Taking a pet sheep for a walk wasn't the easiest thing to do. Walking a turtle had to be faster then the slow stroll of the woolen mammal. Why he had a pet sheep, he didn't know. It could be the soft wool, or the resemblance of how it was a giant pillow. Great for sleeping on. Still, walking a sheep down the streets took forever, so long that the light of the day seemed to vanish and he was left to the device of using a flashlight to keep his path visible. Walking in the dark was one thing, but walking a sheep in the dark was different.

Something moved. There was something out there, something paranormal....something not human. Aliens? He should have known that they were real, if mutants could exist, why not aliens. Shifting the flashlight over to the object, Hokee froze in place. A tree. It was a dumb tree.

Eyes flickered open as Hokee rolled over slightly in the back end of his car. Eating Taco Bell before falling asleep was a mistake. Lifting an arm to cover his eyes, he tempted to fall back asleep. Sure the sun was out, but he spent most of the night looking through the streets for stuff he could sell at the pawn shop.

He was in a pyramid, full of giant bugs.Someplace in there was the mystic fountain, or the legend spoke of one. A giant bee lived there. A strange bee, one that lit the room up as if it was a giant light bulb. It was a bee though, not a lightning bug, the stinger on the backside and coloration spoke clearly of that.

His eyes opened under his arm. That was it, he was never going to eat Taco Bell ever again. First a dream about a pet sheep and walking it with a flashlight, now bees that lit up like a light bulb? Where was the justice in these dreams, what was the key to it all? Closing his eyes again, he tried to relax and hopefully get a bit of sleep. With the rate he was going he might get four hours worth of sleep during the next ten hours.

It was harder to fall asleep, he could hear the sounds of the city about him and the sun kept shinning down into the car without mercy. Sure most kids were running around playing in the park, kicking a ball, bouncing a ball, dodging balls tossed while adults slaved away building up futures that kids like him would walk right out of. Adults called education a gift, he called it an intellectual beating.All he could do was laugh about it all, the joke of the system, joke of how this went by. Education was over rated, even if he yet again agreed to attend classes again.

A noise. What was that?

Chase clutched the grips of the borrowed scooter, propelling himself down the sidewalk by kicking his right foot. He traveled at a leisurely pace, so as not to barrel into any pedestrians, and was doing laps around Xavier's campus. He rode alone, for his friends had lost track of him after moving too quickly, but he didn't seem to mind.

Chase's mind wandered, his gaze swimming around absently. He didn't really look towards the ground beneath him, and in amoment of inattention, the hard, rubber wheels of the scooter met a patch of ice, and the scooter went out from under him. Chase was momentarily airborne, long enough to panic, before his rump met the merciless pavement, and his friend's scooter was launched into the door of a car.

"Oh geez," Chase rasped, the air momentarily knocked out of his lungs. He'd caught the brunt of the fall on his butt, and nothing felt broken, but Chase still sat on the sidewalk a moment to catch his breath. His head lolled sideways, gaze lingering on the scooter, which laid on its side, partially beneath the car. The paint job of the car seemed unblemished, and there were no additional dings from the impact of the flying scooter. Thank God.

Chase sorely got to his feet and meandered to the car, footsteps heavy. Gingerly, he picked the scooter up, peering in through the window as he stood back up. A familiar form was slumbering within.

The guy with the dreadlocks! Hokee! Why was he sleeping in this car?

Chase looked around, then tapped on the window. There was little to no response. He hoped to God that this was Hokee and not just someone who looked like him. Chase knocked, more insistently, and then hollered at the long-haired boy, too.

"Hokee! Hey, Hokee, wake up!"

This was accompanied by more incessant knocking.

Something had hit his car. Whoever or whatever did that was going to pay if there were any dents or damage done to the paint. Well, paint wasn't much of an issue, he was planning on pimping out his ride by making it a nice deeper shade of purple and adding a bit more fine detailing to it. Once he had the money that was...or the tools and he could give it a go on his own. Painting a car couldn't be much different then spray painting, right? Still, the thump against his car was followed by a scratching noise with a slightly quieter bump under his head. Whatever it was that hit his car, it had to be stationary now. Good, maybe he could fall back asleep.

Nuzzling down, he didn't have the energy to deal with whatever it was. Nothing was going anywhere anytime soon, he could check things out once he was more awake. His eyeballs twitched under his eyelids. What the hell now? It sounded like his car was being beaten with a fly swatter. If he stayed still long enough, maybe they would give up hope and just let him sleep. It wasn't like he was breaking any laws or anything. He just got tired and didn't want to crash, so a nap on the side of the road, yeah that was it.

