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Kaleb had actually, for one reason or another, actually offered to have a Mutant study group meet. They were or are presently all students. It was reason enough. Why the hell Kaleb Miller planned any sort of social event who knows but hey, Russians were getting ready to launch folks into space, maybe this was sign 3 of the apocalypse.
Vic isn't cooking food! But he is setting it out on the table. It's Greek, and it's laid out in a 'serve yourself' fashion. There's gyros, spanakopita, fingerfoods, a fried cheese dish called saganaki (the name of the restaurant all this comes from), baklava… It's a feast. But it's missing something… maybe sushi?
Hajime was finding he rather liked this little group of mutants. They were rapidly becoming a sort of home away from home. So when invited to a 'study party' that he didn't even have to lie about, he was more than happy to show up, bringing sustenance as well. He balances two large brown bags in one hand and knocks on the door.
Hope has been a rare sight at Xaviers, for reasons of her own. But an invitation to join a group of mutants elsewhere was too much of a temptation to resist. Especially when she heard there was going to be food. Hope never turns down food. In fact, she's camped out at the table, happily stuffing her face with piece after piece of the various sorts of food, trying everything at least once. "What's this one?" she asks Vic when he sets down a plate, her mouth still half-full of baklava.
So on the way here, Doug went to this little place run by these Polish immigrants where they get stuff. Stuff in bottles smuggled out from behind the Iron Curtain. Stuff that at one point in its life was honey. Stuff that is still very sweet… Krupnik! The after-dinner death. He only plans on having a tiny bit of it, himself—Doug knows that if he gets snookered, Mean Doug comes out, and Mean Doug gets plunged into a bathtub full of ice water by his friends. He also got some paczkis at the Polish place. He approaches the door as Hajime is knocking, and raises his eyebrows at the other young man, and grins. "Hi. I'm Doug."
Jay has gone out to collect his brother, his voice carrying down the hall as he nears Doug and Hajime, his wings out and uncovered, bobbing as he meanders toward the door where the two wait. "—Doorman loves or hates us, depending on the day and what mood Kaleb's in, Ah think. Oh, hey, Dougy. Jimmy." A slow smile spreads across his face in recognition. "Go on in, man. They know yer comin'." Jay encourages Hajime and Doug to just walk on in to the apartment.
The apartment is still in the state of flux, but they're trying to keep it workable. A daybed in the living room has a number of things crammed under it and sort of transformed into the 'couch' setting in an attempt to look neat. Jay's guitar leaned up against the piece of furniture. They've either just moved in, or are in the process of moving out and it's taking some time.
Cannonball knows how to make some stuff! But, he doesn't really have much access to a kitchen. Or money. Or ingredients. Or a fridge. However, he DID recall the password to the teacher's lounge fridge, so, there are two 6-packs of beer in his hands that are probably Scott's. He saunters along with Jay, sunglasses jammed up into his straw hair. He notes the guitar straight off. "Ah…so ya live here?" he asks for clarification, then definitely gives Hajime an interested look.
Kaleb nodded to Hajime coming in, "Hajime, Doug. That's hope and VIc. and-" He paused and squint at the hall. He didn't open his mouth to speak but behind Sam and Jay walking in there was the disembodied voice that said *That doorman is grateful. I tip well because the Lady in 5A, and I hope she's home to hear this, has no respect for the service class* Don't get him started. Welcome to fancy high-rises in 5th Avenue. He paused and looked from Jay to Sam to Jay… to Sam… to Jay and he greeted his bestie, "Vic found baklava."
Vic admits to Hope as he sets it down, "I can't pronounce it, but it's custard in filo. I could eat it all day." Then more people show up, and Vic greets them with a warm, "Hello!" Hey, he knows most of these people. Jay, of course, Hajime from bowling, and Doug looks familiar. The only one he's never met is Sam, but Vic doesn't care. With an amiable, "I'm Vic," he fixes that. When he spies the other food rolling in, he says, "Oh, gosh! What a great idea! Let's put out a spread of all kinds of food." It's food, Vic will never turn it down.
