Lunchtime. Again. Normally, it lunchtime was a relief for students, but not to Clyde. To him, there was nothing fun about that block of time. He didn't have any homework to keep him occupied, so he opted to read a book instead. As usual, the spot he chose to stay during lunch was a quiet one. This time around, he'd picked out a bench in the corner of the campus. That way, he could avoid his fellow students.

It wasn't that Clyde hated people; he just wasn't like any of the other teens. In fact, he didn't even look like the them. Since he had been at the school for a few months now, some of the other students had labeled him “that weird little kid” already. The age shifter wasn't exactly okay with that, but trying to explain his situation... well, that was like saying, “Please shove me in a locker,” or “Beat me up.” Not only was his problem humiliating, but mutants weren't exactly greeted with open arms, either. He didn't want to deal with either issue, much less both at once. He wouldn't be able to protect himself if someone decided to attack him for what he was. It was best to just let the other students wonder.

As long as they minded their own business, he'd mind his.

High school was boring. What had ever possessed Juka, in his infanent wisdom, to actually think that going back to high school was a good idea? So what if he currently looked like that's where he actually belonged and so what if it actually meant almost daily human interact, it was still boring. As in, really boring. It had been bad enough the first time around when everything was still new and he actually had things to learn, but now it was just tedious and pointless. He had no ambitions to be a better student this time around or to go to college or any of the rest of that nonsense. Eventually, when his nemesis had forgotten him, he'd go back to the stage and the stage had no need for formal education. So, why was he still at school again? That was the question.

It was lunch time and while Juka didn't technically need to eat, his bubble taking care of all of his needs, it was something he enjoyed. Or at least, its something he enjoyed when there was actually food worthy of enjoyment. High school cafeteria food, he learned rather quickly, was not at all worth enjoying. Not even a little bit. So today, as with nearly every day since returning, he didn't eat anything. At the end of the day, perhaps, he'd go find some fancy restaurant with food actually worth eating and enjoying, but in the meantime it wasn't so difficult to sneak away into a bathroom for a few minutes and take care of that need in alternate ways.

Another thing Juka had learned rather quickly was that he didn't fit in there. At all. Maybe they just weren't used to his flamboyant and flirtatious ways or, probably even more likely, the way he behaves just wasn't the way a normal 14 year old was supposed to behave. It wasn't that he was old, not really, but he was older than he appeared and had seen a lot for his age. So, more often than not, he found himself alone and bored, every so very bored.

It was with these not especially happy thoughts in mind that Juka spotted the little kid sitting in the corner. Much too little, in fact, to be part of high school and, if his eyes did not deceive him, reading a book much too advanced for his small stature. Well, he wasn't quite sure what to make of it but surely this story would be far more interesting than just about anything else happening at the moment so he picked himself up, blood red jacket flowing behind him, and walked right up to the child. "You, my dear, seem a little young to be here in a place like this. Might I request your company and perhaps hear your story?" He bowed elegantly in the direction of the child.

Clyde was just getting into the story when someone interrupted him. Out of all the times to be bothered, it HAD to be while he was reading.

The age shifter looked at this person and raised an eyebrow. What the heck was he (or she?) wearing? And, what was with that odd behavior? It was way too formal for high school! Hmm... must be some drama department guy. Those people seemed to love the attention that came from their strange antics.

Clyde bore a fairly irritated expression on his face as he listened to the guy. This was just what he needed: another person questioning why he was at the school. Granted, he didn't look like he was supposed to be there, but most of the other students had figured out that he was another student some time ago.

“What story?” he asked, as if there was nothing strange about what he was doing. He tried not to sound rude, though his annoyance was probably quite evident. He simply wasn't fond of answering questions. “I just go here.”

It was then that Clyde remembered the book he was reading: Brave New World. It was something an adult would immediately yank out of a child's hands, but he was old enough to handle it. Still, seeing him with it had to be strange. Clyde set it aside facedown, hoping it would go unnoticed.

It wasn't that Juka didn't notice that the kid was annoyed at his approach and questions, it was just that he didn't care that the kid was annoyed. How could anyone really stay annoyed with him for long anyway? He was clearly charming and glorious not to mention courteous and with a great fashion sense just to top it all off. So, annoyed or not, it just meant he had to try a little harder than usual to win him over.

“What story? I just go here.”

"Oh no you don't," Juka shook his head and waggled a scolding finger at the kid, grin splitting his face. "I know very well you have a story and you're just dying to tell it to someone who isn't going to judge and make fun of you, isn't that right?" It wasn't a hard leap to figure that judgement and being made fun of were probably some of the kid's main concerns especially given the viciousness of many high school students.