Aliens singing karaoke in the pyramid hall. 'Hokee'. One eyelid raised slightly. Naw, he had to be hearing things. There was no way on earth anyone knew where he was right now. The voice wasn't like nails on the chalkboard, so that narrowed out Taylor and it was to high to be Travis. No one to care about then, this was just him being to tired and just hearing things. The eye lid covered his eye again.

Hokee. Hokee.

His eyes rolled under his lids slightly. What the hell was going on? There was no way he was imagining this, not with the repeating knocking on his car. He was going to have to stop at the car wash and clean up his car now, or just fix it up at the shop. Twisting his ankles slightly, he didn't want to move to much. Then he might imply he was actually interested in what was going outside his car. He was tired, why couldn't people just leave him alone. Seriously what did he do to people....never mind that he knew a good deal of stuff he did.

Wake up. What now, did he really hear this? Not looking up from where he was sleeping, he lifted one hand up into the air and smacked the window behind his head. There he was awake, well not really. It was more of a 'yeah I'm alive now go get out of here' kind of thing. Rolling over on the back seat of the car, he tried to drone out the nonstop knocking. This was worse then a snooze alarm. The voice seemed vaguely familiar. A grunt was all he could muster out right now. A grunt was more then enough and whoever it was banging on his car was very lucky they weren't getting the 'bird' right now.

A flutter of eyelashes, and a subtle shifting of weight. Hokee was alive. Chase paused, but when Hokee didn't sit up, Chase persisted. Hokee responded by hitting the window with an open palm.

Chase startled momentarily, wincing at the loud noise, but his brow then furrowed in determination. Chase reapproached the car, peering back in. Hokee was still sleeping.

Utilizing Hokee's technique of retort, Chase opened his hand and hit the window with an open palm. Yes, Hokee was alive and sleeping. Chase wasn't budging.

"Hokee?" Chase persisted, "Hokee! Wake up!" Chase was almost pleading now. Maybe he was ignoring him because he thought Chase was a stranger? "It's Chase! Remember? I fell in the pool!"

He had ceased the knocking now, and resorted to talking to the closed window in rather loud tones.

"Hokee?"

The chances of ever getting back to sleep were stacked heavily against him. Hearing his name yelled over and over again with the constant knocking was almost as bad as the alarm clock going off at five am back in the days he actually attended school and had to get up for the crap ride in the bus. Sure he went through a handful of alarm clocks, they just had a way of crashing into the walls, but at least an alarm clock eventually stopped going off. Was there a snooze button for whoever was raising hell on the other side of the glass?

The banging slowed down then soon ceased. Small miracles, he could work with that. Though his name kept on being called out. With the dream fog in his head lifting a bit, the yelling outside his car was starting to ring a few bells between the dreadlocks. Then a name was given and his eyes bolted up. Why in the world was the kid from Syracuse outside his car? Did he park close to the mansion with his late night shinagins? Apparently he had. At least it was just Chase out there and not Taylor finding him. That crazy b**** best not be there too.

Pulling his body up slightly, his arm reached around the front seat searching out the lock for the door. Hearing the click of it unlocking, he slumped back down in the seat. "Climb in." His groggy voice rumbled out. If he could get Chase to shut up with all the yelling, he might avoid attracting attention that wasn't needed. Mainly Taylor hearing her kid yelling like a howling dog. Not completely laying down, he wasn't exactly ready to get up completely yet. Slumped across the back of his car, his eyes struggled to stay open.

Holding the side of his head up, Hokee couldn't believe how stupid he was parking where he did. He had to pay more attention to where he hunkered down for the night. He should have just pulled into the garage last night, or sleep on the couch...but he was dumb and decided to spend the night doing his thing and not sleep. It was just a slip up, parking this close. He really needed to be more careful. With his bad luck, he might accidentally pull into the Mansion at the rate he was going.

"Hey little man."

The persistence seemed to pay-off. Dropping his name earned Chase a response. Hokees' eyes flew open, and he sat up just enough to unlock the door. Chase cracked it open slowly, taking a moment to fold up the scooter.

>> "Climb in."

