You know that part of your brain that recognizes your name? Leo liked to imagine his was extra mutant good.

He wasn’t sure what had drawn him into the conversation happening behind the door. He’d heard something about a forum and his curiosity was piqued. They couldn’t be… surely not…

But it was.

Audobon X.

Leo pressed his ear to the door and prayed for mutant hearing to spontaneously be granted to his person. They were talking about that AMA that’d taken off a while ago. Oh snap! InvasionOfTheBS was behind this very door! Leo pressed himself tighter against the wood.

He knew Alex was here. That was a no-brainer. He probably knew Invasion was here too. It only made sense, Alex had pegged Invasion as his roommate. But now the Mansion staff knew too. Hmm. Didn’t sound entirely positive.

What!? Leo put his hand on his mouth to make sure none of this was getting out through his lips. FAN MAIL? Psh. He was an admin and even he didn’t get fan mail.

Psh. Probably poisoned cookies anyway.

And they settled on the idea to do more AMAs? Awesome! Leo popped his phone out of his pocket and started a new thread to quickly let the site know in a vague admin promise kind of way that there was more direct mutant contact headed their way in the future. Crazy. He thought he’d be able to get some stuff going while he was here, but this was even better. This InavsionOfTheBS guy, Leo needed to shake his hand.

He leaned in, ready to glean more information.

Huh? Were they being real quiet again? Someone made Alex cry some more? He leaned in closer.

THWACK

“Augh!” Surprise!

Leo grabbed nose and rocked back on his heels. “Augh. That stings!”

It was somewhat of a relief that things had been resolved somewhat neatly. At the very least they had a plan on how to take some of the heat off him. But still it was a worrying thought to know that thousands of people were getting to know him from a silly interview video they hadn't even planned.

He wondered what else they could possibly glean from what he had said. He was going to have to review the video himself...and maybe see how people were responding. He had been avoiding it up until now, there had been no point in worrying over it and now there was a fair reason to worry.

Gemma let them go after the talk, probably figuring they could use a break. She wasn't wrong. Right now he wanted nothing more than go to the backyard and rela-THWACK!

“Augh!”

His train of thought was cut off by the door suddenly hitting something and a pained yelp. The panic from the last hour or so leaped right back into his throat. He looked around the door to find a teen had been standing right there when he had opened the it.

“Augh. That stings!”

He watched the teen rock back on his heels, holding his face. "Ah, sorry, are you alright?" He tried to sound calmer than he was. He knew he hadn't done much damage with his actions. It was just the last couple of hours still had him rattled and he'd rather avoid doing more harm.

Jiri just about lept backwards into the room when the THWACK-AUGH sounded. THWACK-AUGH was not a sound a teenager wanted to hear, not a sound he was mentally prepared for, after escaping an interrogation session with two adults hell bent on dishing out the blame. Not just escaping, either: escaping with staff permission to do the same exact thing that had gotten them in trouble the first time. It was victory, pure and simple, lesson not learned, and he was going to get out of this room extremely fast before either Miss Taylor or the Morris clone realized it except when Alex opened the door to freedom

THWACK-AUGH

"Gah!" Jiri eloquently articulated. He cast a quick look back at the counselor and the X-Man (why was an X-Man part of the school's disciplinary committee, anyway?) before dodging out the door. And shutting it behind him, via leaning his weight back against it.

"You were totally listening, weren't you?" Jiri whispered, trying not to attract adult supervision. No apologies from this teenager, oh no. There was only one reason someone would be standing outside a closed door in an administrative hallway at the precise moment said door was thrown open, and it was not one deserving of pity.

The kid looked around the same age as he and Alex, or close enough. Latino. A little scruffy.

Louder, for the adult's benefit, he called out, "I need to unwind. Who wants to figure out where they keep the soccer balls locked up?"

Alex and random teen did, that's who. Jiri hooked an elbow through each of their arms, and started skedaddling away from the authority figures.

Was he alright? "Yeah. Yeah, man. Totally cool." He pinched his nose with one hand and stuffed his phone back in his pocket before he posted yet another reply to his own post that read 'ppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppdsms349042kmdf x' Too many more of those and SirSpiesALot would use it as an excuse to SWAT the Mansion. He was dying to hack into one of the cop's responsibility cameras when they were dealing with mutants. Yeah. No. He had to get somewhere and clear that one up.

> "You were totally listening, weren't you?"

Leo focused on the guy who, at best guess, he pegged as InvasionOfTheBS. Green eyes? In that face? Obvious mutant give away.

