(This thread is a continuation of Inner Demons)

Ty's gloved hands were awkwardly shoved into his jacket pockets as the large building came into view. He'd kept his lip zipped in awkward silence, eyes taking in the surroundings. His mind was everywhere at once, but at least the headache was gone.

Just this morning, he'd thought he was going crazy. But now, as the sun began to paint the sky with gold and orange with its setting, it was different now. He was a mutant, so he would need to control his inner demons, not exorcise them.

And now, in front of Sanctuary, it was very apparent that the young man's life would never be the same again.

Leading the way to her beloved Sanctuary Syn enjoyed the silence. Neither of the boys were very talkative now, but that was ok because it allowed time to reflect as well as prepare for what was coming. She hoped both Miles and Ty were realizing their mistakes and formulating ways to keep things like that from happening again.

When they finally reached Sanctuary Syn didn’t say anything as she let Ty take the sight in. She wanted him to feel good about the place. To know he wasn’t alone as a mutant. He had a place to be himself and not worry about hiding anything.

o/` Oppan Gangnam Style... o/` Gangnam Style... Na je nun ta sa ro un in gan jo gin yo ja... o/`

Dammit, that song was really hard to get out of one's head.

Miles didn't spend much time realizing his mistakes, preferring to waste brain cells on completely useless things instead. He had had some doubts regarding himself after what he now dubbed 'The Event' but once he stared at Syn's backside moving from side to side with every step she gave, he realized things had gone back to normal and not much had changed regarding his tastes and appetites. It had been a mistake on his part, yes, one he had trouble understanding, yes, and Syn was adamant on keeping the video, yes, but life moved on and if he wanted to warm the woman's heart into relinquishing his embarrassment, he realized he'd have to grovel a little and pretty much... behave and not cause any trouble.

He no longer held Ty's pickpocketing ways against him for some reason. Maybe it had to do with the 'make up' part of 'The event' or maybe he just wanted to avoid incurring Syn's wrath and pushing her to upload the video on ViewTube. Whichever the reason, he had kept his mouth shut during most of the journey and was now treating them with a courtesy that was quite uncharacteristic of him.

When they arrived, he passed Syn and Ty and pushed the golden doors open for the both of them to enter.

"Lady and gentleman..." he said, allowing them passage into the marbled, shiny floors of the lobby. "I give to you... Sanctuary"

Ty took a very different approach to the 'event.' In his mind, he was burying it under any and every memory he could find, attempting to force-repress it. He didn't know what came over him back there, but he was pretty sure Syn had something to do with it. The thing was, he didn't know what.

It did cross his mind that he could steal that phone, but...he was pretty sure that wouldn't bode well. After all as far as that went...she sort of had this air that she was out of his league as far as stealing went...

But all thoughts were done away with when Miles dashed ahead and opened the doors. Okay, just from what he saw now, it was looking NICE. He stepped inside, looking around and letting out a low whistle.

Following Miles’ opening of the great golden doors and welcoming statement Syn also gestured for Ty to enter the building first. His soft whistle instantly told her he was already impressed. Then again that’s why the entrance and foyer were made the way they were. To impress and leave newcomers in a state of awe.

Syn walked passed the two boys and stopped half way in the foyer. Turning back to Ty smiling and opening her arms in a welcoming gesture. “What do you think Ty? As you can see no expense was too much when it came to constructing this magnificent building. It’s a place for people like ourselves to feel at home and be comfortable. You don’t have to be ashamed of being a mutant here.”

Ty seemed to be quite impressed with Sanctuary's accommodations. The polished marble floors with it's intricate designs, the golden doors and shiny pommels, the high roof that echoed their voices, the massive desk Lisa was sitting in, it all demonstrated luxury and power. This was an important place, a haven for mutants far and wide, a symbol to the protection and care of fellow mutants. Many important decisions where made within these rooms and walls, many relevant events and actions were planned in these halls as the...

"Come on, let's check out the rec room!"

... and yes, many trivialities were also allowed in Sanctuary.

Miles gestured at them both to follow to the best room on the entire place. They had TV's, pool tables, arcades, large and cushy couches, drinks and snacks, it was downright awesome.

Hmm... a glimpse of an idea popped up in Miles head. How difficult would it be for Miles to trick Syn into playing a game of pool or foosball or whatever with him or Ty? Make it seem fun and games at first and then bet stuff for the winner to take to make it interesting. He could lose the first game, make her feel all good and comfortable and then... bet the video of 'the event' on the outcome of the next game? And then BOOM! Win the game and get rid of the video!