Hokee's groggy instruction was dealt as the long-haired boy flopped back onto the back seat of the car. Chase clambered into the passengers seat, setting the scooter on the floor. He faced backwards so that he could look at the older boy, and using the headrest as leverage, Chase did just that. He looked around with a reference in his young face, as if he had just been allowed into an exclusive club.

>> "Hey little man."

"Hey," Chase reciprocated, looking around with wide eyes as Hokee propped his head up on an arm, "Oh wow, Hokee, is this your car? Can you drive it wherever you want?"

Of course, Chase wanted to know about why Hokee was sleeping in there, but first question came first. Chase'd get to the point eventually.

Chase was awake and hyper, he himself was not. Functioning was about as close to awake he could get for the time being. His late night life style did make it difficult to function in the morning, and well from the looks of things he wouldn't have the chance to sleep away the mornings for much longer. Darn education! Sitting up a bit more, he was pleased that the conversation was about his car. Now that was something to get him moving a bit more. Now if only Chase had a double cheeseburger on him too, now that would be epic and worth crawling out of the back.

"Yeah, she rough on the inside, but I'll get her decked out soon." Running his other hand through his dreadlocks the older teen looked at the inquisitive mutant. "Bought her a few days ago." Okay, he couldn't resist, he had to show off his car now. Old or not, the 1967 Pontiac GTO was a great car and he had every right to be rather proud of it. "Wanna go for a spin?"

Reaching down to the ground, he pulled up a floor mat and picked up his car key. Hey, he wasn't going to sleep with it in his pocket and he certainly wasn't going to leave the keys in view. He got in a few cars while in NYC so far to know how stupid people could be. Spinning the key around his finger, he looked at Chase. It was good to see the kid, with a face...and not dripping freezing pool water.

"Go check out paintball guns...." Okay, so what if his mother said no to the whole paintball thing, once Chase got his hands on the stuff he'd be hooked. "Skate park...um McDonalds?" Okay, he was not offering free babysitting right now, just looking at something to do. He certainly didn't feel guilty about Chase falling through the ice and this was not making up for that, not in the slightest....this was about driving his car and doing something. But there was the off chance that maybe Taylor would freak out for a bit and he could definitely drink to that. Then after they were done doing whatever, drop Chase off, wait till it was dark and do a little graffiti on the sidewalk outside the mansion.

>> "Yeah, she rough on the inside, but I'll get her decked out soon. Bought her a few days ago."

"That is so cool," Chase breathed, eyes glimmering. He hadn't much of a concept of money. Any car was a cool car, when owned by another young guy. Hokee's nonchalance was met by intrigue and excitement on the younger mutant's part.

>> "Wanna go for a spin?"

"Yes!" Chase gasped, bouncing up. He could be so cool, riding with an older boy in their own car would exponentially increase his coolness amongst his peers. But getting all giddy and excited was not cool, so Chase revised his exclamation with a more offhand, "I mean, yeah. That'd be fun."

>> "Go check out paintball guns.... Skate park...um McDonalds?"

It didn't even dawn on Chase that his mother might not approve. Chase thought Hokee was cool, so it would be okay, right? And they were going to just be hanging out the way guys hung out. It wouldn't be cool to say no, you had to ask your mom first. Gemma wouldn't mind.

"Sure," Chase agreed, plopping down in the passenger seat. Now came the true test-- seating arrangements.

When he rode with Gemma, Chase sat in the back seat. It was safer back there, but that was where the kids sat. To sit in the passenger seat brought on a whole other level coolness, and of maturity. It was like a rite of passage.

Chase sat down, dwarfed bt the front seat, and buckled himself in to show he had no intention of moving.

Chase waited for Hokee to re-situate himself before asking, "So why were you sleeping in your car? Did you think someone would steal it?"

Kid seemed excited, he had to be stupid to not be. This was an amazing car, especially after Travis and the guys at the shop fixed it up. The car had to be at least double in worth for what he bought it for. By the time he was done with all the work, he could be rolling around downtown in a car that would make celebrities envious. There was nothing wrong with dreaming big, nothing in the slightest. He didn't have much in life to look forward to, but he had a car and that was enough right now. "Hey watch the seats there." Bouncing kid...joy. Why was he doing this again?

Stretching out, Hokee soon started to work his way up to the front of the car. Why use doors when he could just climb over the center of the car and slide in. "Hand me the mouth wash in the glove compartment." It didn't matter if he had clean clothes on to go out right now now, he didn't smell to bad. "And the Axe stuff." Some spray and a shot of mouth wash should work for now. Checking his hair out in the mirror, not in vanity but to make sure he didn't have any chips stuck in it, he concluded all was fine.