"Uh. Guilty." He whispered back to follow Invasion's lead. Yes. Honesty with the mutants, one of which had gotten to the Mansion via stabbing another.

So then Invasion made a loud excuse and then the three of them were going to play soccer instead. Leo kept his non-commandeered arm latched to his nose. He could smell the blood, probably because it was his nose, but he wasn't about to protest.

"There's a utility closet by the basketball hoop." There. That was helpful, right? "I haven't checked it out yet. Still settling in."

The other teen didn't seem alright. From the way he was holding his nose, face scrunched up in pain. He was just about to suggest going to the kitchen to get some ice and tissues or paper towels. But instead Jiri was quick to jump in hooking an arm around his own and the stranger's to pull them off to who knows where.

Apparently they were going to play soccer now...

He didn't know how to play...Not really. He knew at least the rule about not touching the ball with your hands. It was something at least.

He didn't know if he should make Jiri aware of this little factoid. He didn't know if it would be annoying for the teen to know that not only was his roommate tech inept, but sports inept as well. Again, something that didn't come up often in survival. Jiri and this other teen were going to know very soon anyway. And he's been honest with his friend about things so far.

"I don't know how to play." It came out a little bit more blurted then he meant. But it was honest, so the other boys might at least show him mercy in this game they were about to engage in.

>> "Uh. Guilty."

"Thought so." At least the other teen was leveling about it. That was cool. Everyone came across interesting conversations in deserted hallways that they dragged their heels walking past, but not everyone admitted to it. And the other kid didn't resist booking it the heck away from The Man, so he knew what was what.

"Jiri O'Leary," the Iranian-Irish-god-his-parents-made-introductions-sound-weird teenager said. He didn't offer to shake hands because he'd already kidnapped one of the Latino guy's arms, and the other looked like it was holding his nose on. "Did you need to go to the doctor? I hear he can insto-heal but he's creepy and he sees how you were injured when he does it, and I've got no clue if he's cool or if he'll squeal. And I think the Morris clone is looking for someone to vent on, after that meeting. So your call."

Go running to Big Brother Doc, or be a man and put up with his battle injury. One way lead to administrative action, the other to soccer.

Speaking of: the other kid knew where they kept things. Maybe. Probably. It gave them a goal, anyway. Plus, still settling in?

"Us too," Jiri said. Agggh that reminded him: classes were starting soon. For real. Lame. Also lame was that he was still holding two guys' arms, so he released them back into the wild.

...Alex sounded way more stressed about soccer than anyone had any right to be. It was soccer. Football, of the non-American-variety. How had he never played soccer? Sure there was the running away from home stuff, but there should have been games at his elementary school, right? Though to be fair, elementary school games didn't run off of rules, per se.

"Don't worry," he said. "You can't actually play with three people. This is more like 'let's kick a ball because it's a nice day and because then we can avoid the adults in their natural indoor habitat.' "

He'd had plenty of adult influences today. It was high time he socialized with his own.

> "Jiri O'Leary,"

Whoa. He just came right out and said it. Jiri probably assumed Leo was a mutant, to be this frank with him.

"No. Really. S'cool, man." He tried to sound not affected, which was hard considering the way it made his voice all nasal. "It's not broken or anything. I'd just feel dumb going to see somebody." He was assuming a broken nose would hurt more, anyway. Somehow that was enough for Jiri to let him go. Had he been in trouble there for a while?

"I'm Leo." He sniffed and tested whether he could let his nose go. So far so good. "And everybody knows Alex. Sorry, man. You're a psuedo celebrity after both the YouTubes and your AMA." And, to be fair, he was listening.

Crap. That reminded him. Leo pulled out his phone and with practiced fingers, did the correct unlock motion with one hand. His screen woke right back up to the Audobon X forums where Leo made the fastest and most plausible excuse for his previous misspost.

ETA: cat.

That taken care of, Leo re-locked his screen and stuffed the phone back in his pocket.

"Soccer's mostly just an excuse to run around anyway." And now that it was settling in that he was going to get to kick a ball around with some mutants, Leo was anxious to get started. "You'll get the hang of it no problem. Heck, you're halfway there already just by walking around on your two feet. There's a reason it's the most played game in the world." Accessibility, they name is soccer.

"I'm Leo. And everybody knows Alex. Sorry, man. You're a psuedo celebrity after both the YouTubes and your AMA."