Hajime notices that interested look from this man who looks like just a taller, blonder, featherless version of Jay. Brother? Jay did say he had like twenty siblings, didn't he? He smiles when he's greeted by Kaleb and enters the apartment. "Yeah, I thought I'd steal a little from our restaurant as an offering." He says, that smile continuing because Vic is always so warm and friendly, it's hard not to smile around him. "I'll just put this with the rest then." He moves inside to help set more containers of food out on the table, as well as a handful of chopsticks that no one is likely to use.
Doug had wandered inside, and put his stuff down, before he tilts his head at the sound of a voice he hasn't heard in a very long time, and then straightens up. "A riddle: what flies through the air, wrecks everything dumb enough to get in its way, and gives every woman who sees it go by whiplash?" Doug clears his throat, and then says, somewhat sheepishly, "…Hi, Sam. Been awhile. Jay didn't tell me you were coming." He sighs, and gives a sheepish grin with a slight dip of his head. "Do I get a hug, or am I going to have to come and get it?"
"It's all so good," Hope says around another mouthful of food, looking up long enough to wave to the new arrivals. She's on the quiet side - partly thanks to a mouth full of food, but partly due to the rush of sensation from so many mutants arriving at one time. Powers bounce around in the back of her head, and it takes a moment of concentration to make sure they're all neatly compartmentalized and not in danger of bursting out.
The disembodied voice that echos down the hallway, bobbing after Jay and Sam gets a good-natured smile and eyeroll in return. Unafraid by a voice following him around like that, he turns his head to comment back to Sam, "That's Kaleb. And yeah, sorta? Ah just sorta…ended up here after bouncing around fer a while. There were some /circumstances/…" Jay's voice hedges and he gives a long look toward Sam that says there's far more to it than what he's saying. But polite company and all.
The conversation from the hall continues as Jay and Sam enter the apartment, angling back toward Kaleb with a crooked smile, "Because yer always such a charmer with the 'service class'? What's baklava?" Shutting the door, there's a conspiratorial little smile when Doug sees Sam, shrugging a shoulder, "Must'a slipped my mind, Dougy. Hey y'all, this is m'older brother, Sam." Meandering toward the table and out of the line of attention so Sam gets all eyes. Jay pats Hajime on the shoulder and inclines his head to Hope politely, offering up a mild, but guileless smile. "Miss Hope."
Do ya wanna hug, Doug? Big, southern-boy arms just…crushing those nerdy limbs, all pressed up against muscle with the smell of Old Spice, flannel and America in yer nostrils? Sam gets it. He does. He suddenly bursts into a big smile, dimpling his cheeks. "Doug. Hey!" He does lean in to give the guy a crushing hug. " Hello…hello, people I have never met.Pleased ta meetcha. Where can I set down this beer?"
Kaleb helped Sam out pointing towards the fridge. "Fridge hasn't moved down the hall yet. It can go in there." And then, oh yeah there was hugging. Kaleb skirted that to look at Vic and verified, "Bert's place?" He watched Hajime and was now curious what was going on with the sticks and the other food. He noted to Hope, "You know tonight be in the running for one of the three best food nights in this apartment."
"The more the merrier," Vic says, both of the food and the people. "Bert's place," he tells Kaleb. heads over to Sam to take the beer. "Here, I'll pass some out at the table." Still not cooking! He'll socialize and not hide in the kitchen, honest. "It's good to meet you, Sam. Are you in New York for long?" To Kaleb, he says, "We should do this all the time, everyone bring their favorite cuisine." Then to Jay, "Baklava is this one here. You need to try it. It's my mom's favorite."
Hajime notices Kaleb's curious look and raises a pair of chopsticks as he opens one of the containers to reveal sushi rolls. "You eat them with these, or your fingers." He explains, demonstrating how to hold them before he hands a pair to Kaleb and offers a pair out to Vic as he's nearby. He looks up when Jay pats him on the shoulder. "Hey." He breathes with a smile and gestures to the sushi rolls. "This is sushi, it's just sticky rice wrapped in seaweed with raw fish and vegetables in the center. I also brought," He bends then to pull a rather large bowl out of the bag, this one ceramic of some sort. "Ramen," He pulls the foil off of the top, he heats the bowl with his hands until it steams and then sets it down for them all to see that it's some sort of noodle soup with vegetables, egg and pork.
