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Post by Eridan on Aug 19, 2012 20:39:52 GMT -7
Eridan huffed as he played with the strings on his hoodie. The whole thing was purple and unzipped exposing a white shirt, his signature blue scarf hung around his neck. He tucked his hands into his khaki shorts and kicked a rock along the path. He'd been walking around the park simply to clear his mind. Sometimes he walked the beach with Fef when he was back in Annapolis.
He was lost in thought before he blinked at the fountain. It looked a bit deeper than any fountain he'd ever seen and he gave it a rather wide berth. He bit his lip staring at it, running a finger over the water's surface before a few hellions watched the forlorn looking hipster run his thumb along the tip of his forefinger, pleased that he hadn't started changing.
Suddenly! He felt four hands on his back and with a scream he was tossed into the water. He could feel the gills on his sides open and take in water, he gaped, he was under the water! he slammed his hands on the ground and threw himself into a sitting position. In seconds he could feel his skin start to change. " No no no!" He threw his hood on to hide his face, pulled his sleeves down to hide his arms but his legs were exposed and the two kids pointed at him with large grins on their faces.
" Hey look! The dweeb's a mutant!" It was last year all over again. His eyes darted from face to face as more people seemed to gravitate to them.
" W-water you looking at?!" he roared and backed to the middle of the fountain which just made things worse when he slipped again. He gasped as the hood came off and a gasp rose from the crowd. He threw it back on and ran out of the water as fast as he could. Sure on his own time he wouldn't mind letting loose, and the water flowing through his gills for the first time in months felt amazing, but...the stares...it felt like the eyes were burning through him. He hid in one of the old playground slides and panted, waiting for the scales to dry up and flake off.
He bit his lip and hid his face in his knees. I....am a freak...
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Post by lance on Aug 20, 2012 5:52:30 GMT -7
| [atrb=vAlign,top][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=style,border-left: 5px #5784bc solid;] In the heat
Of the Sun
Your sweat
Runs dry
Walking hard to the beat
of the crowd
Hear the city
Sing her song
She cries
Everybody's
Got
A
Right
To
Be | [rs=2][atrb=vAlign,top] Lance waked through the park at a reasonable pace with a loaf of bread in his hand, takin a large bite out of it every few moments. Lance liked eating bread, hell Lance like eating full stop. It was important to eat when he trained as much as he did if he didn't want to run out of energy all the time, which really worked out for Lance. He smiled to himself, he sure as hell felt like he had a lucky life. He may not be as rich as some people, others may be much more smarter then he was and there were people out there with many more friends then him... But still Lance felt lucky. Hell he could've been born a Mutant, now that'd suck.
Walking along Lance eventually found himself in the old playground. When was the last time he had been here? It must have been back before when he didn't box, when he was a little ass. He couldn't remember why he had gone here, probably to get away from other people. It was out of the way after all, easy to be away from everyone. Ah well it didn't matter. Lance began walking on when he thought he heard something.
Panting? Yeah... That was it. Some poor kid who'd been bullied or something, probably. Lance sighed as he looked around for the source of the noise. He didn't have the heart to leave some poor guy alone to wallow in his situation. Hey if he was upset enough about it maybe Lance could convince him to go to Boxing lessons! Learning how to box got him feeling much better, it could help other people too. The source of the noise seemed to come from inside a slide.
Lance knocked on the side of the slide gently. "You alright in there?" He asked before taking another bite out of his loaf of bread. Obviously the kid wasn't alright, but it was still good to ask. "What's the matter?" | [atrb=vAlign,bottom][atrb=style,border-left: 5px #5784bc solid;] PROUD | | |
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Post by Eridan on Aug 20, 2012 5:58:44 GMT -7
" DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!" Eridan gasped, he hadn't fully changed yet, scales still stuck to his face, legs and arms, but at the scramble of movement he just made he practically fell down the slide. He looked up at Lance with wide eyes. He fixed his glasses and gulped, " Uh....Hello?" he rubbed the back of his neck, thankful for his sleeves now.
The grey scales were still around his cheeks and all over his neck, through the soaked white shirt, gills could be seen moving as if gasping for air with his lungs, he sighed, " Come ta mock me too?" he groaned, flipping his hoodie back up over his red hair. This didn't help the situation with his legs though, the purple fin flattened, but it wasn't hard to spot.
Eridan waited a moment and when no laughing or namecalling came he looked up at Lance, the scales slowly fading on his face, " You're not like them are you?"