Was it possible? She was a girl, what were the odds she'd knew how to play any of these games better than him? He was nowhere near an expert either, but pshhh! He was a boy! It was only natural he'd be better skilled at this. Could he really manipulate Syn into falling for this?

Oh, Miles, you evil mastermind, you!

"If first impressions are everything," Ty murmured, "Then I'd say I'm sold already," he replied, flashing both of them a grin.

"Rec room? Miles that may very be the best idea you've had all day," he teased with a small chuckle. Of course, Ty had no idea what Miles was planning, but the redhead was thinking of a similar idea. If he could get Syn busy or distracted, maybe he could swipe the phone and delete the video before she noticed or ripped his heart out and ate it or something.

Ty's blue eyes got a gleam in them as he started scheming. But then, a consequence far worse than having one's heart eaten came to mind. If he failed she could very well show everyone, thereby ruining everyone's first impression of him. Usually he didn't care what others thought, but this was a wee bit different, now...

Okay trying to pick her pocket was out of the question. But he could still have fun, right? Just push that little incident to the back of his mind.

Seeing and hearing Ty’s reaction just to the entrance of Sanctuary was cause for smile. The fish had been hooked. Now to reel him in and show the rest of what Sanctuary had to offer.

Miles’ suggestion wasn’t first on Syn’s list of stops, but why not let him see the hangout area. Maybe he was one who liked games. With time he might even be comfortable enough with his talent that he would hangout with other mutants. This would certainly be the place to do it.

Entering the rec room Syn moved to an arm chair and sat down. Her emerald eyes watched the boys. “Here you can come to relax and take your mind off things. You can interact with others staying here, or just watch some TV.”

..."Or you could play some GAMES!" Miles interjected, jumping on the cue Syn herself had made.

He didn't think there'd be a problem to get Ty playing a game since guys usually had this competitive edge girls sometimes lacked. He tried to imagine Syn being all competitive, wanting to win at all costs and it just didn't click. She was the mellow sort, who'd just talk to you and use her way with words to masterfully demonstrate that what she said made sense. She once told him her mutation was to be sweet and people liked her for it and it was the wimpiest mutation he had ever heard of, but he'd never say that to her face and it had its uses for her.

Now the trick here was... how do you entice Syn to get her butt off the couch and come and play games with them? He needed to find a game she'd want to participate in...

No, first things first. He needed to let Ty know what his plan was.

"Look, there's a foosball table over there..." he said, pointing at the table with the little soccer players forever impaled into ball kicking slavery. It was located near the far wall, where he could safely whisper his idea to Ty if Syn remained in her couch. He didn't intend to play a full game, lest she felt tempted to come over and watch them play, he just needed to let him know he was trying to get Syn to surrender the video and how they were going to do it.

"Come on, let's play a quick one-shot one" Miles proposed as he urged Ty to follow. "One-shots are played like this: The first player to score... is allowed one kick to his opponent for real."

As he walked over to his side of the foosball table, his eyes noticed a game to his left that would be PERFECT to get Syn playing. He wasn't much of an expert in it, but he seriously doubted she'd be proficient at it either. Maybe he could get Ty to play it instead of him. It was quite a physical game, it demanded a lot of coordination and girls liked it as much as boys did.

Dance Dance Revolution.

Ty made his way to the rec room, eyes taking in the sights. Miles quickly drew his attention to the foosball table.The redhead chuckled at Miles's challenge. "Heh...give me a shot at some retribution?" he replied with a smirk. Of course he was mostly joking. Mostly.

He followed Miles over to the foosball table, still thinking up some plan to delete that video. Preferably a way where the consequence of failing didn't involve possibly having everyone see it. God this was tricky.

"Alright, let's get this game going, then."

Crossing her legs and getting a little more comfortable in the arm chair Syn continued to watch the boys. Miles had drawn Ty’s attention to a foosball game. There was a hint of their earlier rivalry still lingering. If they decided to settle it by playing a game that was fine by her.

Miles call out to Ty had succeeded in drawing the other boy over to the game table. Even though Miles’ description of rules for the game he challenged Ty to sounded like a quick one. It was a perfect distraction. Thank you Miles.

Not knowing how good Ty was at picking pockets, Syn took the opportunity to safeguard her little insurance policy she had on the boys. Pulling out her phone the goth princess sent a copy of the video to her email. Leaving the copy on her phone would serve as a false victory should Ty manage to get the device. However, this was going to be unlikely as the only games Syn played were with people’s minds.

Ty accepted the challenge and Miles was quick to pick up the game's little white ball and toss it into the table. He chose the red players and as soon as he put his hands on the handles, he started spinning them as noisily as possible. The ball got hit and bounced off the walls while the boy started cheering and taunting and adding to the din, pretending he was already having fun.

