Van and Chis. Chris and Van. A dynamic duo on their way--okay so maybe they weren't really a dynamic duo, nor were they both originally intending on going to the same place, but that's how things were going. Van wanted to see the Mansion in daylight and Chris...Chris wanted to go back to his school and do whatever it was that he did--Van didn't really know. The fishy-boy didn't know what Van wanted to do at the Mansion either, they were even...come to think of it, the young stretchy mutant didn't really know why he was going to the school when he got there. In fact, he couldn't remember his original reason for jumping in the cab. He supposed it seemed like a good idea at the time...or something

As they rode in the taxi Van chatted the driver up and soon they were at their destination. He hopped out with a smile, paying his half of the fare and tip with a wad of small bills he pulled from the pocket of his skinny jeans. There was no wallet in those pants, just some cards held together by a rubber band and whatever loose change and bills that he had at the moment. With his new job there seemed to be more of that loose stuff now, funny how that worked. "Thank you kindly, sir." He saluted as he stood outside of the school, smiling like a kid with ice cream.

That smile faded fast and soon the boy was left standing and staring at the large gate. He had a bewildered expression on his face. "So Chris, how long have you lived here? Have you met a girl named Etta--er Henrietta?" He wasn't going to explain himself, but he could still ask, right? That was legitimate. No matter how much he'd told himself as they rode that he wasn't going to think about her...the brunette kept cropping up in his thoughts like an adorable weed in his garden. It was decidedly not good.

Van looked nervous as he took one step and then another towards the gate. He was just there to look--right? No need to be nervous or worried. He was being silly was all...fidgety for no reason...

Yeah, riiiiight.

Chris stepped out of the cab, feeling an immediate sense of relief at the well-known sight of the Mansion and the school grounds, his GAP bag firmly clutched in one hand. Finally home. He hadn´t really relized just how much he viewed the Mansion as ´home´, but as he leafed through his wallet after money to pay the cab he reflected briefly over it. Mostly, it was a place where he felt safe. No crowds, no staring, no strangers who suddenly touched the side of your head just out of curiosity... If you could accept the occasional exploding thrash bin, it was an okay place to live really.
Chris looked over at Van. The stretchy mutant didn´t live there, but apperantly he´d been there before. And Chris didn´t mind that Van had decided to go back to the school with him - on the contrary, Van had helped him haul a cab, had paid half the cost of the drive and had chatted intensively with the driver on the way so the drive hadn´t been one long awkward silence as it usually was when Chris managed to get a cab.

Van seemed almost extatic when he gave the driver the money. Chris didn´t understand where he got all his energy - didn´t he ever get tired? Chris gave the bills to the driver.
"Thanks," he said in a quieter manner. The cab driver nodded, accepted the money and away he went.

They walked over to the big gate, and Van halted in front of it. Chris started to open the gate, but stopped when he heard Van´s question. He looked at Van with a questioning expression - the other guy suddenly didn´t seem as energetic, he almost looked... nervous. Why did he suddenly ask about Henri? He hadn´t mentioned her before.
"A couple of months," he answered. "Yeah, I know her. She´s cool."
And that was true. He and Henri had met during the winter, when he´d still lived in Central Park.
"Why do you ask? Do you know her?" he asked, concerned about keeping his voice even and neutral. He tapped in the entry code to the gate and it swung open for them to enter.

Henrietta hadn’t had much to do lately. She had tidied her room, but the girl realized how lame it was that she couldn’t think of anything better to do. Sure, a clean room was nice, but had life really come down to cleaning for entertainment? Sigh. How sad. The brunette surveyed her work before sauntering back out of the room. She performed a quick spin in a circle to see if anyone was there, and then she exited the hallway with a dissatisfied groan. It seemed that most of her friends weren’t home.

The girl retired to the living room. Plopping on the couch, she grabbed the remote off the coffee table. Henri quirked her lips as she pondered her dilemma. Should she watch TV, or no? It was feeling like a no to her, so she set the remote back in its original spot. Though she didn’t feel like finding a program to watch, she didn’t know what she wanted to do. Another sigh escaped her as she turned onto her side. “Ugh…” She pulled a pillow over her head.

