normal." She smiles and winks, as she looks over at the arriving Sunday and says, "Hey girl…you ok?" She catches that look on Sunday's face. "C'mere and meet the new guy…umm," she looks at the door to remind herself, "Linus! Linus, that's it." She smiles and giggles a little.

A quick nod and attempt at a reassuring smile is Amber's reply from Sunday, who just doesn't want to bring things down by talking about what happened. Besides, the kid is new - not the time to tell Amber about how she just saw a literary character shoot gobs of tacks at a classmate while defending one of her favorite fantasy authors. Looking back to Linus, Sunday arches a brow when he backs up like she's got the plague, then stuffs her hands into her pockets, trying to look, um.. non-threatening? "Sunday. It's my name. Like your name is Linus, Linus." She grins softly. "Do we stink or something?"

Linus shakes his head, "Oh. Oh -you're- Sunday. I thought you…" he peers around, "I thought you were the RA and I was too early. Thought I was supposed to be here on Sunday. Yeah. I'm… I thought I was ready for this, that's all. They gave me a tour of the school during finals week. But I guess it's another thing to be here." He manages a smile and holds his hand up in a motionless wave, exposing the flat of his palm in greeting, "Hi, Sunday. I promise I'm not normally such a… such a spaz." He turns towards Amber. "Maybe that's perfectly normal to -you-." Linus chokes back a laugh. "I'm from Cleveland. We stand on the bus when we want excitement there. I've never seen anyone do what you just did with those boxes, before."

Amber grins and says, "Then you should come on a flight with me sometime. There's nothing better than seeing the world from up so high." She nods and says, "When you're ready, I'll take you on a trip if you like." She giggles, "It's ok to be nervous, but don't worry, everyone's really cool here." She looks at Sunday and says, "What were you up to? You know what, we can chat later. And het, I happen to like being the welcoming committee around here, by the way. I feel like it's the nice thing to do."

Sunday can't help but giggle a little at the latest misinterpretation of her name, shaking her head a little. "Nope, not an RA. Not even in this hall." Glancing to Amber, she adds, "I was just coming to see Nick. But he's not in." She does not, however, at the idea of talking about it later. "It is nice. /You/ are nice, Amber." One of the nicest people Sunday has met so far here, really! Always friendly. She waves back to Linus, getting that maybe he'd rather not shake hands for some reason, then makes a dismissive kind of gesture. "Don't worry about it." Being a spaz. "I was really nervous when I got here too. It's a lot to take in. But hey, you wouldn't be here if you weren't one of the crowd. Amber is an all-around Super-Girl, but I bet whatever you do is cool too!"

Linus peers between the two girls, "It's kind of scary. I mean, I've been dealing with this since I was 12, but I can't control it. And this is just…" He shrugs, "Well, it's kinda weird thinking of myself as a neo, but it's like… all these neohumans in one place. I'm used to being the only strange guy I know. I don't really have powers, though. I mean, not of my own. It's sort of a surprise when I do have them. But yeah. Thanks, Amber. That was really awesome of you. Now I just need to find someone who moves really fast and see if I can beg him to help me set things up." He grins, blushing.

Amber nods and smiles to Sunday, "Thanks, Sunday, but I'm just me." She can't help that she lives up to her girl scout moniker. Then she looks at Linus and says, "You don't really have powers? But you do something then, right? So wait, you just wake up and suddenly you have powers and then you don't? That's gotta be annoying."

"Well that's why you're here," Sunday says to Linus, smiling at him in a kind of reassuring, big-sisterly sort of way. "To learn to control it. And you will! This place is really awesome for kids like us." When Linus goes on, she seems just as confused as Amber, head tilted to the side as she tries to make sense of that idea. A little nod in agreement is given when Amber expresses how frustrating that must be. "Yeah, wow.." She wants to ask, How can you learn to control it if you don't know what you do? But she doesn't, not wantin to be discouraging right after trying to be /encouraging/. "And hey, if you need help.." They're right here!

Linus plants his palms against the wall, "Well, I mean… it comes and goes, but that's because almost nobody's like you… well, like us." He peers between the two girls, "I kinda… copy people's powers if I touch them. I mean, I went invisible on a bus once because I touced someone who I guess could, you know. Turn invisible? I had no idea and all of a sudden people are gasping, and I have no idea why, and they're looking around and…" He peers down at himself, blushing crimson. "Me. Invisible. I'm a little nervous because I can't touch anyone else here."

Amber ohhs, then OHHHHH!s and ohhhhhhhhhhs, with a slow nod. "Wow…oh man, you can't…any of us? Can't you like put on rubber gloves or maybe tube socks on your arms or something? That sounds very sad to not be able to get hugs around here when you need one." She frownyfaces, looking at Linus with pity. "But we can still hang out right? It's not like an airborne thing either is it?"

And the clouds part, the sun appears, and all is made clear! Sunday's eyes widen a little, followed by a big "Ooooooooh!" of understanding. Much like Amber's. "And you can't stop yourself from copying them, I'm guessing." Hence the wall-hug. "Well.. can you do it through clothing?" She kind of wants to ease up and nudge him with her shoulder, just to find out, but that would just be mean given how apprehensive he seems about it. A bit more nodding is done at Amber at the idea that this should not stop Linus from making friends. "Yeah, there's lots of awesome people around here, you shouldn't feel like you need to avoid meeting them! Hey.. Maybe you could even get some lessons in Thunderdome on how to use people's powers. That'd be pretty cool!" She grins wide as a thought hits her. "Ohmigod, I've always wanted to know what it was like to fly! You could just touch Amber some time and find out! Wow…" Blue eyes are alight with the possibilities running through Sunny's head. "Awesome."

Linus is visibly relieved just from confessing, though he's blushing so hard that a person might think he's naked. In a manner of speaking, perhaps he is. "I have no idea. I don't even know how it works. I think it's skin contact… and I mean, I could touch people and hug them. I mean…" He turns to the girls, "I could hug you. But I'd get your powers, and I seem to just naturally use them. I bursted into flames one day. That was kinda… weird. I… I mean, if you tell me what you do, I guess I could try to prepare for it, but I have no idea what I'm doing."

Amber asks curiously, "Do you get personality too? Because then you'd be super happy too, if you copied me." She laughs, and says, "Sunday's right, if you want to learn how to use some stuff I do, I could totally teach you in the Thunderdome. I still am working on a lot of finer points myself. My strength is crazy sometimes." She laughs and says, "And Sunday, I've said it before, you want a ride, I'll take you up."

"Best to try Amber over me to start, really," Sunday speculates, brow furrowing in thought. "She's super strong and stuff, but if you got out of control with my powers.. I dunno. You might start freezing or melting stuff. That could be.. unpleasant." Though she wonders if perhaps the kid would get her immunity to temperature as well as her ability to manipulate it. That could be handy! At the question of if he gets personality too, Sunday looks a little mor curious, though also concerned - that would kinda suck for him. How can you know who you are if you just.. become people you touch? "I might take you up on that someday, Amber, but it's still not quite the same. /I/ wouldn't be the one flying. .. Unless you dropped me, I guess.. and then I'd only be /kinda/ flying.." She purses her lips. "And only for a little while before that also got really unpleasant." A pause, then she shifts her eyes towards Linus and asks out of the blue, "You don't play the drums, do you?"

