"I'm not really sure if they were viewed as people or what--like, in the human sense." He tilted back where he sat, idly balancing on his butt before tipping back forward. "But they're equal with human in Allah's eyes, yeah. And they can choose to be good or bad, just like humans can." That was a big deal: angels, devils, animals? They didn't really get the choice: they had their nature, and they acted the part. Humans and jinn? They were God's special creations, the ones who could choose their own destinies.

Jiri gave a bit of a shrug. "It wasn't nice or not nice, really. It's just what I grew up with. Not like I knew I was going to turn out to be a jinn when I was saying Allahu Akbar every morning. I might be reading way too much into jinn being mutants, anyway, and maybe every imam ever disagrees with me. But it just feels like it fits, you know? I'm going to have to find a mosque around here, ask some questions."

He blinked at his roommate's next question. And had his own question, however ill advised: "Are those still a thing? Like, really? 'Devil be gone' and all that? Yeah, umm, that was not a big concern in my house. Though I thought my mom was going to ground me for life when she found out I'd possessed my sister. Also when I stabbed that guy." That last part was said maybe a little faster and a little quieter than the rest. He probably wouldn't have shared it with anyone here, an hour ago. But Alex had leveled with him. It seemed only fair. "Umm. Something you should know? The narcolepsy thing. It was going on for awhile. Most of this year. Way before we figured out anything was happening while I was out. I'm... not always the best at figuring out what's real or not anymore. Haven't actually slept in a few months. I'm at the Mansion because it was this, juvie, or the psych ward."

Which was really petty in comparison with Alex's situation. He hadn't even stabbed the guy with a real knife, just a stupid plastic cafeteria one. And he'd had people to vouch for him with the cops: his family, his friends, his teachers. They cut this deal with the Mansion before he'd ever been in any real trouble. His roommate didn't have any of that, did he? None of the support network, no one on his side of the court. 

He shifted gears, somewhat awkwardly. "So. I know we basically just met and all, but just saying, you should totally come to my house for Thanksgiving. My dad's Muslim, but my mom's really not, so we pretty much have all the holidays. You could meet him, talk religion. He knows way more about this stuff than I do. I mean, if you didn't already have plans. Also, I guarantee my mom is going to ask have you made any friends, and being able to shove you at her would really help."

Yep. They were friends. That had apparently happened, somewhere during this craziness.

Some of these words set off the propaganda centers in his brain, the parts that were over exposed to narrow minded ideas. The word Allah in particular. He knew these thoughts stemmed from time spent with people who in the same breath would condemn mutants and other minorities. That he had hitched rides from people who would spout their views at anyone who'd listen and he just had the misfortune of being there. And of course there were the churches that let him stay for a day but were full of fire and brimstone sermons. Well, sometimes...

It was just so different to hear it, essentially, straight from the horses mouth. If anything, ignoring the contradiction to the imposed view point he had been living with, Jiri's culture was fascinating. He made a mental note to do research, cleanse himself of false information about a religion he hadn't considered thinking about.

"Are those still a thing? Like, really? 'Devil be gone' and all that? Yeah, umm, that was not a big concern in my house. Though I thought my mom was going to ground me for life when she found out I'd possessed my sister. Also when I stabbed that guy."

He nodded, smiling half amused but also brimming with passed experience. "Yeah, in the foster home I stayed in, one of the "problem" kids got one. It's actually pretty scary to watch. Not because he acted like a movie demon or anything, but because the adults...it didn't seem very nice." he spoke before his brain caught up to that last statement, "Wait you stabbed a guy?"

Then Jiri explained and it all kind of clicked into place. Jiri didn't act like himself when he entered someone else's brain. From what he remembered, he meshed himself with them. Which might have been why he acted so high and mighty when he entered his head. He meshed in part with Mary, she had latched onto him. He didn't remember much toward the end but Ace filled him in, saying that he had acted more reasonable when Mary was asleep.

It gave him an idea on how to get Jiri to better control his powers but before he could say as much, the other teen was inviting him over for the holidays. This surprised him a great deal. Usually holidays were spent alone or at a shelter. He hadn't thought of doing anything different this year either, aside from possibly spending that time inside a jail cell. "I...well, no, I don't really have plans. But are you sure? I'm going to be on trial for killing a man in self-defense. I don't think I'm the right friend to bring home for the holidays."