After a few seconds in the odd position, Henrietta sat up and took the pillow off her head. She jogged to her room and returned with one of her many books. Books were always interesting. Well, not always, but they were good time killers. She was hoping she’d get tired so she could sleep. The brunette was never bored while she was sleeping. Trying to relax, the girl popped open her copy of ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’. Part of it was to come out in movie version, so why not refresh herself?

Van was half listening to the other boy’s response as his head filled with the strange fighting feelings that he had come to associate with prolonged thoughts of Etta. On one hand he was excited and on another he was nervous, with a foot he was angry about the fries and on the other foot he was angry at himself for never trying to talk to her after that fateful date thing. There were also some Unnamed Things bouncing around on toes and fingers and his noes but they were so confused that he couldn’t sort them out.

Van’s brain, back to base please...thank you.

Only a few months? That explained why Chris had been so jumpy out in the city open--although the young stretchy mutant could guess a few other reasons for someone that looked so awesomely fishy to be nervous around the general population of New York. He’d had similar problems with his mutation--randomly elongated and rubbery limbs did not a good first impression make, but at least he could hide his powers...most of the time.

He knew Etta--it made sense, they went to school together, but part of Van’s mind couldn't believe that anyone but him interacted with random, sweet Etta. It was a weird thought and it soon passed. You’ve got a dopey expression on your face Van’s mind reminded him as he felt the tug of a wistful smile on his face. He was juggling waaay too much between his hands and feet.

Why ask? Because I can’t stop thinking about her “I just knew she goes to school here.” A nonchalant shrug, or at least his best attempt at one while his emotions were in a blender of his own creation. “I know her, so I was wondering if you did.” A better smile back to Chris, much more normal and less goopey. The gate was opened by some trick of the fishy boy’s and the other mutant boldly stepped inside--if they didn’t want him there they could kick him out after he had a little look around.

“Are you going back to your room or do you want to show me around the grounds? This place looks more posh from inside the fence.” He whistled appreciatively and spun in a slow circle, taking in the large old building and well kept lawns. What he really wanted to do was walk around all the windows--maybe to catch a glimpse of a head of familiar brown hair or a thin runner’s body.

Pathetic. Van Sanders-Adamson was a little creepy and a lot pathetic.

((OOC: I am so sorry about not replying sooner--life has gotten crazy for me since graduation ))

The gravel was crunching quietly under Chris's bare feet as he walked on the path that was leading towards the main building. He took of his heavy overcoat and stuffed it down the plastic bag together with the rest of his clothes - it was way to warm for coats that day, but he always brought it along when he went to town. Not that it did any good - he would need a better disguise than that if he wanted to go unnoticed. Under it he was wearing a bland navy-blue t-shirt and his usual jeans.

Chris was silent when Van told him about Henri, he just nodded to confirm that she did go to school here, and when Van asked if Chris was going back to his room or wanted to show him around he halted. Truth to be told, he shouldn't have minded going back to his room - somehow it felt like he'd been through enough trouble already, he wanted a moment to collect himself. But this was the first time anyone asked him to show anybody around anywhere. He wouldn't be a particularly good host if he just left Van there with an "alright, see ya!"
"Sure, I can show you around," he said a bit hesitantly. "But I'm not a very good guide."
He looked around. They stood about halfway between the gate and the mansion. The garden was amazing this time of the years, with lots of flowers and a green, well-kept lawn and bushes and shrubbery and whatnot.
"This is the garden..."
He paused, like he was going to add something.

Some seconds later he realized that he didn't have anything interesting to add, so he turned towards the big stone building.
"And this is the Mansion."
He paused again, and scratched the back of his head in a kind of awkward gesture.
"It's were we eat and sleep, and, uh, live. There's a library there."
He finished the sentence with a shrug.