Linus widens his eyes, "I… don't know. I've always been too shocked at what my body was doing to notice. Of course, I guess if some guy next to you suddenly did the things only you could do, you'd be pretty shocked, so maybe?" He shrugs. "If the point of this place is to make you learn I… guess I technically should start touching people on purpose." He takes another step back from Sunday as she explains her powers to him. "No. No, that would get messy. I don't want to blow the school up." He's smiling, though, still blushing, but looking relieved. "No. I… I never tried. I could learn, though. I mean, I've never tried."

Amber nods and says, "Well, Thunderdome's the place to learn. We'll hang out there soon, and I'll show you how to throw boulders. Then you can play Catch the Boulder with Gronk. But probably best not to go poking at people." She looks over at Sunday and says, "Are you starting a band? I thought you were already in a band?"

Sunday hmms softly. "Well, on purpose, in a controlled environment. Not just.. bumping into people in the halls. Some kids here have pretty powerful abilities." As he steps back and makes the remark about things blowing up, she outright laughs, shaking her head. "I can't blow anything up, Linus. I do things with temperature. It can be dangerous, but not /that/ dangerous." .. Well, she's pretty sure, anyway. Glancing to Amber, Sunday laughs nervously and scratches the back of her head. "Uh, not exactly. I mean, I was, back home. But me and Ian and Jerry are trying to get something started. Problem is, we all play guitar and me and Ian play keyboards.. Nobody plays drums. Can't really have a band with no drums."

"That's exactly what I'm afraid of. Bumping into people in the halls." Linus shrugs, and relaxes a bit, slipping hands into his pockets and crossing his ankles. "This changes a lot for me. I used to just pretend I was normal, and sometimes get surprised. But it's going to be totally different, here. I'm actually surprised they wanted me." Adds he with a grin, "I can NOT believe I'm at the same school as American Girl Scout, and that people here just call her -Amber-. Anyway… I mean it. I'm… I'm willing to learn. I'm here for summer school before starting the tenth grade, but there's plenty of time. I can learn."

Amber hmms and asks Sunday, "Don't they have machines that play drums? Something like that you could get. Or have someone make around here, I'm sure there's a techy or builder around here." She giggles a bit and then looks to Linus and says, "Listen, there could be a lot of uses to have someone be a copy in powers. Especially on front lines stuff. And you will. And you can call me Amber. If you're gonna do the costume thing, THEN you can call me Scout." She winks and then looks back to Sunday, "I can play Rock Band drums, but otherwise I can't help you either, but I'll keep an ear out."

Sunday smiles a bit ruefully, identifying very much with the way this school upheaves your reality. She too just pretended she was normal, nothing special as far as super powers go.. But she had a lot easier time of it than Linus would have. "You shouldn't be afraid of a handshake, Linus. It's good your here. I'm sure they wanted you because they see that." And then he goes on about American Girl Scout, and Sunday arches a brow, turning attention more fully to Amber. "Uh, not quite the same, it's better with a real person. Um, Amber.. Are you famous?" Shyeah. Sunday keeps up on news. Except for that small portion of the news that doesn't involve music.

"I guess I'm just not used to thinking about it like that. Front lines. That's what this school is really here for. To turn people into… yeah." No pressure, Linus. You just need to master every power known to mankind. No sweat! "It'll be okay, I guess. But if I sit a bit apart from everyone at the lunch table, I swear I'm not being a snob. And of course she's famous. She's American Girl Scout. Err, she's Amber. Well, Amber here, yeah. So, how about it? I can't play, but I'm willing to learn. How hard could it be to just hit a drum?"

Amber blushes a bit and says to Sunday, "Umm yeah, you ever see Anchorman? 'I'm kinda a big deal,'" she says with a little head swagger. Then she giggles. "My father is Ultiman, my mother is Fistress, they're two of New York's superheroes, and I'm their daughter-slash-sidekick. I've already been doing the hero thing, since I was 10. Even got my own costume." She grins at Linus and says, "I'm Amber though, don't worry about it. Just Amber here. You're welcome to sit at the far end of my lunchtable anytime."

There's a small frown that works it's way over Sunday's face at part of the conversation before she says, "That's your choice. I mean, nobody is expecting everybody to graduate and put on a cape. Some people are just here to figure things out, and then get back to their lives." Some people, like Sunday. At least, that's her plan so far. She knows she needs to learn more about her abilities, her mutation, but her dreams are with a musical career - not being Thermal, Superhero Extrordinare. The bit about Amber being American Girl Scout gets a nod - yes, Sunny knows this, but why do YOU know this? - before she turns her attention to Amber.. and gets some names fired at her that she DOES know. Sunday's eyes widen. ".. Yeah, them I know. … Wow, Amber! You're like.. Super-Royalty." She had no idea! Talk about last one to the party. "Wow, I am /so/ out of it." Gotta read a paper more often, girl. As for the drums, "I'm sure we could teach you, but it is a bit harder than it looks. Still, welcomed to come hang and
try it out! Maybe you'll like it."

Linus nods firmly, "You're Amber. Got it." He turns towards Sunday, "Sure. I'm kinda… well, I think I need to, really. It's bad enough being the new kid in a school, but I'm worried about outcasting myself because of this 'no touch' thing. If I'm in a band, I'll get to meet lots of people. If it doesn't work out, I'll still meet people, so sure. Why not? Maybe I'll be great at it. Where do you live?" He turns back towards Amber, "And where do you live? You're the first people I've met here. Good to know where you are."

Amber blushes a bit and tells Sunday, "No no, really, I'm just me. It's cool really, just another student and friend." She grins and says, "Really, you'll have a good time. And I'm in Prentiss." She laughs and says, "And I'm in a million clubs, so if you're looking for something to do, come find me." She winks.

"Rider," Sunday replies to Linus, smiling. "Ian's one of the other guys who wants to give this a shot. He's in Rider too. And Jerry, in Astro." She pauses, then quirks her lips off to the side. "Um, definitely watch it around Ian. Nice guy. But he's a werewolf. I, uh.. don't know if you can catch that or not." When Amber mentions the clubs thing, it reminds Sunny of something discussed at another time, with another group, and she perks up a little. "Oh! Amber! Remind me later.. I need to pick your brain, if Jerry hasn't already, about places we could maybe use to practice. I figured you'd have the main-line on things like that." Clearly more excited about talk of a band than she ever gets about powers or super-heroes or the like, Sunday looks back to Linus with a big grin. "I'll see if I can't find you some videos or something. If you really wanna learn. We can /so/ make this happen!" SQUEEK! Exciting!!

Amber blinks and says, "We have a werewolf on campus? Oh right, I forgot all about that!" She laughs and says, "Yeah, I haven't seen Jerry, but I might be able to find something for you." She smiles a little less, but says, "I guess that means Jerry isn't mad at me for overdoing it a bit in class." She explains to Linus, "I kinda overpunched him." She shrugs and smiles. "Good luck with the drumming thing though."