Well it's… kinda nice, isn't it! Warm. Safe. Like midnight in a warm, stuffy barn in Cumberland County illuminated only by the flickering light of a hanging lantern… ahem! That is a different sort of fanfic! Or at least one to tell on a different day. Still! Doug hugs Sam back just as tightly, and then takes the beer from him, setting it aside. He rubs the back of his neck and grins. "Sam and I used to run with the same group in school. It's been awhile, Sam. I guess that's my fault. So, did Jay tell you about the friend I brought back from Europe?" He grins, "Boy… will you be surprised."
What's that? More food? Hope turns a chipmunk-cheeked smile on Jay, even as she moves over to the sushi to try that next. Hey, this one is raw! Much more familiar. And down the hatch. She looks between Doug and Sam, marking the pair with quiet interest, but really, it's the food that has her attention.
Jay plants himself near the table while folks get settled in, generally hovering out of the way with his wings slicked close to his back. Though Vic points out the baklava, he takes note and nods, flashing his roommate an easy wink in mute confirmation. "Sam, this is Kaleb an' Vic—This is their apartment along with Kale's brother Kellan, an' let me stay here with them." Jay points to each. "That's m'pal Jim," Jay points to Hajime, not even /attempting/ his real name. "You know Dougy, an' well, Kale mentioned Miss Hope, here. Nah, Doug, Ah didn't tell him about yer new buddy. Figured you could make that introduction like ya did me." Because there's no plotting going on /there/.
Mention of raw fish and sticky rice has Jay squinting, confused. "So, when do you cook the fi—whoa, whoa, whoa!" Alarmed when Hope digs right in there, he jumps, reaching forward just a little too late as she pops a sushi bit in her mouth. Green eyes wide as saucers, he stares wide eyed at Hajime. I-is she gonna die?
"Friend? No. I mean…no. I basically know nothing of what's been going on here for the last few months. I been…outta town." Sam flashes an innocent grin. "So, what's the friend?" He parts from Doug, casual as can be, and looks to each person as Jay introduces them. "Jim, huh?" He makes a 'hmm' expression and nods his head. He probably wasn't expecting the guy's name to be Jim. Then Jay is diving to try to save Hope from the…rice turds…that's what they look like to him. "I guess she likes that. I aint quite sure what any of this stuff is. Oh wait…I think that's a desert." He grabs a piece of baklava. "Thanks for hosting." he says to Kaleb.
Doug looks up at Hajime, and says, casually, "Watashi wa Rondon ni ita toki kara hontoni shinsen'na sushi o tabete imasendeshita. Domo arigatogozaimashita!" Which is, according to translators, 'I haven't had really fresh sushi since I was in London. Thank you very much!' Once he's wiggled free from Sam, and says, "It's a surprise. But you'll be stoked." Doug helps himself to some of the Sushi, too. "Don't feel bad, Hajime, those two chuckleheads haven't had food more worldly than Mrs. Guthrie's ham casserole. Which IS delicious. But I remember this one time Magik got some beluga caviar and Sam used it as fishing bait. I never told Illyana about that." He looks up, and gives Sam a brief, pained look. "*She thought I ate it*."
Kaleb pointed to Hajime and said to Sam, "That's Ha-gee-may. No Jims and no Josh's here." He shook his head and offered earnestly, "Heard about you a bit from Jay and Warren. Neat to finally meat you." Oh yes, this may become his favourite broadcasting station ever. It had potential. He did blink at Doug curious, "Why wouldn't you?" Straaaaange. strange strange. To Hope and VIc he considered this. "New place has a bigger floor plan. We could. I mean hell, I can make call catering on a dime. We can do a bring-your-own buffet thing." He might have missed part of that intent, but hey, he was willing to participate… so long as manual labour was not attached.
"'S good," Hope mumbles around the food to Jay, nodding approvingly to Hajime. It's possible that Hope's tastes can't really be trusted, though. She'll dumpster dive if she has to. Far more suspicious things than sushi have hardened her iron stomach at this point. "Hi," she adds belatedly to Sam and Doug, leaving the food alone long enough to wave before she's picking up something else.
Vic passes out beer, then finally grabs a plate to load it up. And he does. The boy can eat. After a few sushi roll bits are put on his plate, he pops one in his mouth, unafraid of raw fish. "This is good," he says. Then he goes about piling on more. Fried cheese, yes thanks, and some of that filo custard stuff, a gyro. Then he sits down where he can be surrounded by the most people. "Kaleb, Jay's name is Josh. Jay, your mom called. She's a nice lady. She had so many stories about you."
