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A Night on the Town [self]

Postby crow » 10/11/2016 11:24 PM

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"Morpheus---"

"No." Morpheus didn't even need to look to know that Cain was standing outside his door. Well, none of them needed to be looking; even speaking out loud was a formality. But their mother insisted, because they had to at least pretend they could be normal. He didn't know if it helped; the kids at school didn't like him no matter how hard he tried. But the rule had stuck, and now they were in the habit of it, and anyway there were advantages to their arrangement. He never picked up on unwanted thoughts if he kept out of someone's head.

He didn't need his powers to know the look on his brother's face though. Cain was easy to read, powers or no. "I'm not going," he said. "I have a lot of homework I need to finish anyway." Which wasn't exactly a lie, per-se; but not all of it was from school, and he could have done it later if he wanted to.

He didn't want to.
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Re: A Night on the Town [self]

Postby crow » 10/11/2016 11:29 PM

"You should come out with us," said Cain, which only confirmed what Morpheus had known all along. They were here to invite him on one of their trips. If it was just Cain, he might have entertained the idea of going... No, actually, that was a lie. They were twins, but Morpheus couldn't really remember ever getting along with him, and things had been awkward between them for a long time. But in that gaggle of his friends, all joking and laughing together, Morpheus stuck out more than ever. Cain... meant well, but he just never understood anything.

So he said, "Mr Calloway gave me an extra credit science project. I'm going to be presenting it at next month's robotics fair." There was a silence from the other side of the door, and after a moment, Morpheus could hear a sigh. The sound of footsteps followed, but Morpheus waited until he'd heard the door before he breathed a sigh of his own. Relief, mostly. Definitely relief. Now he could concentrate.
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Re: A Night on the Town [self]

Postby crow » 10/13/2016 3:54 AM

After all, he hadn't been lying about having work to do, though Calloway's robotics assignment had been a fabrication. That had been last month, which just showed how much Cain knew about him. They hadn't been a part of each other's lives in ages, so there was no point trying now.

But instead of putting pen to paper, Morpehus closed his eyes and focused. A list of names ran through his mind, and he began by skimming the surface consciousness of everyone around him. Immediately, several floated to the surface: his mother, the neighbors, Psyche. He took painstaking care to avoid Cain and Nemo, the former because he didn't want to be caught in his lie, and the latter to spare himself the migraine. Not even Mother read Nemo if she could avoid it.
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Re: A Night on the Town [self]

Postby crow » 10/13/2016 9:07 AM

But beyond that, he found all the familiar minds as easily as slipping on a glove. He felt a faint acknowledgement from Mother downstairs, and another, colored with mild annoyance, this time from Psyche. These he left behind, broadening his reach; others began to surface, the less familiar ones buried beneath. He took a deep breath--- in, out. So far, so good. He expanded his horizons a little wider, a little wider still. Focus... Focus. He ran the list of names through his mind again, filtering through dozens of thoughts, searching for any thread of identity...

"Hey."

"Aah!" Morpheus nearly toppled out of his chair, then doubled over, clutching his head. "Ugh..." The backlash from snapping back into himself too quickly was no joke. "Nemo," he began, "I was working---"

"Yeah, I could tell." The voice behind him wasn't Nemo's. For that matter, it wasn't Psyche's either. He whirled, too fast--- winced. Another child was standing at his open door.

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Re: A Night on the Town [self]

Postby crow » 10/13/2016 9:35 AM

Fade. He blinked, still reeling from the mental whiplash. "Who let you in?" he said, not sure as of yet whether he ought to be upset or not.

"Your mom," said Fade. Morpheus should have asked why they were here, but Fade was nice enough to spare him the effort. "Me and Beatz are going to buy costumes. I thought maybe you'd want to come with us." They tried a smile, though some lingering worry remained in their features. "Are... you okay?"

"Costumes," said Morpheus, blankly.

Fade's smile waned. "Yes," they said slowly. "For... you know. Halloween."
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Re: A Night on the Town [self]

Postby crow » 10/13/2016 9:48 AM

Morpheus was still trying to figure out how he had failed to notice their arrival. A quick scan of the premises now turned up not only Fade but Beatz, and Echo and Threnody to boot. There was another presence with them, which registered the intrusion and did the mental equivalent of... glaring at him. Morpheus was taken aback, retreating and shaking his head.

Halloween. Cain had been here on account of that too, but... Last time he'd gone trick-or-treating, he was six, and Cain had still been Deimos. It had been a long time.

And, for that matter, he and Fade didn't know each other that well either. They'd talked a few times at school, but he was a few grades above them, both due to his being older and having advanced two years. They'd seemed... nice enough, he supposed. They'd liked the little drawings he'd doodled on the margins of his notes.
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Re: A Night on the Town [self]

Postby crow » 10/15/2016 12:16 AM

But that had been the extent of their interactions, so their presence here caught him by surprise, and their invitation even moreso. He reached out without even thinking, and it was only after he'd read their motives that he realized. A guilty expression stole over his features, while Fade blinked in confusion.

"Did you just read me?" they said. Morpheus looked away. "What did you want to know?"

"... Why?" He hadn't dug any further, not enough to discern motive; he knew only that they had been genuine in their invitation. And given that they were asking aloud, he... It would have been a breach of etiquette to pry any further. He had done enough, as it was.
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Re: A Night on the Town [self]

Postby crow » 10/29/2016 8:48 AM

Fade made a noise like, 'hmmm', a deliberate frown pulling at one corner of their mouth as they glanced up. "I don't know," the said, giving a shrug. "You just look like you need a break, you know? I never see you hanging out with anyone at school either."