((OOC: No problemo!))

Henrietta glanced towards the window in time to see someone talking to another guy on the lawn. The girl set her book down on the coffee table and walked over to the glass. Peering through, she instantly recognized Chris as one of the young men conversing. The other…The other was Van. Holy crap. Oh no! What do I do? Should I go say hi or….? The girl’s mind was whirring as she slowly backed away from the window. Her heart was beating fast and the girl sank to the floor until she was close enough to plop her butt down.

She had missed Van, a lot, but she didn’t think that he’d ever show up at the Mansion like that. Secretly, Henrietta was hoping he would pop by and apologize and maybe they’d get to go on another date again. Of course, this was a bit different. It seemed like he was there to just talk to Chris. Henri liked Chris quite a bit and was glad that when she had gotten attacked, she had been with him. His presence had made her feel more confident. He had been so scared, but she couldn’t blame him with such an obvious mutation and people treating him the way those thugs had.

The brunette couldn’t imagine how Van and Chris could’ve bumped into each other, especially with Chris being so shy. Van was more in-your-face and she would’ve thought that that kind of behavior would scare the fish-boy off. Still confused, the girl rose off the ground and peeked back out the glass. They were still there. Henri had been waiting to see Van again, and now when he was actually there, she was hiding from him. With a sigh, the girl fixed her hair and clothes, and opened the door to outside. She sauntered down the steps and looked off at the boys. With a quick flick of her wrist, she gave them a small wave.

When Chris said that he wasn’t a tour guide Van had not been prepared for the amazingly wonderful explanation of the grounds. Garden, Mansion, sleep, library. Got it. Good. Short, sweet, and decidedly pointy. There was absolutely nothing wrong with that--nothing wrong at all. Especially when the tourist was being a creepy creeper and wouldn’t have listened to an overly long and/or detailed explanation of the place anyway. He was far too preoccupied with staring in at the windows and trying to convince himself his intentions were innocent and not slightly delusional.

Oh lucky day.

He looked up just in time to make eye contact with familiar blue eyes the were then suddenly gone. That was fo sho Etta Braun and she had most def seen him. And she was gone and she’d taken his breath with her. That was unhealthy and boring and so cliche that it almost hurt to think about. Poop on her. Van turned back to the fish boy, hoping that Chris hadn’t noticed the little...whatever it had been.

“This seems like a marvelous place, my lad.” He reached over and attempted to take the other boy’s arm in his in a gesture of camaraderie. “I would be much obliged if you’d show me the rest of the girls--I mean grounds.” He’d lost his train of thought for a moment when he’s turned to investigate a sound and seen a wave instead (and not the kind that sounds traveled with). Etta. Etta. Etta. ETTA. ETTA. Quick, find something interesting at witty to say! His mind urged.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .... When nothing presented itself, he did the next best thing and ducked down so his face was hidden in the space between his chest and his tour guide. I am an ostrich, I am an ostrich.

Chris searched his mind for something to add to his tour, but he couldn't find anything. Sure, this was a great place and all that, but he just didn't know what to say about it.
But Van didn't seem to mind that the tour had been a bit unsatisfactory - actually, Chris wasn't sure the other guy had been listening at all. He seemed to aim all his concentration at the main building. Then he said that this seemed like a marvelous place and grabbed Chris' arm in what most certainly was meant as a friendly gesture, but since Chris had grew up with barely any physical contact at all and was most uncomfortable with any invasion of his personal space it was hard for him to appreciate the friendliness behind it. Even though he wasn't struggling to get free he was leaning as far away from Van as he could without being rude. And Van's confusing comment about showing him the rest of the girls - or grounds - didn't make it all better.

And then he noticed that Van had caught a glimpse of something, or someone, who was moving towards them. Chris turned his head and - speak of the devil - saw Henrietta Braun walking towards them, waving her hand slightly. For a moment it seemed like Van was going to talk to her, but then he ducked his head down in a way that made no sense at all since Henri most certainly had seen them both. Chris had no idea what Van was doing. He had no idea what to do himself. He had no idea why everything suddenly had turned so weird and it made him unhappy.
He gave Henri a stiff wave with his free arm and said in a voice that he hoped didn't betray how much he wished he could be at his room right then:
"Hi Henri. How do you do?"