"Prentiss and Rider." Linus nods his head, "Well, okay. I know where to go, then. Amber and Sunday. So, where do people go for fun around here?" At mention of Ian, he chokes. "A werewolf. No. I'll stand… far away from him. ANd what do you mean you overpunched him?" He tilts his head to one side. "Was he alright?"

Mad? Sunday looks outright surprised at that, her expression slowly melting into one of great amusement. "Amber… I assure you, he's the very opposite of mad at you." Aw, she's so adorable. "Werewolves, Aliens, Cyborgs.. We got it all. Like pokemon!" Yay for outdated, cliched references! "Fun? Uh.. Student center, I guess. Or you get off campus! The town isn't really that bad. Might, uh, wanna steer clear of the bookstore for a few days though.. Long story."

Amber whews, "Good! Good, yeah, I just felt awful after that. I know I'm strong, but he's got that shield…" She shakes her head and says to Linus. "Jerry uses energy, and I was sparring with him in class, and he was doing enough that I was getting hurt, and he was shielded. I thought he could take a lot, but I overdid it a touch." She smirks and shrugs, but giggles, "I do not want to be Pikachu, trapped in a tiny ball most of the day." She nods to Sunday's suggestion and says, "What did you do to the bookstore, Sunday?"

Linus doesn't say anything at all. Instead he turns towards Sunday, puts his hands on his hips, and tilts his head in askance. His expression is pure, unadulterated 'What did you DO?'. He doesn't say anything. He doesn't have to.

"Me?" Sunday points to herself in exaggerated shock. "/I/ did nothing, I assure you. I can't speak for Vin and Elend, however." Who? No matter. Glancing between Linus and Amber, Sunday suddenly feels rather caught. Now it's her turn to take a little shift backwards. "Um.. If you were Pikachu, would that make me Charrizard?" .. Did she really just expose knowledge of the Pokemon franchise?

Amber laughs and says, "Umm, well, I guess half of the time." She winks and says, "So who are Vin and Elend? Other students? I thought I'd met pretty much everyone here." She grins a little, "So what happened at the bookstore?" Stories are good when completely told.

"Charrizard?" Linus grins, starting to genuinely relax. "Wow. Did you just out yourself?" It's good natured enough, though. He's unlikely to sound like he's making fun of the girl. Haviing fun with her, rather than at her expense. "I'm pretty curious, too. I'm guessing the townies are used to the students by now."

"Charrizard's gay?!" Amber shouts in disbelief.

Always a fan of the gentle-poking brand of humor, Sunday takes absolutely no offense to being called out, instead smiling broadly over at Linus. "Uh, don't tell anyone. I have a rep, y'know." When neither one will let the whole bookstore thing go, Sunday stuffs her hands deeper into her pockets and shifts from foot to foot nervously. "Uh.. It's really not-" .. Blink blink. Blink blink. ".. Wrong kind of outting, Amber." Cough. "It's really not that great of a story.. Vin and Elend are fictional characters in the Mistborn series, who attacked the book store today.. I'm guessing to kill the author who was there. It was some Neohuman kid there, creating them out of my book. Jon, Nick and I stopped him, but.." She frowns, glancing sideways to Linus.. She doesn't want to say this in front of the new kid, but.. "Nick got hurt. I was.. coming here to see if he's back from the hospital yet." Crap. ARGH. FAIL, Sunday.

"Oh. Right." Amber composes herself. "Yes, well. Ahem." She pauses and says, "Oh, oh no. That's too bad, that must've been a right nasty duo. How is he, recovering? There's gotta be someone around here with some kind of healer. Should've dragged him to the infirmary on campus, it's pretty good." She smiles and says, "But did you get your autograph?"

Hospital? Linus' eyes go a little wider at that. The boy loses some of his hard-won cool and calm, looking a little uncomfortable again. "Oh. I didn't know. Wow." He looks a little weirded out, really. "Is he hurt really badly? That's… yeah." Sobering, apparently. "I guess if he's coming out of the hospital, it's not so bad, then."

"Jon and I weren't sure what to do.. And people who don't grow up around this kind of stuff tend to think hospital first." She smiles a bit helplessly, then looks over to Linus, trying to be reassuring. "He's really okay. Just.. got some tacks stuck in him. He was bleeding, probably needs stitches. But he's okay." She leaves out how he just.. dropped. And how much blood there was.. and how sick it made her feel. Best not to screw with his head. Glancing back to Amber, Sunday sighs, a tiny smile still visable. "No. Lost my book, too. After we got it all sorted out, the kid was just.. crying so much.. I kinda forgot about everything else. I called here, though, and told them about Nick, and this kid. Maybe we'll see him around here sometime." Despite what he did to Nick, Sunday does hope to. He seemed like he needed help.

Amber ahhs and says, "Need to meet him I think. Don't really remember if I know Nicholas yet." SHe shakes her head and says, "That's a tragedy." She pauses and says, "You know. I think I was totally on my way to do something OH MY GOD I'm late for tutoring." She sighs and says, "I gotta get going, my Math grade depends on it."

"In him?" The implication does not go completely unnoticed if, in fact, there is one. "How in him do you mean? 'Ow, I pricked my finger' in him, or 'Oh heavens, I think I've ruptured my lower intestines' in him?" It's clearly an important distinction to make, and Linus, if nothing else, has a compassionate side. He's likely to sound really, really worried about this guy he's never met before, and he even looks towards the exit to the lobby, as if he wants to do… something. "Holy shit. Did this kid know what he was doing?"

After saying her goodbyes to the flighty Amber, Sunday turns back to Linus, looking a little upset with herself for having obviously caused some distress in him. Should have avoided the subject better! "More like.. 'Ow I stepped on a tack' in him. He got in front of them to protect the boy who made the illusions, when those illusions turned on him." She glances in the same direction as Linus, perhaps thinking he's seen something, before turning attention back to him and shaking her head. "In a way, no, I don't think so. He seemed to be really.. emotionally disturbed, you know? He was probably your age, but he cried like a baby in fright when Nick got hurt. And the whole reason he was angry was because the author killed off a character in the book. I don't think he really meant to hurt anyone, he was just.. really upset. But he'll get the help he needs, I'm sure of it. And so will Nick." Seeing how worried the young man is getting over people he's never met brings a warmth to Sunday's eyes, and she moves one hand as if to reach out to him, but stops before she gets even remotely close. "Uh, sorry."

"Illusions. Oh god." Linus shivers. "I didn't even think that was possible, but I guess everything is." He gives the end of the hallway another look, and then turns back towards Sunday. When she reaches for him, he doesn't even think to pull away. Afterall, it's not like he normally worried about not touching anyone. It's only here that he's concerned. Linus is just not in the habit. It's only when she suddenly stops that he wakes up and takes a quick sidestep away from her. He blushes, too. "I guess I'm not the only one with trouble controlling his powers. What exactly do you do? YOu said something about hot and cold. You can control temperatures?"