Juka made note of the book the kid was reading and the fact that he took steps to hide it. Clearly, that was proof, if he needed more of it, that he was onto something hear and it was a story he intended to get no matter what!

Despite Clyde's response, the strange teen in front of him did not appear the least bit satisfied. Did he not care that he was interrupting him? Also, it irked him that this guy was waving his finger at him as if he was scolding him. And grinning.

What the guy said next caught Clyde completely off guard. For a moment, he averted his gaze to think. What he said was... surprisingly... accurate... Creepy. Indeed, he was unwilling to tell people because he was worried about how they'd treat him afterwords, and it was bothering him that everyone thought of him as a kid because of that. But, just because that guy seemed to notice things didn't mean that he was going to spill everything. Last thing he wanted was the truth to be floating around the entire school. It would be a nightmare.

Pulling him thoughts back together, the age shifter narrowed his eyes at looked straight at the guy. “I happen to go to school heah,” he stated defensively as he crossed his arms. “End of story. You through heah?” He couldn't say that he was reading – that would just draw attention to the book, and it seemed he'd already noticed. Still, Clyde hoped otherwise.

The question, Juka wondered, was how to get through to the kid? Or, perhaps more to the point, how to get the kid to trust him enough to actually satisfy his curiosity. This was going to be a fun challenge indeed and one he was certain to be up to. After all, he was magnificent, was he not?

"My dearest one, you don't really expect me to believe that do you?" Juka sat himself down on an empty seat in front of the boy, quite uncaring that his presence wasn't especially welcome. He would win the kid over, it was just a matter of how and how long it took. Either that or he'd get himself punched in the nose, but he judged it worth the risk.

"Now, I see that book of yours and I see you sitting here all alone. Either you're some kind of super genius who skipped through several grades to land here, or there's something else going and either way I'm sure the story is a unique and fascinating one." He sat there, arms crossed, looking at the boy in anticipating. He wasn't leaving until his curiosity was justly satisfied. Either that, or he got punched in the nose.

So far, Clyde chalked up that guy's behavior to the idea that he was one of those odd drama people, but even for a drama person, it was pretty strange. It was overly formal and frankly, annoying. Even though he'd indicated that the company was not welcome, that guy didn't leave and even sat down in front of him. Why wouldn't he take the hint? He would of thought the teen would have given up by then.

Clyde's eyes grew wide as the guy confirmed that he indeed did see the book and hinted that he knew something was going on. Crap, he was getting suspicious. That guy seemed so certain that he wasn't telling him something, and from the looks of it, he wasn't going to let up anytime soon. What if he found out and told the whole school?

“What if I do expect you to believe it?” Clyde questioned, his eyes returning to a narrowed state. “Tell me, why does this mattah so much to you?” The teen's persistence did make Clyde wonder just a bit, so he wanted to know where his motivation came from.

“What if I do expect you to believe it?”

Juka shrugged, his expression ever so innocent. Because, naturally, he wasn't anything if not a paragon of innocence. And fabulousness, musn't forget the fabulousness. "Well then I suppose, darling, you are going to have to put up with all my questions for the rest of the lunch break." He winked at the kid, letting him know that he knew that the kid found him annoying. Well, he would certainly change that!

“Tell me, why does this mattah so much to you?”

Juka shrugged once again, this time his expression slightly troubled. Now that was the question. The answer, of course, was that he was no stranger to appearing younger than one actually was in reality, but could he actually tell that to the kid? It might be dangerous to him and, if his suspicion was even slightly true, it might be dangerous for the kid. Which, of course, left him in a complicated position. Then there was the fact that his suspicions might actually be completely wrong and where would he be then.

Juka's expression cleared almost as quickly as it had appeared to begin with. "What if I were to say that I find the idea of being young with the illusion of being old something of a curiosity?" There, nothing too overt although now that he really thought over the statement, maybe it just made him sound crazy. Oh well, wouldn't' be the first time someone thought him crazy.

Clyde glared at the guy. He wasn't swallowing what he told him, was he? Ugh, and from what he said, he was going to have to put up with his unwanted attention the rest of lunch break. “Haven't you noticed you're botharing me?” he groaned to himself, annoyed. Couldn't he take a hint? Somehow, though, he assumed that this other guy didn't care how intrusive he was being. Clyde was seriously considering grabbing his things and walking away but froze when the guy said something else.

“Say what?!” the age shifter exclaimed, a shocked expression flashing across his face. The other teen's words were strange, but the subject matter was getting too close to what was really going on for it to be coincidental. He seemed suspicious, and it was making him beyond uncomfortable. Clyde had no idea as to how much that guy knew about him, but he had to try to throw the guy off somehow, else he'd find out that he was a mutant soon (if he hadn't already). “What, you mean like aging prematurely? Whatever,” he changed to a bored tone. Maybe if he showed enough disinterest, the guy would soon grow bored. He wasn't going to hold his breath, though.