"Uh, yeah, not exactly something I wanna talk about right now." He could help but feel his ear burn a little at that. He wasn't exactly comfortable with being so known. So far he had been lucky that he hadn't run into any body who knew him from the videos. Well not in person any way. Plenty of letters to prove that people knew about him. In the most uncomfortable way possible. People knew enough to get the attention of the staff too.

So yeah, he much rather not be reminded of that stupid mistake. He couldn't help but wonder what Leo was typing into his phone. Not that it mattered much. No sooner had the subject come up than it was forgotten and the moved on to other things. Like soccer...or rather just kicking a ball around.

"Don't worry. You can't actually play with three people. This is more like 'let's kick a ball because it's a nice day and because then we can avoid the adults in their natural indoor habitat.' "

True...

"Soccer's mostly just an excuse to run around anyway. You'll get the hang of it no problem. Heck, you're halfway there already just by walking around on your two feet. There's a reason it's the most played game in the world."

Also true, "I guess I'll give it a shot then." Not like he was going to say no anyway. Besides he did want to go outside anyway. This was just an extra reason to do so.

>> "And everybody knows Alex. Sorry, man. You're a psuedo celebrity after both the YouTubes and your AMA."

Dude. Not cool. If Jiri knew this kid better, this would be the time to whap him upside the head. Because dude. Not cool. Who brings up a guy's most traumatic moment, by way of introduction? Leo O'Sensitive, apparently. Alex was defending himself just fine, so Jiri didn't step in, but he couldn't help but shoot the other teen a look. A dude, not. cool. look.

He shouldn't judge, though. Maybe this kid was someone like Alex, who'd run away from home because his mutation manifested when he was four and he'd lived in a cave since then and that's why he was being the exact opposite of chill right now.

The whole 'getting on his phone in the middle of a RL conversation thing' didn't support the cave theory. That was the same sort of thing Jiri expected from any of his regular friends.

So. Probably just the kind of guy who found out where is foot was by shoving it in his mouth.

At least Leo was encouraging on the soccer front. If he'd made some kind of crack about Alex not knowing, that would have been Jiri's cue to ditch him. 

Wait. Why were they bringing the kid along? ...Because Jiri had physically dragged him along. Yeah. Okay. Made sense. And he was probably new at the Mansion, too--lots of students seemed to be turning up, now that the school year was about to start.

Which was a decent enough topic.

"You new around here?"

The basketball courts were just around the side of the school. They'd need to cross the lawn to get to them--

The Iranian teen stopped in his tracks. "Umm. Let's go the long way. Apparently there's this whole club of mutant spotters that likes to walk by the gates and take pictures." He'd been to their club meeting. It was a subgroup of the Audubon X forum; the people who actually left their computer screens once in a while and got photos for the rest of the forum to fawn over. Jiri had resolved to not step foot on the front lawn ever again, if he could avoid it.

They'd go around the back of the school, so they could avoid the pesky humans.

Shiiiit he was f*&@ing this up and he knew it as soon as Alex's ears turned red. Jiri was like a well trained bulldog where his roomie was concerned. "Erm. Sorry." Did not cover it, but hopefully it was a start. He'd just thought... well. Alex was a Celebrity. He just hadn't put that in context about why until Jiri gave him the look.

"Yeah. Just this week, actually." And please don't make my life a living hell because I already doofed up. Wait. Jiri wasn't a psychic, was he? He looked... mostly normal. Except for the ankle monitor, the three of them could have been wandering around at his old school, actually.

Except. Yeah. No photographers at his old school. Not without candy vans and criminal records anyway.

"What?" There was maybe a bit more heat in Leo's voice than was appropriate. The bird sanctuary was off limits. "Those dill weeds need to back off. This is supposed to be a safe place." He needed to adjust the photo credit scale again to discourage taking pics through the bars. And maybe tip them off that there was security that might maim them. Yeah. Leo itched to grab his cell phone and mess with it now. It was really good to have someone trustworthy on the inside.

Leo sighed as they trudged through some tall grass behind a mostly brick wall of the Mansion. "Yeah. Ms. Taylor doesn't like me and I've kinda been avoiding the X's whenever I see them." He kinda thought they'd be nicer in person. "Off to a great start."

He didn't need to look at Jiri to know that his roommate was giving the new teen the stink eye. He could practically feel it. Still Leo apologized and did look thoroughly sorry about it. Now whether he was sorry for his words or simply sorry for being somewhat called out on them, the world may never know. But it was something at least.