Sunday shakes her head, not wanting him to worry about any of this. "A lot of things are possible here. And no, you're definitely not the only one. A lot of people who are here, are here just because they can't get a handle on what they do." At the question of her powers, the young blonde nods, and holds out a hand to him palm-up. A moment of concentration later, she's cooled the air above her hand to the point that the moisture condenses and forms a few little snowflakes, all of which fall into her hand and begin to sizzle on the hot surface. "I'm also pretty well immune to it. I haven't been really hot or cold since I was.. ten, I think. I put my hand on a stove-top once, just to see what would happen." She wrinkles her nose. "Not smart. But nothing did happen. I think I might be making myself hot or cold depending on what I'm around, but.. I'm not really sure. Part of the reason why I'm here, I guess." She pauses, then grins and adds, "The other part being that my parents /made/ me."

Linus watches her hand with rapt attention. His eyes widen: The boy is impressed, and Amber's prior assistance seems to have robbed him of complete dumbfounded wonder… enough to allow him to simply watch and admire the show. His mouth drops open and makes the shapes needed to say "Wow.", but provides none of the needed air. He carefully brings his palm under hers to catch any droplets that might come from her. "That. Is. Wicked. But I guess I can understand why your parents sent you here. That's really dangerous. School came to me. I did some stupid things too and got some media attention. Got their attention, too." He looks up at her. "Can you do that again? That was awesome."

The praise practically makes Sunday bubble over with happiness, but more-over it's the look of wonderment on Linus's face. The one positive thing Sunday can say about her powers is that they tend to make people smile when used in certain ways, and there's nothing Sunny loves more than making people happy. She giggles, freckled cheeks turning a little rosey at his praise. "Thanks. You're right though, it can be dangerous." Not that it has been, nor does she believe it was a primary concern for her parents, but hey, he's still right! "Media attention, huh? Ah, well you aren't the first and won't be the last, so I hope you don't worry too much about it." When he asks her to do it again, those bright pink lips curl into an even bigger smile. "C'mon." With only that said, Sunday makes a 'follow me' motion with her hand and moves past Linus, through the hall and out the front door of Taylor.

Linus blushes again, the sensation contagious when you're too young to know how to contain it. Weren't girls supposed to be icky? "Yeah. That was the first time I'd ever been on fire. It was kinda weird. The guy who interviewed me told me I was really dumb and could've died. I guess it's a good thing I got his immunity to fire, too." He nods, "Okay. Where are we going?" and smiles, shutting his door and then following after her.

Sunday only takes Linus as far as the quad, just outside Taylor. There aren't a lot of people around at this evening hour, probably because it is a little chilly. But what the temperature-controlling rock chick needs, she can only get out here right now: moisture. Sunday can't produce it on her own, not in the amount she wants for what she wants to do. "Just watch." As she speaks, there is no cloud of fog from her warm breath in the cold air - mostly because her breath isn't all that warm right now. Linus, on the other hand, will find himself quite comfortable, despite the fact that the are around them is about to experience a serious cold-front. Sunday closes her eyes to focus, and when they open again.. it's snowing! Not a lot, and not everywhere, but directly above and all around the pair of teens has appeared a moderate show of winter white. Sunday smiles, expression practically glowing. "You did ask to see it again." It's her favorite trick.

Linus walks behind her, conscious of location, again. While it's incredibly unlikely that the person in front of him might suddenly stop, causing him to (somehow) crash into her, gain her powers, and set the entire campus on fire, it seems like a very real and probable danger to him… which is why he's staying back. "Okay. I'll watch." He stands and, as advertised, simply observes… until the snow starts, anyway. His jaw drops and then twists into an elated smile, and his palms extend towards the meager snowfall, "Oh. My. God. That is -full- of win!"

With her hands upturned to catch the snowflakes she's produced, Sunday giggles at his exclaimation, giving a little bow to her audience. Curiously, he may or may not notice that none of the snowflakes that land on her actually seem to melt. They just stick. This is a sharp contrast to what happens when they hit him, where they melt rather quickly. "I like to try doing things with my powers that create. I know they can do a lot to hurt, but this kind of stuff.. this is harder, I think. Takes more thought." Her smile becomes rather sheepish as she brushes a bit of bleached blonde hair from her eyes, and a few snowflakes with it. "Not really useful though. But pretty. If you want, I'll teach you how to do it sometime."

Linus watches in wonderment and amazement. "That's just… yeah. It's hard to know what to make of it, I think." He presses his tongue out to capture some of those snowflakes. His eyes widen once she offers to teach him to do it, the thought sobering and thought provoking, it seems. "I.. can do this." He's convincing himself. "I mean, I can actually, if I touch you, have the ability to do this, once I learn what I'm doing. It's only really been inconvenient or scary. THis is… pretty."

There is a moment, just a second, when Sunday wonders just how much damage her powers can do in the hands of someone who doesn't know how to use them. She's pretty sure she can't make a whole building burst into flames, but if you heat up, say, that tree over there enough, it would definitely catch. Then again, she could also very easily cool it back down.. sooo… Sunday extends a hand outward towards him for the second time, palm up. "The things we do, Linus.. They don't have to always be about violence and defending ourselves from bad guys and.. Whatever. Sometimes, when you're lucky, they're just about creating something wonderful. At least, /I/ think that's lucky. There's so much.." she pauses, searching for a word in the night sky as if the stars were going to suddenly form the letters. "I dunno, /Crappiness/ in the world. Some people wanna fix that by being heroes, and that's awesome, but me.." She shrugs, grinning as her free hand comes up to scratch a snowflake off her nose. "I just wanna make things nicer." Music. Snowflakes. To Sunday, it all goes hand in hand. "You're lucky. You get to decide for yourself. Not everybody does."

"The interviewer guy was trying to be slick with me. Talked down to be because I was a kid, told me I could've made my 'mommy and daddy' really sad, but I got the point he was making. I get what you're saying, though. I really do. You've had a lot of time to think about it, too. That's way more thought than I've put into it. I'm just -reacting-. Not really thinking. But it's.. I want it to be a better place too, I guess. You know what happened is I saw a burning guy standing on a bridge." Linus blushes a little bit, "He was going to jump. I kinda figured he was just alone, so I went up and I touched him. That's how I ended up on fire. Talked him down. Turns out he'd killed six people that day. Interviewer told me he was high on something, lost control. That's what I'm afraid of. Losing control."

Sunday's hand falls back to her side, though she is still smiling as the last of the snowflakes fall. "Then what you need is time to think. This is a better place than most to do that, I think." Blue eyes roll a little as he tells her about his recruitment, her head shaking lightly. "I hate that," she murmurs, referring to the way so many adults treat them. It's the way her parents have started to treat her, though she has to admit, in that case, she did give them reason. When he goes on to talk about the burning man, Sunday's warm expression dims and darkens, frown deepening as he goes on. "God.. Yeah, I can see how that'd freak anybody out. But just the fact that you're concerned about it, Linus, is a good thing. Means you'll do everything you can not to." And there's that smile again. "I think you'll get a lot out of this place. I'm glad you're here." After a moments pause, she grins a little wider and winks at him, adding, "And not just because you're gonna be my bands cute drummer!"

Linus may as well have the power to change his skin color, because it turns red. Whatever he was going to say is lost, reduced to an unintelligible mumble. What he actually says is Thanks. I hope I do a great job as a drummer. but it sounds like a lot of murble burble burble. "I, uh…." He needs a second. Clearly. "I should probably unpack, because it's not going to unpack itself, t-though there's probably someone who could make that happen, anyway." Recovery comes soon enough, though he's still blushing. "Let me know about the band, though. I don't have any classes yet, so I've got time on my hands. Maybe you can introduce me to the other kids."