"Ma calls here?" Sam arches his brows. That settles it, "I need to call her. Check in. Do you mind if I do that? Its long distance, I know." Sam asks, suddenly eager.
Hajime almost laughs at the look of absolute horror on his feathered friend's face. He grabs Jay's arm and gives it a gentle squeeze. "You don't cook it, you eat it raw, she'll be /fine/. We eat things like this all the time." He reassures and smiles when at the very least, Hope seems to approve of his family's cooking, even if Jay and perhaps also his brother are confused by it.
Though when the other man, the very white other man speaks into him in perfect Japanese, Hajime is the one to look shocked. His mouth dropping open slightly to gape at the other man, pointing a finger at him as if no one had any idea what he was surprised over. "How do you…?" He asks dumbfoundedly.
"How is Mrs. Guthrie?" Doug interjects, to Vic, all curiosity, without consultling either of her two sons. "If you talk to her again, tell her little Dougie Ramsey sends his love." He watches Sam go to call his mother and then says, "He'll be on the phone with her all night, your phone bill's going to go through the roof." Then he rests his chin in his hand before he proceeds to load up his plate. "Oh! Well, I'm an Omnilinguist." He raises his eyebrows. "I speak every language." He grabs a seat.
Nobody else seems to be panicking and Hope seems pretty optimistic, so Jay calms down with an idle shiver of feathers behind him. His smile seems uncertain, but he nods anyway, hesitantly picking up a piece similar to what Hope picked and drops it back in his mouth, as if in apology for acting like she's about to die. Chew, chew…chew…chew. Swallow? Verdant eyes shift back and forth between Hajime and Hope, trying a slow smile, though it seems pretty uncertain. "Well, hah. Gettin' to try somethin' new is fun. Vic? You wanna hand me a beer? Anyone else want one?" Totally unrelated.
Jay slides a plea of a look toward Kaleb. "Kale, seriously with that name, man. An' he doesn't mind. Better than me murderin' it every time Ah say it. An' stop hangin' up on m'momma. Ask Doug what happens t'folk who cross Mrs. Guthrie." Nodding a little bit, he turns toward Sam and points him toward where their phone is stuck on the wall. A whisper of a chuckle hummed out over Hajime's shock, eyes shining with mirth. "He's a linguist. Like…a universal translator. That's his power." Then nods to Doug when he fills in the rest. "Yeah, Ah know. She's gonna chew his ear right off."
Kaleb shrugged a shoulder to Doug, still impressed he could do that. He noted with some amusement to Hajime, "Well you're up to two people who can not burtcher your language." Yay for small mercies he supposed. At Doug's warning Kaleb shook his head, "If the Guthire's need to call their mother then it will be funded. It's a non issue." Super powers included throwing money at problems until they just fucked off already, and keeping an eye out for Jay. Except, "Haaaa-geeee-maaaay." There was a faint grin and he hopped up and pointed Sam towards the door. "Phone moved already. I'll show you where it is.
"And because he can, I can," Hope flashes a quick smile in Hajime's direction, finally slowing down enough to fill a plate and find herself a seat, rather than hovering around the food table. "Power mimic. I copy the powers of mutants around me. So. Kind of crowded up in here right now," she says ruefully, waving around herself.
Vic says, "Oh, she's fine," to Doug. "I'll let her know, Doug." He grins at the man, who's good to other people's mothers. Then his eyes widen when Doug tells Hajime what he can do. "That's so groovy," he says. "You must be super smart." He passes a beer down to Jay and looks around for anyone looking interested in one for themselves. "I hope she'll let me talk her out of that ham casserole recipe because it sounds so good." To Hope, he says, "That sounds cool, too. I'm not really a mutant, but I get to go to school because I'm 'gifted.'"
Hajime still looks quite shocked that anyone without the slanted eyes could speak his language so smoothly. "You can use English with me so that everyone else can understand you, but would you like to maybe, hang out sometime? It would be fantastic to talk to someone with that kind of power… in my own language too. My mother might even try to adopt you, after she's done fainting over the fact that any white boy can speak Japanese fluently." He asks Doug, bouncing a little on his heels at the idea before Doug can even answer his request.