Jiri did bring up a better question though, "You new around here?" To which Leo supplied, in short, "Yeah. Just this week, actually." And that was the end of that conversation. He was curious though, Leo looked normal enough, so his power might be like his or Jiri's. "Just out of curiosity, what's your mutation? If you don't mind." Another power to confirm his growing theory on the connection between one's life and their mutation. Which reminded him, he needed to quiz Jiri on his power and home life a little more.

On nearing the front lawn however, Jiri brought up a good point. "Umm. Let's go the long way. Apparently there's this whole club of mutant spotters that likes to walk by the gates and take pictures." He nodded in agreement, following the other boy's lead and walked the other way.

More than once had he and Jiri caught would-be photographers peeking through the fence and over it in attempts to snap pictures. It was really creepy to think that people were treating this like some sort of zoo to view mutants.

The other boy seemed to agree, commenting, "What? Those dill weeds need to back off. This is supposed to be a safe place." He wondered what prompted the fire in his tone. Perhaps Leo's been the victim of some unwarranted eyes too. He wouldn't be surprised then if he had sought out Xavier's as a sanctuary.

"Yeah. Ms. Taylor doesn't like me and I've kinda been avoiding the X's whenever I see them. Off to a great start."

"They're good people, they just care a lot. Maybe a little too much for some people's tastes." He knew Jiri seemed to have general distant for a lot of adults and it seemed like Leo did too. He only half understood it. Maybe it was because he hadn't spent nearly enough time to be bitter about an authority figure. Maybe it was because he knew how fragile their grip on children actually was. But he didn't really dislike adults as much as other teens.

Leo cringed sufficiently enough to mollify Jiri's sense of inner justice. Clearly Jiri had pegged him wrong--he wasn't the same age as him and Alex, he was younger. Like, fifteen. There were worlds of difference, whole vintages of experience, between fifteen and sixteen. 

So he'd let the kid's insensitivity slide. For now.

"I've been here... about three weeks? God that went fast." And so far he was managing to barely pass summer school, and make no forward progress on controlling his mutation. Woo. Go him.

Dill weeds was his new favorite swear.

"We really need to put up that notice," he said, mostly to his roommate. "The whole 'Attention School: Creepy Humans Are Creepy, Stay Off The Front Lawn.' " They'd talked about it the last time they'd seen photographers, but it was the sort of thing you say and then forget about. A complimentary Don't Feed the Mutants (and No Photos) sign may or may not have been discussed, for posting on the front gates. Given the trouble they had just dodged with the administration... maybe it was better if that idea stayed forgotten.

"Did I tell you I snuck into one of their club meetings the other day? 'The 50-something-th Meeting of the New York Chapter of the Audubon X Bird Photography Club.' " He did his best to imitate the hipster guy who'd started the meeting off. "It was weird. I felt like I was playing human-dress-up the whole time, and they might mob me if they figured out what I was. Mob with cameras." A shudder. What could be worse?

To Leo, he commented, "I'm having a hard time getting a read on Ms. Taylor. It's like she's all..." Making Alex almost cry. But he was not going to say that. Instead, he waved his hand ambiguously. "But at the same time she's cool with us doing more AMAs. So... I dunno. Weird lady. Plus I heard she denied some human's financial aid when he wanted to come here, and you know how liberal they are at handing that stuff out with everyone else. So probably racist."

He'd heard this from the kid's mom. Cool lady. She obviously had a weird kid, if he wanted to come here, but he couldn't fault her parenting. Anyone who gave him coffee candy was all right in Jiri's books. 

Alex was way too forgiving. Ms. Taylor and the Morris had just about given him a nervous breakdown, had almost made him literally made him run screaming from the place to whole up in a cave somewhere.

"We are going to agree to disagree about our definitions of 'good people,' " Jiri said. And he was totally going to pretend that a little too much for some people's tastes hadn't been a jibe at him. Maybe Alex really didn't know how bad he'd looked in that room. "She's a Responsible Adult."

Capital R, capital A, capital Meh.

>> "Just out of curiosity, what's your mutation? If you don't mind."

Jiri turned his attention on the kid, too. No doubt he knew Alex's already--he'd admitted to seeing both videos. So for Alex to ask was totally fair turn around. Plus, it just seemed to be a normal greeting question in the mutant community, as weird as that still felt. 

"Creepy humans. Yeah. Haha." Something sort of mumble-y and affirmative came out like that. Have you ever seen a tan guy go pale? The more Jiri talked, the more Leo was sure he was going to wake up in a gutter somewhere missing a kidney.

Human dress up? He'd heard stories about Aura, but... were there people like that at the Mansion?