"It'd be my pleasure," Sunday replies, politely failing to notice the crimson shade his face has turned. What a sweet guy! Oh, Sunday likes him already! She won't bother to ask what it was he said that she very thoroughly missed, instead just giggling to his joke about the kid running around here with magical unpacking skillz, and lifting up a hand to wiggle her fingers in a wave as the tempature of everything around them clears up. "Good luck with unpacking. See you around soon, Linus. You better not be a stranger! After all, I know where you live." Another grin, and another wink, and Sunday will allow him to escape as he wishes.

The scene is actually not in Taylor, but the quad itself. The observant might notice a couple specks of snowflake on the ground, but if so, they are very fleeting, the ambient temperature clearly no likey and it has ultimate authority unless, apparently, Sunday says otherwise. She's standing out here and a red-faced Linus is walking away in an awkward, uncomfortable hurry. He's not looking where he's going, either.

Sunday is also looking a little blue around the edges, and has some snowflakes stuck to her hair, as she waves to the blushing teen.

It's a seldom coincidence to see one Reb Stoker without his iPod. Today was no exception as the young man steps into campus, white earbuds in ear with a slight pep in his step. Why? New music of course! And an observant one might notice that he is more comfortable with the environment than he was a few scant weeks before - Evidenced by the fact he is actually singing. Lowly, of course, but still audible to those nearby: "o/~ Can we talk a little more, like we did before? Sing it loud like it matters to you. Don't be so whoa-oh-oh-oh-whoah, oh no. Can this be a little more heart and a little less consequence? o/~" His eyes are closed to near lids a he just lets his music guide him. Well, at least to the casual observer. In actuality, Ian was guided purely on scent, the world almost as vibrant than if his eyes were wide open. There were few advantages to the Beast, and he had decided relatively to find happiness in the small things. Like walking blind to good music, and still not look like a fool.

Heading home from the Thunderdome after another night of programming in ridiculosu scenarios just for fun, Claire Hastings has a rather devious smile on her face. Her iPod is firmly in place as well, the black earbuds lodged in her auditory cannals, pumping in something loud enough to kind of be heard in her immediate vicinity. Much like Ian, she's singing, though her singing could best be described as 'toneless' by a kind observer. x/~ This is the House, built on Sin! This is the House, Come on in! x/~ Carring her bookbag over her back, she stops for a minute to shift the weight and blinks, spotting Ian across the quad. Her smile gets a little more genuine and she stops to wave to him, totally missing the embarassed teen heading her way. It's not really her fault when her object of teenage fantasies is walking… walking… walking… she mouths, "Wow," her eyes obviously staring somewhere below Ian's belt and behind his, well, front. "Hey! Ian!" Claire manages to get off, just as she gets bowled into by the new kid, she grabs him for support, her bookbag thhrowing her off balance, her hand gripping his as she falls on her butt with a soft thud. Her eyes go wide for a moment and she stares at Linus, their hands still touching.

You paged Claire with 'OK. Whatcha thinking?'.

Claire pages: clairecensored.jpg

You paged Claire with 'You'll experience a sensation like a pinprick along the tail of your spine.'.

Linus's eyes probably go wider. Much wider. He sucks for support, in this case, and his skin goes from female-induced blush red to power-copy, terror-induced white. He doesn't burst into flames or turn into jelly, but he SUCKS for support. In fact, he falls right on his ass, eyes wide like saucers, staring at Claire as if she has fifteen heads.

"Claire!!" cries Sunday, too late to stop the collision from happening. Wincing as the pair goes down, a moment later she's rushing over to help the fallen duo. For a moment, however, Sunny is forced to hover in a most helpless fashion, brow furrowed as she tries to work out what to do.. or what has already been done. Ultimately, she reaches out to take hold of Claire's arm and try to get the girl up and off Linus. "Crap, Linus?? Are you okay??" Fret fret fret! And helpless to boot.

So colour Ian the last one to know anything. For example - Crushes, and the fact that he was the last to pick up on them. And now this. He only notices Claire wave after he catches her scent, along with Sunday's and several others whom he was familiar with. One isn't however, which makes his nose flair. Stoker's eyelids open slowly, and he turns right in time for the collision. He doesn't go into a spring, unaware of the nature of the unidentified kid. Instead he saunters, chuckling: "Everybody okay over here? I'm thinkin' they need to put traffic lights in the quad for…" He pauses then, noticing everybody else's reaction. See? Last one to the party. Always. "Uh… Is everything okay?"

Claire's eyes go wide, even as Sunday rushes over. She's staring in something akin to horror at Linus. She begins to shake her head slowly, then faster until she's shaking it violently. At the same time she's saying, "No. No! NO! Get out of my head! Why are you in my head! GET OUT!" She looks up as Sunday offers her a hand, a look approaching helpless terror in the goth girl's eyes. She's apparently not used to having anyone else in her head and for some reason, this moment is particularly bad for her. Her cheeks are flushing red, tears beginning to well in her eyes. She looks back to Linus and screams, "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" She seems pretty much lost in panic at the moment.

Disoriented, thy name is Linus. He stares at the now hysterical girl with wider eyes, blinking as the mental door is effectively slammed shut in his face. His jaw drops and he sits there with his palms flat on the ground, and worry begins to take over his face. "I…. " He has nothing to say for himself in spite of having so much to say. The boy is at a loss for words and he slowly turns towards Ian… and glances at his ass in, you know, a platonic fashion. He slowly veers from 'confused and worried' to 'terrified'. Possibly of Ian's ass. Who knows?

Sunday glances up to Ian only for a moment, looking quite worried indeed before she fixes back on Claire, grabbing hold of the girl and pulling her up, looking her straight in the eyes. Or, trying to, anyways. "Claire, sshh, it's okay. It's not his fault! He touched you and," A heavy sigh is released, and as the little gothling teen starts to tear up, Sunday tries to collect Claire in her arms and hug her comfortingly. If she will allow it. "It's okay, Claire. He didn't mean to scare you." Turning her head to look imploringly at Ian, as if the poor boy could do anything to help, Sunday then turns her eyes to Linus, expression full of sympathy. "Are you okay? Ian, this is Linus. He, uh.. probably doesn't want you touching him right now."

Stoker's expression instantly turns from bemused to instantly on guard, like a dog with hackle's risen. It was a natural reaction for him with a trouble. Still with a deep breath he brings it out, moving to go back to back with Sunday, making a physical barrier between the boy and the laides. It was a lucky thing, with his hands only narrowly missing the boys as he does so. When Sunday explains things, Reb blinks again, and visibly moves a bit straighter, just to make sure that he won't make contact to the boy. One thing he wasn't about to try was to see if his curse was transmutable. "Take a deep breath, Linus. I'm Ian Stoker. Take some deep breaths and think about baseball. Or more specially Baltimore Orioles. You done touched a mind reader." His words were picked on purpose, knowing the claims Claire had made before with her ESP. Perhaps making him think of Baseball would get his mind to see that, instead of y'know, other people's brains. Turning his head marginally, he looks at Sunday and then Claire. "Back to Earth Gothling. Just stay here with us, it's alright. Center - Stay Zen." Uh.. what other cliches could he think of? In the end Ian looks to Sunday with a 'That's all I got' look. This kinda was a first time playing consellor for something like this. "Linus huh? That's a cool thing, like with Lucy. Is there, uh, an off button for your gift?"