Chase looked wildly out of place, the seat seemed to eat him. Was he that small at that age too? Stop thinking. Reaching down, he plucked the folded scooter and tossed it to the back seat where he had been sleeping. He certainly didn't want the scooter popping up and hitting his leg while driving. Without a legal driver's license he couldn't risk things. He was about ready to tell Chase to buckle up, but the kid beat him to the punch. Nice. It was like having a pre-trained puppy.

"Why not." Lame explanation, but it was what it was. "It's my car, can do whatever I want." And the shoulder shrug followed by buckling up. Sure he was a delinquent, but he buckled up when driving. Rolling down his window he prepared himself for the morning washing of his mouth. He didn't necessarily care about oral hygiene, but he hated the taste of morning breath. He shouldn't have to explain things to Chase, and even if he did, he doubted the kid would even understand. There were somethings that words couldn't explain.

Holding out his hand he waited for the mouthwash and spray. Sure he might be a semi hobo right now, but it didn't mean he had to smell like one. Life was fun, and he was going to go for a joy ride....with a kid. "Hit up paintball first." It would take more work to get enough supplies for both of them, but he was sure he could think of a way to do it. This could be a challenge, something for him to take on. Travis did say the things you want were hard to work for, or something along those lines. He couldn't keep track with all the stuff he said, but it was something.

>> "Hey watch the seats there."

Chase mellowed out at the warning, attempting to cool his jitters. He'd be disappointed if Hokee kicked him out. Hokee wriggled his way forward, dealing Chase his next set of instructions whilst the older boy primped himself.

>> "Hand me the mouth wash in the glove compartment. And the Axe stuff."

Chase did as he was told, popping the glovebox open. He found the mouthwash quickly, but it took him a while longer to find the Axe. Whilst he searched, the scooter was relocated to the back seat

>> "Why not? It's my car, can do whatever I want."

"Why not park it inside the fence?" Chase inquired, holding the two containers out to Hokee casually, "I'm sure there's space. Then you could sleep inside and your car would be safe. I mean, you have a room, right?"

Chase wasn't harping on Hokee, just thinking out loud. Hokee's rationale didn't make sense, and Chase didn't perceive that Hokee was just agreeing with him to shut him up.

>> "Hit up paintball first."

"Okay," the eight-year-old agreed. He looked around excitedly, but remained unnaturally still.

Turning the engine on, he left the questions hanging in the air. He honestly didn't need to explain everything to a kid, even if he was a key element in pissing someone off. The less Chase knew, the better. It wasn't like he was swimming in a pool with snow outside. Sleeping in a car wasn't a crime, or he didn't think it was. Didn't matter, he did what he did because he could and that was just how things were. Rationalizing the actions of a teenager was pointless for most of the time there was no true rationality to any action.

Looking over his shoulder, the car popped into reverse backed out into the flow of traffic. Shifting gears he was soon rolling down the street forwards away from his sleeping spot. Nimble fingers fiddled with the radio until he settled on a station playing a classic song he didn't mind much, Mad World. Glancing over, he could see how stiff Chase was. Was he driving bad or something? Looking down at the speedometer he was proud of himself actually staying in the speed limit and he hadn't heard anyone honking away at him. He certainly hadn't seen any flipped birds nor shouts of obscenities.

"Do you get carsick?" There were going to be problems if Chase started to vomit in his car. Not that he had a thing against regurgitation, but he had to sleep in his car and would rather it not to smell like...vomit. Taking the spray out of his lap, he kept one hand on the wheel while shoving his hand down the front of his shirt and started to apply his deodorant. Once he was done, he tossed it over to Chase. "Real men use this. Go for it." Was it his driving and personal hygiene routine that was keeping the kid so stiff? He looked like the socks he pulled off yesterday...

Raising his knees up to meet the wheel, he kept the car steady while opening the mouth wash. Taking a swig he recapped it and tossed it over. Swishing the stuff in his mouth, he regained control of the car with one hand while rolling down the window with the other. Bobbing his head slightly to the music, he soon spat out the window releasing the mix of morning mouth and minted juices. Quickly the window was rolled back up, but then he paused before rolling it back down all the way. Sticking his head out the window, he belted out "YEAH!" With a turn of his head he looked over at Chase giving him the nod. He had to get him to loosen up a bit.