He could imagine Jiri's parents disapproving of him and rightly so. He was a dangerous mutant with a record now. A real record, in the system and everything. Sure he had confessed to Miss T his crimes but those were in private records only the school had access to. But with the up coming trial, hell with just the online video, people knew just how much of a monster he could be. Ace quickly stamped down on the word monster, trying to send comforting vibes to the young man, knowing that what confidence Alex had was hard fought and wouldn't let it be extinguished by shifting moods.

((ooc: Your psychoanalysis of Jiri's power is ridiculously spot-on. <3))

"Holy crap," Jiri drew the first word out, until each syllable was its own statement: Ho-ly craaaap. People still did exorcisms, and Alex had been in a place where they'd done one. He really, really didn't want to read too much into that break in thought there, the 'because the adults...' that didn't pick back up. But it was hard not to, if the people in that house had already been that messed up. "Did you ever, like, call child protective services on them? I mean, you were probably really young at the time and didn't think of it, but maybe drop an anonymous tip now? Crazy people tend to get more extreme over the years, not less. If they're still being allowed around kids..." 

The phrase 'he shuddered to think' had never seemed more appropriate.

And then Alex picked up on his dropped comment. Jiri flushed an appropriate shade of red, and talked faster than strictly necessary. 

"It was incredibly stupid. If I had gone to juvie over it, the other kids would have beaten me up and given me wedgies or something if they heard about it. It was lunch, and the guy was being really inappropriate and handsie with this freshman girl who was totally just trying to get away from him, and I didn't realize I was awake, so I just walked over and... stabbed him in the hand. It was one of those plastic school cafeteria knives that can't even cut chicken." Lamest crime ever. "I'm pretty sure he's still ticked at me, but his parents made him drop the charges when they realized I was legit crazy."

And then they were back to talking about Alex. Whoo. Much safer territory. Whatever else Alex's track record was, at least it wasn't cringe-worthy lame.

"It was self-defense." Jiri raised an eyebrow. His tone was about the same as he'd have used to describe that puppies were fluffy, or boiling water was hot. "I was there, remember? I'll vouch for you. They'll believe me." There was an unspoken confidence there: his parents trusted him, and he trusted them. It was the sort of family dynamic Jiri took utterly for granted.

"If you are in the middle of your trial, then that's the time you'll most want to have a break, right? Be around people who actually care about you, dodge the media by going to a podunk town?" Warwick wasn't really podunk, but it was an hour and a half from the city. No one was going to be looking for Alex there. "My family's really small. Just the four of us--all my relatives are out of the country. I think my mom misses big family events, so there's always this standing invitation to have my friends over. Don't be creeped out if she adopts you. She's, like, an amoeba. An Irish amoeba." Jiri made a sort of slllorp sound, and mimed one cell absorbing another.

His mouth shifted into a wry grin. "Plus, I've been dropping the A-bomb for like the past five minutes, and you haven't twitched once." The A-bomb: Allah Allah Allah Allah. He couldn't even think that in his head without it coming out in his best jihadi voice, thank-you-Western-media. Which is exactly why he didn't say it out loud. "Anyone who can have a legit discussion about religion without getting all weird-uncomfortable deserves to be treated with an open mind. Even if I didn't know the details, I'd like to think it's still be giving you the benefit of the doubt, here."

'Weird-uncomfortable' being its own adjective. Seriously. People could get crazy weird-uncomfortable when he said 'Allah.' It was why he usually went with 'God,' instead. God was God and God was Allah, but one of these words was socially acceptable, and one of them was just... weird-uncomfortable.

To hear Jiri talk so casually about his parents believing him, that they wouldn't be freaked out by the potential mutant murderer in their midst. He couldn't believe such people exist. It almost sounded too good to be true. Like they existed in some different realm where parents actually listen to their children and believe them.

He was almost scared of ruining that by bringing his baggage into their home. Their home must be nice too. He still felt weird staying at the mansion, didn't belong in places like this. He couldn't imagine going to Jiri's home.

Yet Jiri was insistent, saying that it was likely his mother would adopt him. Then there was the idea that he'd be safer at Jiri's house rather than at the mansion when the media storm would happen. That the fact that he could sit quietly and accept what he was being told, without being bigoted, was a plus. It made him wonder just how many terrorist jokes Jiri must have face in school.