When Jay takes a piece of sushi he gets all of Hajime's attention and he can't help but smile when Jay immediately asks for a beer afterward. "It's an acquired taste, Feathers. You can say you didn't like it. You're not going to hurt my feelings."
At the mention of Hope's abilities, he also perks up. "Fascinating! That's incredible." He says with no trace of sarcasm, each new mutant he meets is so interesting to him. "Vic, what can you do? I don't think I've ever asked."
"Well, your mother and your… I forget how many brothers and sisters you have but" Doug rests his chin in his hand. "Well. I talked to Moira MacTaggart at Muir Island and Dr. Kavita Rao in London, who're two of the three leading experts on Mutancy other than Hank McCoy. Doctor MacTaggert suggested that my power might be some form of metapsionics. Doctor Rao ran this cutting-edge brain scan on me and said that my brain signals in weird ways when my power is active, so SHE thinks it might be some form of hypercognition. Either way, I think of myself as an omnilinguist out of force of habit, but both of them agree my power is actually pattern hyper-recognition and response, which is how I can interpret and communicate in languages that have no linguistic root in common with anything spoken on Earth." Doug then holds up his hands. "Hey now, I remember the cold terror in your brother Lewis's eyes when he put gum in Elizabeth's hair and your mother reached for that wooden spoon. I'm a good Mormon boy, I was raised to respect people's mothers, I would *never*, ever" He shakes his head, and then raises his eyebrows at Hope, and grins. "Power mimic, huh? That's interesting. What does it feel like, to mimic people's powers? Especially a physical mutation like Jay's?" Then he grins at Hajime. "Sure, I'd love to hang out." Then he glances to Jay, and says, "People in America have eaten raw oysters since forever man, it's really no different."
Jay lids his eyes at Kaleb, despite the mild coloring around his ears and seeping into his cheeks while he's being spoken to like a child. And especially stupid child. He rumbles lowly at Kaleb, certainly too low to be heard, but he trusts that the sound mote will hear it, "You know why Ah got a problem with that name, man. Please." Taking the beer, he leans in and whispers to Vic as well, "Ah don't think he knows about the school." Just passing along the thought casually, he wraps the cap in his shirt and pries it off with his thumb and a yank. "Thanks Vic. It is good, she'll be happy t'give it to you. Change yer world, accordin' to Doug."
Doug, who explains at length the theories of his power, and makes Jay smile serenely while he speaks. Yeah, this feels familiar. The mild-mannered man happily sinks into the background a little bit, relaxing. His eyes smile more than his mouth does when Doug mentions his family, a fond warmth, just slightly bitter sweet washing over him. Jay winks and lifts his bottle to Cypher in appreciation.
A power mimic? Jay takes a drinkabsolutely not washing away the flavor of raw fish, aheman impressed arch of his brows and flicker of his wings, whispers of friction and interest after an embarrassed smile to Hajime. "Really? Oh. /Wow/." He whispers, awed at the young woman. "So, Ah mean, is it all mutations? Could you sprout wings, like Doug said?" The extra appendages lift slightly in gesture. A fond glance toward Vic. "Yer kinda way more boss than a mutant, Vic. We're practically run of the mill dependin' on what part of the city yer in. But there's only one you." That they know of!
"Sometimes," Hope muses to Doug, "It feels like the most natural thing in the world. Other times, it's like hanging on to an airplane wing with one hand while it goes through a barrel roll. Haven't figured out why it's one way or the other yet, but I haven't been doing it for too long either. Not when things were quiet enough to have a chance to study it, at least." At Jay's question, she smiles ruefully. "I'm kind of concentrating on not right now, actually. Sprouting wings, that is. Not really dressed for it."
Vic grins at Jay and says, "Nothing run of the mill about my friends." He holds out a hand and a piece of baklava floats off the plate and into his grasp. "I can do that," he says. He takes a bite, then ducks his head, showing a shy streak. "I'm strong, I guess, and fast. I can do this thing with the lights, and I'm tough. I can make people fall asleep or I can wake them up by touching them." He takes another bite of baklava. "And I can eat a lot," he adds with a grin.