Claire actually clings to Sunday, hugging her tight and looking away from Linus. She shudders and takes a deep breath, forcing herself to calm, which, surprisingly, does the trick. Her jaw muscles tighten, her face going even more pale than it usually is. She nods to Sunday, then seems to relax as Ian inerposes himself between her and the boy. "He saw into my head. I could feel him in there. Looking at my thoughts." She looks over to the boy and swallows. "What did you see?" She's trying to hide her fear, her mind at the time was so unguarded and it's clear she's worried about something she was thinking at the time. She never lets go of Sunday though, having someone else there is incredibly calming, especially with how quick the blonde was to rush to her aid.

Ian pages: Two voices for the price of one! Voice one, is a mix of relief and determined resoluteness. "Too close there, Reb. Too close, last thing we need is…" It is cut off by darkness. Not silence, nor a cloud. Just a void - of life, of caring, of anything remote. One almost could wonder how such a thing existed without… somehow darkening the world around it. Why was the sun to bright with such a thing existing? "You look so pretty when you sweat, sweetling." That's what it said, strangely familiar, strangely intimate. For a moment the darkness took the shape of a woman. A familiar one to the first, with a strong resemblance. Twins? "You'd look better in red though. Soaking wet. Give it a try. They won't mind." Pause. And a giggle. "At least they won't after a few moments."

Coming that close to Linus makes the boy freak out a bit more. He opens his mouth, "I'm sorry. I…" but getting his attention turns out to be the worst thing of all. The sensation, for the curious reader, is like the one a person has just moments before the onset of a charlie horse. You know it's coming. You want to stop it, and after it happens you know there had to have been something you could have done to prevent it from happening… but it's too little, too late. It's just that rather than a terrible pain in his calf muscle, Linus locks eyes with Ian and ends up scrambling backwards. "Holy… Holy -shit-." He closes his eyes, "Make it stop."

The smile Sunday offers to Ian is helpless, but still grateful for what he's trying to do. She just feels so awful right now, as if this was all her fault. Why didn't she tell Linus he should wear gloves or something before she took him back outside?! It's stupid, it's rediculous, but it's Sunday. She takes on the worlds problems. As long as Claire clings, Sunday does not let go, rubbing at the girls back and hair in the most soothing way she can. "I know, Claire," she murmurs, resting her cheek on the slightly shorter girl's forehead. "Whatever he saw, he didn't mean to." She continues to try and comfort Claire, right up until she hears the tone of Linus's voice change. Her head turns sharply, wide-eyes finding the boy as he scrambles away, then following his frightened gaze up to.. Ian. Shit. He's still doing it! "Alright, no more." Sunday carefully but firmly pries herself from Claire and deposits the girl with Ian. The look on her face is firm, prepared. Decisive. Sunday has made a Decision, and is now surging forward to fulfill it even as she prays that her supposition about Linus's powers is correct - that he can only take one set at a time. She's not going to give him a chance to get away. Sunday hurries past Ian, to Linus, and drops on her knees before the boy. A quick "Sorry," is all that's offered before she reaches out to carefully but firmly cup his face in her hands, steel blue eyes fixed on him in a gaze that demands attention. "Don't be scared," she murmurs, giving him a warm, reassuring smile. "You can't do anything with my powers that I can't fix, I promise."

You paged Sunday with 'You will experience a sensation like a pinch at the base of your spine when he gets your powers, btw.'.

Ian comes to the same supposition as Sunday when Linus' eyes turn to him and back away. He's seen that look before. He saw it in the mirror in his weak moments. Noir was not a nice thing to hear, and Linus got a full earfull without ever wanting to. Even if he could make sense of the gibberish it would be kinda harrowing. Poor boy also would think Ian was insane. But… "Nothing can be done about it now," Stoker mutters, shaking his head. He notes Sunday then, and the look on her face. It was one that rung a bell in the back of his mind — if only he could place it. That look of utter determination. He does take Claire though, wrapping his arms about her shoulders, fingers coming to stroke black hair soothingly. "Welcome to the other side Gothling. Kinda sucks, but you'll be okay. Best part about thoughts is that you make new ones. Nothing he saw could be that bad. Just stay calm, Claire." He keeps his voice slow, low and as soothing as he could muster, only looking up after several moments to watch Sunday handle Linus. And he thought his powers sucked sometimes. Okay they did, but poor Linus was in way over in his head at a place like this.

When Ian touches her shoulders and strokes her hair, Claire seem to calm even more, her overly pale cheeks flushing a bit with color. She leans into the young man and swallows. "I'll be ok Ian. Don't worry. It was just a sudden shock is all. I'm… not used to having others in my head. It was a weird feeling. At least now I know what it feels like for next time." God, she hopes there is no next time. She actually looks at Linus and the expression on his face. "Oh, he got into your head, didn't he. Wow, sucks to be leech boy." Her voice sounds a bit hard when she says that.

Linus shakes a little, looking at Ian with a twist of his head and a 'what the hell are you?' sort of uneasy expression on his face. With Sunday's touch, he flinches and immediately the space in front of him becomes wavy with convection, scattering light as if it were a turbulent gas. He glances at Ian again, down from his eyes to, yes… that ass. Truth be told, with the link to Claire long since severed, he's left confused, trying to re-discover the now-missing context and not getting any. It's just some guy's ass! And though he doesn't answer Claire's question, when he looks from Ian's hind quarters to her face, the question goes silently answered. He blushes and then looks down. The heat shield, he can apparently deal with. "I'm really, really, really sorry." The shield continues at full tilt. Take that, stray bacteria.

The benefit of being immune to your powers is being immune to other people using your powers, though Sunday does find it suddenly difficult to hold on to Linus. So, she lets herself be pushed away for the moment, but is otherwise unharmed. Thank god that worked. Relief, however, is tempered by concern for the young man, and with Claire taken care of Linus is the focus of Sunday's attention. She lifts both hands and pushes them against the swirling hot air, working to cool it down as she speaks to him. "It's not your fault, Linus. It was just an accident, and you don't have anything to feel sorry about. Relax, okay? The shield is up because you think you need it, but you don't." One thing does catch her ear, however, and in a move that seems sharply contrasting to what is normally Sunday's friendly, sun-shiny attitude - especially given she was only moments ago trying to comfort Claire - the blonde turns her head sharply and repremands, "We don't need the 'leech boy' comments, Claire. He hasn't done anything /you/ haven't done yourself." She'll regret that later. For now, Sunday is at the tail end of what has been an extremely long, extremely stressful day, and her just-do-it attitude works against her at times like these.