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Post by lance on Aug 20, 2012 6:25:08 GMT -7
| [atrb=vAlign,top][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=style,border-left: 5px #5784bc solid;] In the heat
Of the Sun
Your sweat
Runs dry
Walking hard to the beat
of the crowd
Hear the city
Sing her song
She cries
Everybody's
Got
A
Right
To
Be | [rs=2][atrb=vAlign,top]
Lance looked down at the kid and sighed. That explained... A lot. "Like them? Nah..." No, Lance wasn't like 'them'. Lance didn't hate Mutants, he didn't think all that much of them either but he certainly didn't hate them. No. The extent of Lance's feelings for Mutants was merely distrust. Sure it wasn't perfect but it was a hell lot better then most people. In a way Lance felt sorry for the kid, especially seen as his mutation was so visible.
The Teenager ripped off a piece of his bread and passed it to Eridan. "Hungry?" He asked. Generally the best way to make friends with someone was to offer them food. Everyone liked food. Well most people did at least. Lance didn't understand people who didn't. His mind had gone off track now, but he got it back.
"People giving you crap because you're a Mutant, eh?" Lance asked, even though he already knew the answer to the question. Before the kid spoke Lance continued. "Don't listen to them, they're idiots. But I'm sure you guessed that much already." Lance offered his hand to the kid to shake. "The name's Lance, I'm a Senior. Also a Boxer. Nice to meet you."
Lance didn't think the kid could do anything to harm him so there wasn't any reason to be all the cautious, it seemed that all he could do is turn into a fish-type thing. Plus he seemed upset. Lance'd be a hippocrite if he just left the kid on his own.
| [atrb=vAlign,bottom][atrb=style,border-left: 5px #5784bc solid;]PROUD | | |
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Post by Eridan on Aug 20, 2012 6:33:01 GMT -7
" Yes...it's not even a useful mutation it just looks ugly." Eridan snickered, " Glub..." Once offered, he gladly accepted the bread and sighed. " Eridan...I'm a Junior...so are you going to North Salem then too?" He looked at his own hand and then at Lance's, "You don't really want scales all over your hand do you?" He wiggled his fingers as the membrane between them started to go away. He shook his head and shivered, his clothes wouldn't dry any time soon, so here he was shivering, showing another sign of weakness to a complete stranger. It made him angry with himself and his mutation.
He shook his head. " You box, you said? I knew someone online who did, only his mutation caused him to practically almost break someone in half if he punched them too hard." Eridan shook his head thinking of one of his blog buddies. He could pretty much guess this kid was as normal...well biologically speaking, as they come. Once his hand had gone back to normal He offered it to shake.
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Post by lance on Aug 20, 2012 7:15:45 GMT -7
| [atrb=vAlign,top][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=style,border-left: 5px #5784bc solid;] In the heat
Of the Sun
Your sweat
Runs dry
Walking hard to the beat
of the crowd
Hear the city
Sing her song
She cries
Everybody's
Got
A
Right
To
Be | [rs=2][atrb=vAlign,top] "Well, he sounds like he could be a good opponent..." Lance said calmly as he shook Eridan's now normal hand before sitting down on the ground next to him, eating another bit of his bread. "Yeah I'm going to North Salem once School starts again, been going for a while now. Before this proposed thing." Lance looked over at the Mutant boy from the corner of his eye, watching as he became more 'normal'. He stopped staring in a second, thinking it was kind of rude. He wouldn't like people staring at him if the same was happening to him so he didn't think he should do as much to him. Treat others how you want to be treated and all that. Plus he didn't want the kid feeling any worse.
"Anyone ever starts giving you crap again just come and find me, alright?" He said. "They'll soon back off knowing they'd have to get through me. If they don't well... You know." Lance shrugged. Hopefully he wouldn't have to resort to that if Eridan ever did come to him, but if he had to it couldn't be helped. "The chances are that they're cowards. They chose you because you're an easy target." Lance knew how those type of people thought, mainly because he had been one of those types of people. "Don't ever blame yourself. You didn't choose this." | [atrb=vAlign,bottom][atrb=style,border-left: 5px #5784bc solid;]PROUD | | |
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Post by Eridan on Aug 20, 2012 13:05:54 GMT -7
He nodded, "Maybe we'll be in a class together, I'm taking a few higher level classes." he shrugged and smiled lightly, watching a few scales fall off his leg. He shook his head, "I used to wish I was never born because of it...my parents dumped me off here so they could salvage their reputation or some bull shit..." he growled then shook his head. "I miss them..." he shook his head and smirked, "So, now that I'm back to normal....do you have a towel or something I can borrow?"
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Post by lance on Aug 20, 2012 16:29:04 GMT -7
| [atrb=vAlign,top][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=style,border-left: 5px #5784bc solid;] In the heat
Of the Sun
Your sweat
Runs dry
Walking hard to the beat
of the crowd
Hear the city
Sing her song
She cries
Everybody's
Got
A
Right
To
Be | [rs=2][atrb=vAlign,top] "There's no point in being ashamed of yourself." Lance said as he looked at the boy over his shoulder. "I can't say I understand what you've been through, but never think less of yourself. Most people are just... Afraid of what you can do, even if you think what you have is useless." Lance thought back to that Teacher, Renee. She said it herself that she didn't feel comfortable about kids being able to do the things some Mutants could do. Lance sighed and lowered his head to look at the ground. That was no way for a parent to treat a child, even if they were a Mutant. Even when he was a little shit Lance's Mother tried her best, she could've given up and just send him away but she didn't. Would she have done that if he was a Mutant? Lance didn't want to know the answer to that question, it was one better left unanswered.