((Sorry for the delay, it's a combination of writer's block and a broken computer.))

Henrietta approached the two boys with a smile on her face. Just act like you totally don’t care about what happened at McDonald’s and maybe—Hey! He’s hiding from me! Before she got close enough to hear it, a sigh escaped her lips. When she was standing right in front of Chris, she raised an eyebrow at the other boy’s hiding. “Wow.” It wasn’t a loud ‘wow’, but it had some sarcasm in it.

After a moment of collecting her thoughts, the brunette heard Chris. “Hey Chris.” She smiled and glanced at Van. “And Van. I’m fine, by the way. It’s nice to see you again. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? I haven’t seen you since we hid in the bushes together from those thugs. How have you been?” A small smile appeared on her face and she addressed Van as well. “Both of you, I mean. Good, I hope.”

Soooo awkward. It seemed the fish-boy felt the same way. She could just feel the uncomfortable-ness in the air and the look on his face betrayed his politeness. He was obviously very nervous. It might’ve been partly because of Van using his as a human shield, but Henri couldn’t be sure.

Something didn’t smell right and it was the slightly fishy odor that Chris was emitting. No, it was something else, something much more fowl and much less...fishy. It was awkward. It was a Whole Lotta Awkward and it was heading straight for them at top walking speed! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! This was what he wanted but he didn’t want this! He wanted to creep, not have Etta confront them. This was not in the wild plan he’d made in the cab ride to the school. This was much too logistically sound to be happening.

So. Much. Awkward.

Etta was obviously uncomfortable, Chris was downright unhappy (he could feel this from his close proximity), and Van...well, Van’s attempts at being an ostrich had failed miserably. That never failed. He was panicking now and for a whole slew of reasons he didn’t really feel like addressing at the moment. This was bad. Bad bad bad with a capital B-A-D.

Mayday, mayday, we’re doing down! Or out, that works too.

“Look at the time....” He held up his bare wrist for inspection while still hunching over and hiding his face behind the other boy’s body. “Well it was awesome to meet you, Chris. Hi Etta, by Etta. No time to say hello, goodbye! I’m late! I’m late! I’m late!” And with that the boy made a break for it, a beeline, a mad dash, all for the front gate. He reached it in record time, whipped around the corner to the street, and then plunged down the steps of the nearest subway terminal.

You are one hell of a freak. He told himself as he huffed and puffed in the nasty bathroom stall that he had sidled into. But hey, at least you’ve totally blown your chances with her now, huh? That was comforting, at least.

Suddenly, without a word of warning, Van did a perfect vanishing act. He hadn't disappeared in a puff of smoke, but by excusing himself so fast that neither Chris nor Henri had any time to react and then hurry out the gates he might as well have done just that. Chris blinked a few times and then closed his eyes. A part of him wanted to do the exact same thing as Van just had - excuse himself and hurry up to his room, to safety - but another part sternly told him that it would be really really rude. So he took a deep breath, tried to convince himself that everything was okay, and opened his eyes. He managed to look at Henri for a moment before his eyes darted off to the gates where Van had disappeared again.
"That was... a bit weird."
He hesitated, not really sure what he should say or do. Suddenly that part of him that had voted for him to go back to his room didn't seem to be so far off, after all.
"So, uh... I'm a bit at a loss. Can we keep talking or did everything turn too... awkward?"
It was a serious question - he actually had no idea if it were some kind of faux pas to just keep talking after someone had just left like that. There was no book called "Conversation for Dummies."