"I'm suposing he did," Stoker murmurs. Get into his head that is. "And don't go below the belt, Gothling. Ain't easy not looking at something when you don't know not to look at it yet." He wasn't a mind reader. Never was, never will be, but he was assuming it was like looking at a brick wall before it reveals a locker room on the other side. Sure you can look away, but there might be a stunned moment - and plenty of time to take in things you shouldn't see while trying to break away from the gaze. As Claire settles more, Ian's movements against her hair slows before he slowly pulls back and away, hands slipping back into pockets again as he looks at all three again. He does catch Linus once during his looks and takes note, face blank of any sort of clear response. A carefully studied Poker Face. "Don't worry Linus. Mind if I call you Peanuts? It's a good name, swear to it." Pause. "Just relax some, and we'll get it all sorted all. Some day you'll laugh at this. Raelly." Probably not, but what's the hurt in a white lie?

Samantha has arrived.

Claire seems to flinch as she is chastized, the color leaving her cheeks again as if she had been physically slapped. She doesn't say anything but her body language changes, she seems to shrink back a bit, eyes wide again. Something about what Sunday said struck a serious nerve. Nodding once, she just presses a bit closer to Ian. He might have some idea why that hurt her, if he remembers. When Ian says that and moves away from her, Claire's brow furrows and she shrinks back from the gathering, biting her bottom lip and looking down at the ground. "Sorry um… Linus. I get kind of… snarky when I feel… well, when I feel. NO offense?" Her voice is small, soft and quiet but not exactly a whisper.

Linus is sitting on the ground outside Taylor, Sunday's kneeling in front of him while Claire stands beside Ian, looking conflicted and troubled. Ian, in turn, is standing not too far from the new guy, himself. A heat shield exactly like Sunday's is going full tilt around said new guy, who looks a little disoriented. "Yeah, uh… yeah." He keeps his eyes closed and concentrates. It's taking some time, but the shield is starting to weaken, though the astute will see that it pulses and spikes once he opens his eyes again, which he does to look up at Ian. At being called peanuts, he inwardly groans. "I don't think I could stop you. I'm really sorry. I… I was afraid this would happen." He looks up at Sunday and the field finally drops off. He exhales, "I think I'm alright. THis is way less volatile than… uh, I'm Linus."

When the shield falls, Sunday exhails a very deep, labored breath, as if she had been holding it in since this all started. Some amount of the tension released, but not all. Still, the young mutant smiles in the most gentle, warm expression she can muster for poor Linus. Before doing so might result in a cataclysmic event, Sunday leans forward and hugs him with total disregard to his personal space, half as an offer of comfort, and half because she damn well needs a hug. "I'm sorry," she whispers, for him alone, "I just couldn't think of anything else to do to help you." Words spoken, she pulls away and seeks out the boys hands to help him up off the ground with her, then proceeds to dust herself off a bit. "Linus, this is Ian. The one I told you about. And this is Claire. She's a friend of ours."

Ack. Well, shit. Ian was trying to keep things civil and spare Linus' feelings and just went and made Claire's worse. "Chin up, girl. Just a lot of frayed nerves here all around. No one meant to hurt anyone. We just all need a bit of timeout." He even tries a disarming smile, though with tensions all bunched in the knot, there really isn't much good that'll do. "And who knows. Maybe he was just overwhelmed by all sorts of lurid thoughts - not anything scary." Not really, but it should insert some humor in there. Right? Turning back to look at Linus, Stoker offers the lightest of nods. "Linus then for now." Peanuts isn't one of his most original names. He'll have to think something better later. "I suppose it's a bit late to welcome you to the circus, but trust a cynic. Things'll improve here." He glances at Sunday for a long moment, noting her expression. She was the calmest one of the group and that inherently made him distrust it. Just how much was the brave face and how much wasn't.

"Well, at least I'm not the new kid anymore," Claire snorts, smirking a bit lopsidedly. "Nice to meet you Linus, well, at least you made an impression, nice or not. I'd shake your hand but I think you know me a bit more than I'd like. Not your problem though." She folds her arms across her chest and takes a deep breath, trying to look hard again after her total freakout. It really help when Sunday calls her a friend. "Yeah, like Ian said, welcome to the Circus. You've seen the center ring where the amazing ice girl, Claire the Magnificent and her powers as well as Ian the ringmaster. If you'll look to your left," she points down towards the Thunderdome waaaay at the end, "That's where we keep the Demonic Ninja Zombies and Dinosaurs. And behind me in the third ring," she jerks a thumb over her shoulder to the Student Center, "Is the ticket office and concessions. If you have any questions, just ask a clown. They wander all over the place here. Usually under the name, Jerry."

It's about then that Samantha comes walking more or less toward the group, from the direction of the Student Center, on her way back to the dorms. Spotting the little gathering, she waves in greeting, then calls out to them as she comes close enough to not have to shout. "Hi! What's up?"

Linus blushes a bit at the hug, but faintly, this time. There's been more than enough reasons for him to blush in the last ten minutes, and along the renormalized scale, this now registers as a 2. "No it's… it was good. I got stuck. I'd never, uh…" His tone makes it clear he doesn't know what to call it, "borrowed from a telepath before." He slowly gets up with Sunday's help and smiles at her. Once he lets go, he takes a deep breath and… nothing. It's a profound nothing, though. Like 'nothing' was the goal. Chew on that for a while. He turns towards Ian and Claire, "It's just that I've heard every Linus van Pelt joke you can think of. You can call me that if you want to. I'm used to it… but yeah. Uh, I'm Linus Young. I copy your powers if you touch me so, uh… that was kind of weird. If this is a circus then I think someone spiked the peanuts with acid or special k or something. That was such -failcake-." He turns his head towards Samantha and watches her very carefully, as if there's some possibility that she's going to run up and randomly shake his hand or fall on him or something. Hey. It could happen!

Of course Claire is a friend. Sunday thinks far too fondly of the girl, even in the short time they've known each other, to let one misspoken word born of very legitimate emotion taint that. She'll probably even apologize later for snapping, but right now.. Sunday is, as Ian observed, all brave-faced and concerned for others. A little nod of understanding is offered to Linus as he explains. "I'm just glad it worked." Very glad. Hands are released, and Linus is left to do his thing. Glancing over at her friends, Sunday catches what may have been the unintended pun of spiked peanuts and cracks a soft smile, then looks towards the approaching figure. "Hi Sam. I think you missed the excitment. Have fun at the S.C.?"

"Woah, woah now. Where did the hateraid for Jerry come about?" Ian's voice is mild, not accusatory. From his own recollection, the only time he knew of Claire and Jerry interacting was at the coffee shot. "But total points for making me ringmaster. I'd be a lady killer with a tophat and a whip." Er, wait. Whip was lion trainer wasn't it? Ah well. Hurray for broken allegories! Stoker is about to insert something else when another girl walks in, one he has quite yet to me. His nostrils flare again before there's a shallow nod of the head as he commits something to memory. Sam gets a: "Yo," and a peace sign flash. "Please say your powerset is, like, the ability to grow daisies. Something nice like that to give poor Linus a break." Speaking of, he gives the young man a look at the peanut with acid barb. Popculture reference senses tingling! Ahem. "Nah, Linus works well. If i'm gonna give you a nick, it'll damn well be unusual in someway." He'll have to put some thought into it! As things begin to slip back into normalcy, Ian finds himself slipping those iphone headphones off and into pockets, no longer concerned with music. Excitement, though Sunday? It wouldn't be his first descriptors of the event that juts happened.