"Yeaah! Let's see what you've got!" *clacketty-clack CLACK!*

But as soon as the noise was loud enough to cover his voice, he leaned forward and started mixing in whispers with his obviously fake cheering as he played.

"I've come up with a plan to get our hands on the video... HAH! TAKE THAT!... I'm gonna challenge her to a game of DDR... WOOO! ALMOST!.... and I'm gonna lose... GAAH! MISSED!... and then I'm gonna ask for a rematch... WHOA! DENIED!... and I'm gonna have her bet the video on the outcome... BOOM!... and then I'm gonna win it fair and square!"

The ball bounced this and that way; at times Miles was paying attention to what he was doing, at others, he was just trying to be noisy. He then figured it was prudent to have a back up plan.

"If you see her winning... HERE IT COMES!... you pick her pocket while she's shaking her booty..."

He shot a quick glance at Syn and there she was in her couch, texting away with someone, thoroughly distracted and oblivious to what was going on.

Miles grinned. She'd never see this coming!

Ty grabbed the blue players, which were the ones he wanted, anyway. Blue was one of his favorite colors, after all. Though he hadn't played before, the concept was pretty easy to figure out, and he was somewhat of a natural, it seemed. However, the red-headed pickpocket was the polar opposite of the fifteen year old. Ty was quiet, eyes focused on the little white ball with a very serious expression on his face.

In fact it took him awhile to realize that Miles was whispering through his shouting. Oh, a plan to take the video. And....actually it was better than anything he came up with. DDR was a very...involved game. One he wouldn't be caught dead playing, personally, but...hey it worked.

All the while, Ty was focused on keeping the ball away from his goal and trying to get it into his opponent's. He forgot Syn was even there. It may as well have been an empty room save for him, Miles, and the table.

"_{Sounds good to me,}" he whispered, barely moving his lips. "_{But first, we settle this score, then we work on that...}[/sub]"

Ty's focus went completely back to the noise and movement of the game. He was no expert, but he was holding his own fairly well, his body inadvertently moving with every block, every shot. His hair covered his left eye in the process, but he couldn't stop now. He was in the zone.

Though he had to smirk at the idea of trying to pick the phone from Syn's pocket as she was dancing. Would likely prove challenging, yet somehow...Oh right there's a game to win. Retribution to be had and all that.

With the acceptance of Miles’ challenge the boys started their game. The sound of the ball slamming and bouncing around the inside of the table echoed slightly in the room. There weren’t many other mutants in the rec room at the moment. Those that were there were doing things like watching TV or using computers. Only a couple others were playing some of the video games.

Syn watched the boys as they played. She hoped it would be a quick game as she wanted to get on with the tour lest they stay in the rec room all day. For now she would let them have a little fun.

The tiny ball racketed around the walls of the foosball table and the plastic feet of it's inhabitants. While Ty's game was more controlled and slow as he settled into learning the workings of the game, Miles flourished and took risks, hitting the ball as hard as possible and whenever the ball was on Ty's side, spinning the handles of his midfield players at great speeds, causing a whirlwind of plastic head and feet that was difficult to slip past from.

Ty had agreed to his plan and why not? They both had something to gain from it and the quicker this game was over, the faster they could begin. So... why wasn't Ty letting Miles ball pass through? It was just a game. A game and a kick, that's all. Then again, why wasn't Miles letting Ty win? Hey, it was a GAME and a KICK.

Speaking of kicks, Miles let one crazy shot fly off his spinning midfielders that bounced on Ty's defense, then on the corner of his goalposts and quickly going back to Miles side of the table. The ball sped past his midfielders who were in a horizontal position at the worst possible moment, bounced off his defense and by the time the boy grabbed the handles of his goalkeepers and defense players, it had found it's way inside Miles' goalposts.

The teenager 'humphed' in frustration, drummed his fingers and bit his lip as he tried to find a way to wiggle himself out of this one.

"Well, Ty, I'm afraid you lost on a technicality" Miles said matter-of-factly. "The rules clearly state that the first player to score gets to kick his opponent and that first player was me, I just scored on my own goalposts. But relax, I'm benevolent and I've decided to forfeit my right to kick you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a girl to invite to a dance."

Having said that, he scurried off with quick steps in Syn's direction, trying to keep himself away from the reach of Ty's legs.

"Syn! Syn, how about you and me have a dance off? There's a game here that girls like where you dance and groove and it's really fun! Come on, show me some of your moves!" he said, offering her a hand to get up from the couch.