Gulp.

"Hopefully that's a harmless hobby." It had been fun once. Take pictures and keep track of the mutants you saw doing really cool mutant things. Sort of like celebrity spotting. He hadn't meant any harm. He certainly hadn't meant for it to get popular and spawn 50 pretentious camera-touting hobbist meetings.

>> "I'm having a hard time getting a read on Ms. Taylor. It's like she's all..."

Finally! Something Leo could latch onto. "No. Totally." The hand motions really said more than words here. "I got that vibe too. D'ja know she shuts down mutant powers?" Wait. How'd he hear about his financials getting denied?

> "Just out of curiosity, what's your mutation? If you don't mind."

Was he outed so soon? Leo was just thinking that Alex seemed so mature about the whole authority thing. He had a great perspective, considering... you know.

"Ehm." Leo tried hard not to quick draw his phone and google up an excuse. "I... uhm..." Fart! He was scrambling for something that wasn't a lie and didn't make his sound like a mutant, but also didn't make him sound super lame. Either he was remarkably unoriginal or it was an impossible conundrum to solve in the few seconds he was given.

Leo just wanted to hang out with the cool kids for a little while. Was that so wrong?

"You know that crazy human kid who applied here?" Leo sighed. "You're looking at 'im."

And Jiri? "She gave you candy, didn't she?" That was how he'd heard. Now that he knew what to sniff for, he could smell it on him. Coffee candies.

Jiri's commentary on the "Audubon X Bird Photography Club" was definitely new information to him. Here he thought it was just a group online but there was an actual club that met in real life to trade pictures. He cringed but also couldn't help but laugh at the idea. They were taking pictures of people like they were birds or something. Who comes up with an idea like that?

Well he guessed it was a better thing to do than put up a hit list. Yeah definitely better than looking to kill who they took pictures of. He supposed that "bird hunting" would be the darker side of "bird watching". He pushed that thought to the back of his mind and hoped never to think of it again.

"So... I dunno. Weird lady. Plus I heard she denied some human's financial aid when he wanted to come here, and you know how liberal they are at handing that stuff out with everyone else. So probably racist."

Alex rolled his eyes at this. This place was like one of those rehabilitation shelters on top of being a school and a sanctuary. Rehabilitation shelters helped people get back on their feet, reintegrate into society. Like they were with him. Xavier's was probably the only one that specialized in mutants. They couldn't just lend out aid to anybody.

And then Leo floundered to answer his question. Maybe it hadn't been okay to ask. He was so used to sharing that information with other mutants that he hadn't thought that it could be bad. Maybe there were such things as taboo mutations.

"You know that crazy human kid who applied here? You're looking at 'im."

He blinked, then blinked again. That was not the answer he was expecting. "Oh..." Honestly he had no words. He didn't think they had any non-mutant students. A few teachers, a staff member here or there, but not a live-in student. He glanced at Jiri, wondering if the other teen had better words for this matter.

Leo didn't look too hot. With his reaction to the news of the photographers, and now the way he was turning pale... Crap. The whole 'humans stalking mutants with cameras' thing was clearly a sore spot for him. Maybe someone he knew? Had known? Or was he some kind of shifter? Leo himself looked pretty human (at the moment), so he couldn't imagine the kid getting in trouble with bird spotters himself, but there was clearly some history there.

Jiri belatedly dropped the subject. And gave Leo a mental IOU: one foot-in-mouth moment excused, because clearly he'd just had one, and the kid had been cool enough not to glare at him.

"Wait. Taylor does what?" Shut down. Mutant powers. Maybe this was just the months of sleep deprivation rushing up into a sudden giddy high, but had Leo just said-- "Like, all powers? Perfectly? For how long?"

That was... holy crap. Probably her range was 'touch' or something stupid, or it only lasted for a minute or two

but a minute or two of real sleep

Jiri wobbled a little where he stood. So that's what it felt like to swoon.

And then the powers question came up. It it rapidly became apparent that Alex had hit a sore spot, too. Well. They were all even, then, pretty much. Leo had said dumb stuff abut Alex, Jiri and Alex had returned the favor, no one had meant it, they were cool.

"Hey, you don't actually have to--"

>> "You know that crazy human kid who applied here? You're looking at 'im."

>> "Oh..."

"Umm."

The body snatcher stood rooted to the spot, his eyes on the (very human) kid, trying frantically to think of all the things he's said in the last few minutes, slowly turning redder and redder. What was the phrase he'd used with Maya? Casually racist?