“Haven't you noticed you're botharing me?”

"Oh, I noticed," Juka agreed with a blithe smile, "I've just decided not to pay attention to any of that." He was nothing if not painfully persistent. If the kid thought he could out-stubborn the great Juka Miami, he had another thing coming, oh yes he did.

“Say what?!”

The shocked expression only passed the child's face for a moment, but it was enough for Juka to key in on. So, perhaps he wasn't so far off his original assumption after all, despite the other's repeated denials. Now, how to approach things from here?

“What, you mean like aging prematurely? Whatever,”

"Or, perhaps the opposite?" Juka offered, with an all too serious expression. His eyes searched the other boy's wondering what, if anything, to reveal. The idea of having someone who could truly relate to his own condition was almost painful in its possibility.

Clyde had tried numerous times to tell him that the questioning was unwelcome, yet the guy declared that he wouldn't stop, and the topic was getting even closer to the truth. Go figure. The guy even looked like he was enjoying playing this cat and mouse game.

The fact that Clyde appeared to be a kid among highschoolers didn't go unnoticed, but this was the first time someone at the school interrogated him about it. Maybe it was something he couldn't hope to hide forever. Though he'd rather not have to explain it, if the guy intended to keep this up not just for the rest of lunch, but for the rest of the time they were both at the school, then it appeared he was going to have little choice.

The age shifter sighed before he spoke. “Look, if you think you ah on to something, drop the whole 'slowly building up to a climax' gig and straight up tell me exactly what it is and why. Othahwise, if the subject has you that curious, go off and read up on the Fountain of Youth oh something.”

Wouldn't it be grand if he was completely wrong about that guy having suspicions?

It seemed like Juka had reached just about as far as he was likely to be able to reach without being direct about his suspicions and the reasons why. To tell or not to tell, that was the question. Oh how we wanted to be able to tell his secret to someone who might just understand his experiences but would that put his lifee in danger? Or even worse, would that put the kid's life in danger.

Taking a deep breath, Juka decided to take a gamble. Either he was right and the kid wasn't what he appeared to be and thus wouldn't be likely to tell his own secret (hopefully) or he was wrong and quite possibly screwed. What was life without a few risks anyway though, right? More fun that way. Or so he told himself right at that moment anyway.

"Look, I'll level with you because I think I'm right. Fountain of youth isn't nearly so far off as you think. You could say that's me. I'm not quite what I seem and when I saw you, well, I thought maybe you might be the same." Oh, the bitterness in his voice in stating that. Oh, what suffering that had brought to his life.

Okay, so the guy was still dawdling with vague statements. All Clyde knew was that the guy claimed he thought that they had something in common. The only thing he could think of to conclude from it was that the guy looked younger than he was, just like him. Of course, it might have been a lie to get him to talk, or he might have been one of those insecure seniors who obsessed over the idea that they looked like a freshman, but regardless of whether or not he brought up his true age and mutation, those suspicions were probably not going to leave.

Curious, the age shifter carefully studied the other teen. He certainly looked highschool aged, but if what he thought the guy was saying was true, that meant he was beyond that.

“What exactly ah you saying? That you ah oldah than you look?” Clyde asked, looking at him straight in the eyes. He took a deep breath, then continued. “You suggesting the same fo me?”

“What exactly ah you saying? That you ah oldah than you look? You suggesting the same fo me?”

Well, Juka had all ready gone so far, he may as well go all the way, right? Hopefully doing so wouldn't end up in either him or the kid getting hurt. His own fate he could deal with. Maybe. But the kid's? If he got hurt because Juka was less covert than he should have been then he didn't think he'd be able to live with himself.

"Yes, I'm older than I look. And yes I think you're the same." He looked the kid in the eye, trying to read his expression and waiting in apprehensive anticipation for his response.

Just as Clyde had suspected, the other teen was onto the truth. Furthermore, he was claiming that he indeed looked younger than he was. The “teen's” actual age and and how he'd achieved it were beyond him. For all Clyde knew, the other teen still might have been a drama student that was putting on one heck of an act. Either way, Clyde was cornered, and he was going to have to spill the secret he'd somehow managed to keep from the rest of his classmates.

The age shifter swallowed before he spoke. “Okay, heah it is. The fact is, I'm sixteen. I'm one of those 'big, scary mutants' everyone talks about. Tell me, what's yah story?” he said in a hushed, dire tone. There, he said it. He quickly looked down at the ground, still not quite trusting the other guy.