Vic so casually talks about his mutations as if they are nothing special though they sound quite vast and different. He looks over at him. "What kind of thing with the lights? Is it just sleep that you can control with the human body as well?" He asks curiously moving subconsciously closer to the other man when he speaks, though he looks over to Hope as well. "So, you have to concentrate to keep from taking on all of our powers? That must be hard and exhausting. I'm glad we provided you with food as an offering for the trouble." He teases a little.
Doug, four his part, pops the tab on his beer and pours himself a little bit of that Krupnik, before he tucks into the dinner with enthusiasm. Numnumnumfood.
The red-headed fellow's smile curves up along the edges, eyes dancing with brighter mirth over Hope's explanation. "Tell me about it." Humor fills his tone and Jay turns around to show his back, feathered appendages carefully stretching until his green tee-shirt becomes visible; the entire back cut out except for the collar and bottom hem, his skin visible in that rough square. Whispering a gentle chuckle, Jay turns back around and wings fluff a bit, settling back in place. "Ah wouldn't recommend it all the sudden. Sorry fer any inconvenience, Miss Hope."
Jay shakes his head, grinning mildly when Vic TKs food to him. "Yer our motemallow. An' saved our backsides plenty, Vic." Turning his attention back to Hajime, Jay offers the end of his lukewarm beer bottle out to him. "Hahjim-ay has some cool hidden talents, himself."
"No inconvenience," Hope shakes her head to Jay with a small smile. "And it's not any trouble, really," she adds to Hajime. "Just some things tend to push a little bit more than others. Got into an argument with Bobby and just about iced out a friend, for example. It's easier when I'm relaxed. Although one time I picked up on a mutant with X-Ray vision, and let me tell you, the rest of that day was awkward. Drinks are over there, right?" she asks, already standing up to get herself a soda.
Vic nods to Hope and says, "Right, they're over there." He gestures toward the soda. Jay gets a grin from him, and he says, "I'm here for you, man." Then to Hajime, he says, "It's all just energy. I can fry the lights, or take or give energy. It's energy suffusing my muscles, making me stronger, faster. I don't know why I'm telekinetic, though. That just sort of happened. But the rest is just me being mostly energy."
Doug has, in the meantime, finked off to either ask Sam a question or hit on Hope. Who's to say what that sneaky git is up to?
"I don't know if any of us know why any of us can do anything. It just kind of happened, didn't it. That's all amazing. You're /all/ amazing." Hajime says when Vic says he doesn't know why he's telekinetic. When Jay mentions that he, himself has interesting abilities. "Not like you all. I can just set things on fire and also freeze them. Wings? Incredible. Telekinesis? Amazing!" He picks up a sushi roll with the chopsticks and pops it in his mouth so he doesn't gush much more about how awesome they all are to him.
Jay winces sympathetically when Hope mentions powers getting out of control in the heat of the moment. "Ah've been there. Luckily, nothin' Ah can do is really…well," Jay trails off and smiles mildly, shrugging at the remaining folks who linger around their meal. "None of us are like any of the others. That's sort of the point, ain't it? Variety gives ya strength. Though—whoa wait, you can do fire, too? Ah thought you could just make ice." Jay murmurs to Hajime.
"Fire and ice are cool," Vic says. "That's some deep-earth, nature, powerful stuff. Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice." That last bit has the air of a quotation about it, as does what follows. "From what I've tasted of desire, I hold with those who favor fire." He takes a drink of beer, lounging casually. "But if I had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate to say that, for destruction, ice is also great, and would suffice."
Hajime flushes a little when Jay mentions his fire abilities, realizing he'd never told his winged friend about them. "Yes, I also have fire, I don't use it as often as my ice. Humans and even most mutants are typically quite flammable creatures." Hajime takes a step back from the pair of them and also their table which is also a hazard. He takes a roll of sushi with him, then tosses it in the air with one hand, his other he opens, palm up at it to set it ablaze. His other hand comes up quickly to turn it into a sphere of ice before it touches the ground.
Vic starts reciting and Jay's brows twitch together slightly, then lift upward while something seems to tug on his ear. By the second line, the young man's face fills with color and Jay dips his chin to hide a smile, a ripple of motion gliding through his feathers. "Frost," the winged young man murmurs back to Vic, over the mouth of his beer, eyes dancing. "Right?" Taking a drink from his beer.