Claire chuckles at everyone, especially Ian. "Don't worry, I'm just teasing. No hate for Jerry. None. Really." She hefts her backpack up over her back some more and just shakes her head. "Wow, hi!" She waves to Sam, offering a rather generous smile. "What's up?" Ian is given a look at the idea of someone with the power to create daisies, resisting the urge to tease Ian for a few seconds, then saying it, "And if she did, I can just see you calling her Daisy Duke for all eternity." She's picked up on his penchant for nicknaming alright.

"Just needed to get out of my room for a while," Samantha answers Claire. "I got so buried in working on my English paper that I forgot to get dinner," she adds with a slightly self-conscious grin and a self-deprecating laugh. To Ian's speculation about her powers, she says, with a bit of a giggle, "No flower power, sorry," while glancing across the rest of the group. "Um, I've seen some of you around campus, but I don't think I've really met most of you yet. I'm Sam. Short for 'Samantha'."

"That's okay, but I get to give you a nickname too." Linus smirks a bit at Ian, though he's a little low on gusto at this point. Towards Samantha he turns, "Oh. Uh, are you starting with summer school, too? I just transferred but they wanted me to take some intersession classes because I did my freshman year in a normal high school." He's standing up, he's on his own power (pun withstanding)… all systems are go. He smiles at Sunday, then repeats for Samantha's benefit, "I'm Linus." and to the group in general, "I think this sort of thing is going to happen every time I bump into someone. Are the hallways crowded? I, uh, might ask if I can get a hazmat suit or something. I mean, oh em gee. I feel like I've got a disease here."

"I, um, kind of came in on the emergency plan a couple weeks ago," Sam semi-explains. "So I'm finishing up my freshman year that I started in my regular school, and then I'm taking some summer classes." She looks at Linus with curiosity mixed with a touch of alarm. "Are you like, infectious or something?"

Though she stands and listens to the conversation, eyes moving from speaker to speaker, Sunday has all but checked out of the conversation once she has made pleasantries with the new arrival, and everyone seems to be alright. She crosses her arms at her chest, gaze fixed for a moment on Sam, then Claire, Ian, and finally Linus, though it's a little difficult to tell if she's actually *looking* at any of them. Actually seeing them. Her hands tighten at her forearms. "I should get back to my room." The announcement is a little abrupt, but softened by the smile she paints on. Glancing around again, she says, "I'm glad everyone's okay. Linus," once again attention is fixed on the boy, "It was really nice meeting you, honestly. We'll talk. Until then, you know where you can find me." Looking back to the others, Sunday nods once and says "I'll see you guys around," even as she begins moving off in the direction of Rider, neither rushing nor lingering around for lengthy goodnights.

Claire offers a wave. "I'm Clare." She opens her eyes wide and leans towards Samantha, adopting her 'spooky' voice as she does so. "I see everything!" Smirking, she rocks back on her rather high heels and manages not to loose her balance. Listening to Sunday, Claire smirks. "Yeah, I should head out as well soon. I have to study, finals coming up and I've only been here since the start of the month!"

"Nah, there's only one Daisy Duke. Plus the conotations are bad with that one. Unless you're trying to make me imagine all the girls here with too-short jean skirts." Ian says that all with a blaise tone to his voice, as if talking about the weather. And perhaps he was - the subtle game and wordplay to ensure a bit of ambuigity in every one of his statements. In all seriousness, he does give a firm nod to Sammantha, before lifting his hand in mock salute. Standard Stoker greeting. "Ian Stoker, or Reb. Good to put a name to the face." Tilting his head to Linus, a hint of a smirk appears on his features. "Only fair. Though I do get veto power on Fluffy, Wolfie, Dogmeat or anything of the kind. Keep clear of those and we'll be fine." As for the classes? "Small high school sized. I think though it'd be a really good idea to get a body suit or something. They have some crazy shit over at the science labs, I'm sure they can whip up something that isn't too uncomfortable." He is about to add something else but then Sunday waves on, causing him a momentary frown. Very abrupt. The young man makes a mental note to check on that later.

"It was nice meeting you too, Sunday. We'll talk." agrees Linus with a nod and a smile. "Maybe you can show me how to cook my food without a microwave." He doesn't know any of these people well enough to pick up on any of the subtexts, at least not the way Ian seems to. "And I'd be lying if I said meeting you was good, Claire, but that was just epic fail. Do-over?" His tone screams 'apology', though he's turning a little red around the cheeks anyway. Regarding the other two, he just nods a few times, "Maybe. They said it wouldn't be a problem, but I don't think it's safe to just be in class around here. I kinda -am- infectious. Don't touch me, please." Well, that's certainly presumptuous! "I mean, if you do, then I'll probably have your powers and use them a lot dumber than you'd ever imagine."

Claire smirks at Ian. "What about JoJo The Dog-Faced Boy? It's a good Circus name." She winks as she gathers her things and then turns to Linus. "Sure, we can do-over that meeting. I really should learn to wear opera gloves. Fashionable and they prevent skin to skin contact!"

"Eek. I'll remember that," Sam says to Linus. It's clear from what some of the others are saying that just such a mishap with the newbie's powers must have happened before she got here, but she's not going to ask about it, given that it also seems to have been an unpleasant experience. She gives the departing Sunday, who she at least /had/ met before, a cheery wave, then turns to Ian. "How do you feel about 'Spot'?"

"Keep it up, Gothling, and I'll change your name to something like…" He pauses, chinrubbing as he considers names. When nothing good comes up he merely squints and waggles a finger accusingly. "You'll get yours yet gadget." To Linus, he offers: "If you need anything, I'm living in Rider. Just stop on by — well maybe knock first. The whole accidental contact in such a small space could be.." Stoker trails off whistling before looking at the others. When Sam mentions spark, he quirks a brow. "Dunno, Sparky. I always figured I'm more of a Buddy type. At worst Tintin." With that, he checks for his iPod before turning to Rider, offering another nod to the three. "Catch ya'll on the flip I guess." He suddenly had some new things on his mind to follow up on, and some time alone in his room probably was the best thing for all involved. At least until he got some other thing straight.

Claire begins to walk off towards Rider Hall. "Come on, you can think of a good name for me Jojo. Like if you really wanted to piss me off, you could call me Bella or Akasha or Emogirl or Babygoth or Hermione or…" She trails off, wandering back towards her dorm totally just listing off names for herself since Ian seems mindblocked.

"Do you really turn into a werewolf?" asks Linus in a voice that is equal parts curiosity and concern. Afterall, he's been inside the boy's head long enough for it to confuse him more than being inside anyone's head would. He slips his hands into his pockets. "But I'll remember that. Rider. Maybe you can give me some survival advice. This is pretty obviously not going to be like regular school and I was barely surviving -that-."

"Werewolfisque," is Ian's parting shot for Linus. Not traditional werewolf definately, but the closest reference that anyone would get. As for advice? "When I figure that part out, I'll pass it on to you."

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