Henrietta blinked her blue eyes slowly as she watched Van scatter. Woooow. He must be just as scared of this situation as me. Well, maybe more so, considering I’m the one that came to him. One of her eyebrows raised. I guess this means he doesn’t want to make up or try again. Or apologize. She sighed and said quietly, “I guess he’s not sorry for hurting me.” The girl rubbed at her eyes, feeling like she was going to cry about Van all over again. This time she added loudly, “I shouldn’t have come out here.”

The brunette then turned her attention back to Chris. “Yeah.” Henri had a blank look on her face as she answered him a bit monotonously. After a second, she seemed to come back down to Earth. “Yeah, that was weird. I’m sorry for spacing out on you. I’m just confused and a bit hurt.” The fish-boy asked something to confirm their situation. “Well, if leaving would make you feel more comfortable, you can go. Otherwise, it would be great to try to catch up. Like I said, do whatever makes you feel better, okay?” A grin spread across her freckled face.

((I guess it's okay for me to post since you've left, Van?))

Henri said that she was both confused and hurt, and during the circumstances that was kind of understandable. Chris guessed he would have felt the same if he'd been in her position. He briefly wondered what had made Van rush away like that, why there seemed to be so much tension in the air between him and Henri. For a moment he played with the thought to ask her, but quickly decided against it.
Anyway, that didn't really matter. What mattered was that Henri had presented him with two choices - stay and catch up or leave.The fact that she had done so and not just said "No, it will be best if you leave," encouraged him. And her broad grin encouraged him even more. He smiled back - it was a quick and modest smile, but at least it was a smile - and then looked down on the ground in front of him. It felt easier to talk to the graveled path he stood on than to Henri.
"Yeah... I live at the mansion now. I have lived here for a while now, actually... I go to classes and so, but mostly I stay at the library or in my room. Oh, and work spare-time at an aquarium shop."
He shrugged. It was hard to decribe what had happened in his life lately, so it was a bit like the description he'd given of the mansion - short and not very elaborated.

Chris didn’t ask why Henrietta felt hurt and what had happened between her and Van. She felt a little grateful, but also a little bad. Part of her felt like she should explain to him what was going on, but she didn’t want to make Van seem like a bad, insensitive person, though it was starting to feel like he kind of was. The brunette knew she didn’t think that either, obviously. She wanted to talk to him, to laugh with him again. She didn’t want to feel like everything that had happened between them was supposed to be forgotten.

Henri wasn’t very surprised when Chris’s eyes lowered to the ground. He was a very nervous and scared person, but she still felt sad. She had hoped that maybe he wouldn’t be so scared of Henrietta. It felt like they should be friends, and she did consider him a friend. The girl also knew that even if Chris considered her a friend, he was still going to be weary. Even though he hadn’t told her what his life had been like, she could sense that whatever it was hadn’t been good. A visible mutation had probably made being a mutant all the more difficult.

She listened to him tell what he had been up to. Henrietta grinned when he told her he lived there now. “So, you took my advice? That’s really awesome. I’m glad. Congratulations on the job too. I should try to get one.” She laughed and then tilted her head. “Do you like it here? Maybe, if you aren’t too nervous, I could introduce you to some of my other friends. I’m sure they’d like you and they’re all really cool.”

Henri actually seemed to feel a little better now, and for some reason that made Chris proud. He didn't mind even if he was just a distraction to keep her thoughts off Van, who obviously had made her feel confused and a bit hurt. It almost felt like a small victory, but as soon as he'd thought that he decided to dismiss that thought - this wasn't a competition. At least he didn't think it was a competition. It was not like he and Van had decided to compete in who could make Henri feel better, that would just be weird and stupid. And all of these thoughts were unessential anyway.

When she asked if he liked to live at the Mansion, he nodded.
"Yeah, thanks for the advice. It's a bit crowded sometimes, but it's... safe. I like it."
When she asked if he'd like to meet some of her friends he looked up, a bit surprised.
"Really?"
Then he realized that she probably wouldn't say "No, I'm just fooling with you, of course I don't want you to meet my friends." She wasn't that kind of person.
"...I think I'd like that. Thanks," he said after having considered it for a couple of seconds.