Morpheus looked down. What they said wasn't untrue, but...

But then Morpheus felt something latch onto his arm, and nearly yelped again. Before he knew what was happening, Fade had dragged him to his feet, and was in the process of dragging him out of the room. "Wait! W-Wait, wait!" Flailing, he tried to free himself from their grip. "What are you doing?!"
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Re: A Night on the Town [self]

Postby crow » 10/29/2016 8:52 AM

Thankfully, Fade did stop, though they didn't quite let go. The thoughtful half-frown returned for a moment, only to be replaced by a smile. "Well, Destiny does this to your brother, and you and Cain are twins, so I figured maybe this would work if I did it too."

"We're fraternal twins!" said Morpheus, snatching his arm back. Fade let him take it. "A-And besides, that only works because Cain---" No, no, he wasn't going to go there. He wasn't going to read too much into this either. Now that he was up though, and Fade was looking at him with that expectant expression... Morpheus shot one last longing glance at the safety of his desk, before sighing and resigning himself to his fate.

"Alright, I guess I can come... But let me get ready, okay? I can't go out looking like this."
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Re: A Night on the Town [self]

Postby crow » 10/29/2016 8:56 AM

Fade was good enough to wait outside his room while Morpheus rummaged around, not a little desperately, for something to wear. He'd been dressed in a hoodie and sweatpants, since he'd intended to get some work done and wanted to be comfortable, but his dad and Nihil had both stressed the importance of being presentable when he left the house. It was a little embarrassing, actually, that Fade had seen him dressed like this, and he felt, a little self-consciously, that he ought to make up for it somehow.

Eventually he settled on a light blue sweater over a white collared shirt, and one of the few pairs of nice jeans he owned. Not that he owned any pairs of jeans that weren't nice; it was more that he barely owned jeans period. But he thought of Fade and their friends, and felt that somehow, if he came out overdressed, he'd be rejected.
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Re: A Night on the Town [self]

Postby crow » 10/29/2016 9:06 AM

"Okay!" he said breathlessly, opening the door as soon as he was finished. He still looked a little disheveled despite his best attempts to be neat, having rushed as much as he could. He could sense, without having made any effort to do so, the annoyance of the party waiting outside.

He half expected Fade to comment on his appearance, but they merely said, "Great! Let's go." They grabbed him by the arm again, as if he might try to run away this time too, and dragged him down the stairs. Morpheus, for his part, stumbled, even though this was his own home. Fade flowed down the steps like water, because of course they did.
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Re: A Night on the Town [self]

Postby crow » 10/29/2016 9:09 AM

As they passed the living room, Morpheus said, "Mother, I'm---"

"I know, dear," came the reply before he could even finish his sentence. She barely looked up from her tablet. "Have fun." He could see a flash of her smile, gentle and subdued but ever so slightly amused by his plight, before they were out the door.

What was waiting for him was... not what Morpheus had expected, though considering the fact that he had read them all when he was upstairs, maybe he should have. No, he definitely should have. It was just so outlandish that he didn't think this was really what was happening. There they all were, the entire Langer family and Stray, sitting piled into a massive SUV. In the driver's seat, in lieu of any adults, was the 11-year-old Beatz, looking as casual as could be.
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Re: A Night on the Town [self]

Postby crow » 10/29/2016 9:16 AM

She noticed him staring at her, and gave him a look, as if daring him to say anything. He didn't. He could feel himself breaking into a cold sweat, but he didn't say a thing. Fade greeted them all with an easy smile. "Sorry for the wait, guys. He had to get ready." This, Morpheus thought privately, could hardly have endeared him to any of them, but again, he kept his mouth shut.

A head poked out of one of the rolled-down windows: a kid with scruffy hair, shaved entirely along one side of their head. Who...? Oh, that was right. This was Stray, wasn't it? Morpheus wasn't too familiar with... him, since he didn't generally come to school, ad Morpheus didn't really socialize outside of it. Or in it, honestly, but at least he could put a name to a face if he saw them around.
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Re: A Night on the Town [self]

Postby crow » 10/29/2016 9:26 AM

"Bout time," said Stray. Part of Morpheus was trying, in a detached way, to figure out whether Stray was actually glaring at him like he was scum on someone's shoe, or if that was just Stray's face, and he always looked at everyone like that. The more he watched, the more Morpheus felt it must be the former. "Took you long enough, nerd."

Echo, immediately identifiable by her round features and her massive grin, ruined the effect somewhat by crawling across his lap to stick her head out the same window. "Get in loser, we're going shopping!" she crowed with obvious glee, while a disgruntled Stray tried alternatingly to shove her away and to keep himself from passing out.
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Re: A Night on the Town [self]

Postby crow » 10/29/2016 9:29 AM

Having said what she wanted though, she retreated, and not a moment too soon. Stray tried to play it cool, but he couldn't help the massive sigh of relief when he was finally out from under her bulk. Stray, for all the force of his glare, was a rather skinny boy, and not suited for holding up under the force of anyone else's body weight.

Fade, completely oblivious to Morpheus's growing discomfort, acquiesced with a grin. Morpheus himself was still trying to figure out who 'loser' was directed at in this situation. 'Nerd' was obvious, considering his and Fade's respective appearances, though it did make him glance down self-consciously. Maybe he had overdressed anyway...?

Sensing that he wasn't coming, Fade gestured to the opened door with a toss of their head. "You heard Echo." How could anyone not? thought Morpheus with some dismay. "Get in!"
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