Popping the bottle free, Jay leans back against the counter casually when it seems that Hajime is about to do /something/. Something probably fantastic. C'mon, everyone likes showing off sometimes. Though that trick…whew! Flames shoot out of Hajime's palm like a flamethrower, then ice encases the properly cooked piece of fish. Jay's eyes are round, mouth agape. "…whoa…"
Vic claps one hand against his beer bottle and says, "That's cool! You could juggle ice and fire and easily be the coolest person in this room." He takes another drink of beer, then nods to Jay and grins. "Yeah." Poetry is new to him. People knowing poems is also new to him. It gives him a little thrill. He sits up and says, "Oh! Man. In a fight, you know what you could do? I could throw something, and you could set it on fire."
Hajime blushes at the praise a little as he bends to pick the ice cube off of the floor. When Vic mentions a fight, his eyebrows raise up. "You'd want me there? I.. I can also raise walls of ice to block attacks, protect you. I can also raise spikes of them up from the ground too. I'm better with the ice than the fire, have more control of it, but I can make it burn hot enough to melt metal too." He'd never thought about being invited to help someone else, but he at least had always wanted to use his powers to help his fellow mutants.
A shoulder and a wing casually lift, hiding a smile back at Vic near the mouth of his bottle. Poetry isn't exactly a traditionally masculine interest, and with a glance toward the doorway, Jay makes sure that his older, cowboy, panty-melting brother isn't nearby. Back toward Hajime and all the utility that he didn't realize the young man had, Jay's brows arch a little, exchanging looks with Vic. "Ah mean…we should absolutely bring him with us, raght? It only makes sense."
"Walls of ice? Spikes? Yeah, I'd want you in a fight," Vic says. He glances toward the gathering around the phone, then back to Jay. Mum's the word. He won't tell the panty-melter his little bro has read Frost. With an upnod, he adds, "Yeah, we should bring Hajime if he — if you, Hajime — want to come. Should train first, though. I'd hate it if you got hurt."
"Train?" Hajime questions. "Is there a place here where it's safe to do that? Fire is pretty dangerous. I can also encase anything about the size of a big dog in ice as well. The only throw back is that I'm not immune to frostbite and burns, I'm just resistent. If I push myself too hard I can hurt myself, but in the moment, I tend not to realize that I am, pushing myself too hard." He explains. "/I/ wouldn't want to hurt any of /you/."
Jay nods his agreement with Vic. "Ah haven't really told him nothin'." Looking back toward Hajime with an apologetic lean to his mouth. "We sorta have a ground-level team. Kale, Kel, Vic, me, an' sometimes a couple others." Jay explains, scrubbing the back of his neck with one hand. "We're all sorta green, but we're workin' on it an' train together. Ah'm sure we could figure somethin' out fer your powers. If you want."
"If I want- Jay!" Hajime grips the taller man's shoulders excitedly. "I would love to do that! I would love to use these abilities to help!" He almost bounces at the idea and seems to vibrate in place as he looks between the pair of them. "I am in. I am very in. And I know a lot of first aid in case anyone does get hurt."
"Basic self defense at the very least," Vic says. "I can teach you how to fight, how to find cover, some of the places in the city you can hide out if you need to. I know this city like the back of my hand." He grins at Hajime. "We'll get you good to go in no time." He gets to his feet, stretches, and says, "I'd better start gathering up some of these dishes."
Grabbed up by the shoulders, Jay smiles at Hajime and the wide open excitement from the smaller man. Whispering a chuckle, Jay pats Hajime's shoulder and glances over to Vic, nodding several times in agreement. "Well, he's excited, that's fer sure, huh?" Short waves of warmth coming off that smile as he looks back to Hajime. "Vic's right. He's got a lifetime of experience behind him, especially in this city. But first things first." Jay quirks that smile back in Vic's direction, he snags a hand towel off the hook and hands it over to Hajime, those big green eyes shining. "Help us clean up?"
Hajime looks at Vic with wide eyes while still gripping Jay like he's sure he's about to slip off the face of the Earth out of pure excitement. He could be /useful/. He finally releases the other man when he asks if he'll help clean up. "Oh! Yes. Of course." He takes the hand towel offered to him.