"It's not that big of a deal. I mean I've been exposed to the idea that Allah is bad but I can't believe everything that I hear. Honestly hearing it from you, I'm probably going to do some research on the topic." He picked nervously at the blanket, "I guess going to your house for the holidays won't be too bad. I just don't think I've celebrated in a long time." Years in fact.

"Most important thing to realize about Allah?" Jiri said. "It's the same god Christians worship. Usually I'll just say 'God' when I'm out in public, so I don't ruffle feathers. Christians, Jews, Muslims--our holy books branched, but the roots of the tree go to the same place. Basically, if people would just chill out, they'd realize we've got more in common than we have differences. We've even got Jesus, he's just not the be-all-end-all." He scratched his head. "There's probably some clever parallel to the whole 'humans and mutants' debate in there, actually."

Historically, though, religious institutions were pretty crap at chilling out. Political institutions were kind of crap at it, too.

He leaned over, and wrapped a lazy arm around his new roommate's shoulders. "Of course, this could all be crazy terrorist propaganda to make you let down your guard. So yeah. Do your homework, think for yourself. I'm really not interested in converting you--really--but I'm here if you've got questions. And now I'm going to shut my mouth. Religion talks just get weird if they go on too long."

There was no way not to sound like you were trying to convince someone of your beliefs. He wasn't even that religious, by Muslim standards. There were plenty of days the snooze button was more appealing than his morning prayer, and he'd been sucking at getting to the mosque regularly even before the mutant thing had become an issue. He already knew how the next month would go: he'd find a new place to worship, promise himself he'd go every Friday, be super excited for a few weeks... and then start realizing how many cooler things there were to do on Fridays. Like play video games.

Yep. He was Muslim in the same way a lot of Christians were 'Christian.'

>> "I guess going to your house for the holidays won't be too bad. I just don't think I've celebrated in a long time."

He leaned back again, grinning, pretending he didn't see the nervous way Alex was picking at his blanket. "Bad? It's going to be terrible. I'm going to let everyone know you're coming. Mom will try to cook your favorite dish--have I mentioned she can't cook? Don't tell her, Irish women have killed for less--dad will carefully pick out Quran verses he thinks you might be interested in once I tell him about this and you'll feel terribly guilty not listening to all of them, and I'm telling my sister that your absolute favorite thing in the whole wide world is playing dress up, and that your favorite colors are pink and kiwi green. You're going to hate it. Just like a real family holiday."

He chuckled and nodded in agreement. Not need to drag out the discussion any longer. Still it was interesting and probably the next time he got his hands on a computer, he'd look up some information. He probably wouldn't be converting any time soon. God has proven lazy in his view point at best, outright cruel at worse. So, he was just going to leave it at that.

And listening to Jiri go on about how the holidays would be. It sounded like every sitcom family in existence. From his experience it would probably be better than any holiday he previously had.

"I'm in! When do the holidays start because I could use a break?" He didn't mind the idea of bad food, listening to an older man quote a holy book, or avoiding playing dress up with a little girl. "But if I'm gonna be spending all this time with your family, what am I going to be doing with you?"

What did normal teenage boys do during break? He saw last year when a few stuck around for the holidays, it mostly consisted of video games and gorging on sweets. Personally, he hasn't touched a game console since the gamecube was a thing. So he didn't know how well he'd do with Jiri. But it was some experience at least.

"Thanksgiving is..." A pause. "Wow. Umm. November...? Like the third week, or something. The same as Black Friday. It's the Thursday right before that." 

Yes, the holidays meant a great dear to Jiri O'Leary. Namely: they were a break on the school calendar, and teachers would tell him when they were coming up.

He grinned. "I, of course, am going to be stuffing myself on cheap chocolate, multiplayering in the stupid game-of-the-week, and getting my nails done by a five year old. You are welcome to participate in all these activities. The first to gain ten pounds before New Years wins!"

He flopped back on the bed, sandwiching his pillow under his head. "You know, as housing situations go, I don't think this is going to suck."

He'd been worried all day about who they'd stick him with, and how many arms and/or tentacles this mystery person would have. But really, the staff couldn't have picked a better roommate. He'd have to find some way to thank them for it.