"Hm?" Lance was too lost in thought to really hear the last thing the boy said, but he picked up that it was something about giving him a towel. "Sorry kid, I don't have a towel but..." Lance took off his jacket and handed it to the boy. "Take off your shirt and put this on instead, it'll be better for you that way." Lance stood up and looked around. "Where you staying? I suggest getting a complete change of clothes, though you probably already thought that much." | [atrb=vAlign,bottom][atrb=style,border-left: 5px #5784bc solid;]PROUD | | |
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Post by Eridan on Aug 20, 2012 16:45:01 GMT -7
" Heh," Eridan looked around a moment and took off his shirt and glasses, the gills were still on the sides of his thin body. He shook his hair out and pulled the jacket on, fastening it so he was covered. It practically swallowed him. He coughed, " Why do I feel like some minnow trying on his dad's hat?" he snickered and put his glasses back on. " Blind as a bat on land and can see 20/20 in the water." he shook his head. "Crazy." he stretched then blinked, " uh...." Was he supposed to tell? He wasn't quite sure about this whole Academy thing, but...
" I live with a bunch of other mutants kind of out of the city..." he rubbed the back of his neck.
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Post by lance on Aug 21, 2012 12:51:26 GMT -7
| [atrb=vAlign,top][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=style,border-left: 5px #5784bc solid;] In the heat
Of the Sun
Your sweat
Runs dry
Walking hard to the beat
of the crowd
Hear the city
Sing her song
She cries
Everybody's
Got
A
Right
To
Be | [rs=2][atrb=vAlign,top] "Everything's crazy these days..." Lance muttered to himself. Truly, in his eyes at least, the world was mad. The entire Mutant business was just depressing at times, Lance seriously doubted the School would do any good. Eridan didn't need to know he thought that though.
Lance pushed his glasses up and smiled calmly at the Mutant. "If you want I can accompany you back there, in case anyone wants to start any trouble. It isn't any trouble to me, I'd offer to drive you but... Heh." He shrugged. "Can't drive yet." It was true, Lance hadn't bothered to learn to drive. He was too focused on his training to bother with that. It was more important to him, but he was sure he'd get around to it eventually. Probably. Maybe. Possibly. There was a chance. | [atrb=vAlign,bottom][atrb=style,border-left: 5px #5784bc solid;]PROUD | | |
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Post by Eridan on Aug 21, 2012 17:56:36 GMT -7
Eridan nodded, " I need to go pick up my bike..." He sighed, " But I'd rather not be seen walking back through there..." He thought out loud then snapped his fingers and looked back to Lance, " As long as I can hide beside you no one should notice me..." He scratched the back of his head and started for the purple beat up bike near the bike stand.
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Post by lance on Aug 23, 2012 18:52:18 GMT -7
| [atrb=vAlign,top][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=style,border-left: 5px #5784bc solid;] In the heat
Of the Sun
Your sweat
Runs dry
Walking hard to the beat
of the crowd
Hear the city
Sing her song
She cries
Everybody's
Got
A
Right
To
Be | [rs=2][atrb=vAlign,top] Lance nodded and smiled at Eridan. "I don't mind helping you out." He gave the Mutant a brief thumbs up. It would be a lie to say that Lance really thought all that much of Eridan, he still was cautious of the Mutant. A brief talk wouldn't change his mind over that. The only reason Lance was acting so kind was out of he thought was right. He didn't like Mutants all that much but that didn't mean that they deserved to be treated like crap. It was just easier to help people who thought you liked them and you gave a good impression to. Lance believed he had succeeded in that much.
With that Lance walked beside the Mutant, keeping his eye out just in case someone decided to jump them. | [atrb=vAlign,bottom][atrb=style,border-left: 5px #5784bc solid;]PROUD | | |
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Post by Eridan on Aug 23, 2012 19:46:12 GMT -7
Eridan watched him a moment, maybe Lance wasn't so different after all, " Yea whatever." He sighed, instantly becoming more defensive, he grabbed his bike and gasped, ducking a rock. "CRAP CRAP CRAP!" he ran away from the kids who'd pushed him in earlier. He huffed and rounded the corner looking up at Lance, " Let's just go, screw this place..." He groaned, " I'm done..." He gripped his handle bars until his knuckles turned white.
He bit his lip, No Eridan, don't you dare!!! His heart was beating faster and he felt like he could break down. " Let's just go home so you don't have to deal with me anymore..." He started to lead the way.
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