Silent treatments didn't work on children with unyielding, inquiring minds. They only made them ask the questions louder. When Hokee wordlessly started the car, Chase arched his eyebrow. It was as good as trying to change the subject, which meant that it was something that Hokee didn't want Chase asking... which made Chase want to ask questions of this persuasion even more. Hokee backed the car onto the street before settling into the flow casually. He flicked the radio to a song that was unfamiliar to Chase (his parents had been suckers for country and classical of they symphonic persuasion) as they went. Hokee glanced at Chase, Chase stared at Hokee.

>> "Do you get carsick?"

"No," Chase replied bluntly, "You told me to stop bouncing. So I did."

Chase had presumed that this instruction had been dealt so that Hokee didn't look like a fool, driving around with a bouncing eight-year-old sitting in the front seat, rather than wrecking the upholstery, or some such thing. Chase didn't want to get kicked out of the car. Hokee applied the body spray before tossing the Axe to Chase. Chase caught it awkwardly, and surveyed it as Hokee said,

>> "Real men use this. Go for it."

Chase followed suit, mimicking Hokee's method of applying the stuff. It smelled funny, but if he wanted to be a "real man", he supposed it was a necessary evil. Some of the excess fumes wafted upwards, and Chase sneezed. By some strike of fortune, he applied just enough of the stuff and not too much (probably because he wasn't to keen on the scent), and he quickly capped the aersole can, returning it to the glove compartment.

"Who likes this stuff, anyways?" Chase inquired, "It smells funny."

Hokee, all the while, was rinsing his mouth out with mouthwash. The question was uttered just in-time to see Hokee spitting the mouthwash out, rolling the window up, rolling it back down, and sticking his head out the window. Chase watched Hokee with wide eyes, and he quickly shook his head. He was worried about Chase bouncing on the seats, and yet this guy was here, sticking his head out the window like some sort of crazy-man?! How backwards! Chase got in-trouble for so much as sticking a hand out the window, so he assumed that sticking his head out would be ten-times worse.

Straight and to the point, okay props for the kid. He was a stiff because he was told that he should stop bouncing....wow. Good thing things weren't reversed, he himself had a tendency to do the opposite of what was told. He was respecting the car, which was good, so maybe he could lay off him a bit for being stiff in the car. He didn't know how kids thought or worked and hopefully Chase was potty trained. Sure he might have one filthy mouth himself, but he didn't need the guy messing his seats up with a loose pipe or bad pressure control.

Pulling his head back into the car, he was a bit disappointed there was no mimicry from the other side. He had been stuck around Taylor to long, the poor kid didn't know how to have real fun. Oh well, he couldn't shove Chase's head out the window for him and yell as well for the kid....it would be practically...well he could do just that. There was only one problem with trying to do something like that, he'd need both hands to shove Chase half though the window and he doubted knee steering would keep him off the radar with swerving about.

"Ladies, they beg for your number when you got this stuff on. Get some action and-" Oh would Taylor be majorly pissed off at him if he turned Chase into some lady killer. He'd pay money to watch her walk in on the kid totally making out with some chick his age. That would be hysterical. Not that he was sick and watched little kids do that, but to see her flip out would be priceless. Maybe he could find some girl for the guy on their trip. Drop the two back off at the mansion, let them ride in the backseat and get all friendly...

"Loosen up." Flicking a look over at Chase he snickered. "You stay stiff like that and your underwear will eat you." Okay, so it wouldn't, but the kid was starting to pick up on Taylor's tight.....Clearing his throat out, he hacked up some phlegm to spit out the window before rolling it up for good. "You know what kind of gun you want for paintball?"

Chase watched as Hokee lowered himself back into the car, decompressing as the older boy returned to a more normative driving position, looking out the window. Then, Hokee spoke once again began to speak, and Chase looked back over towards him.

>> "Ladies, they beg for your number when you got this stuff on. Get some action and-"

Chase lifted his shirt and smelled the body spray once again, and wrinkled his nose faintly. He wasn't quite to the point where he wanted girls around him-- girls were gross, and weird, and had cooties. But, seriously, girls liked this kind of thing? Chase shuddered. Why?

"And what?" Chase mumbled, mystified.

>> "Loosen up. You stay stiff like that and your underwear will eat you. You know what kind of gun you want for paintball?"

Chase muffled a laugh at the notion of being eaten by his own underwear-- that was silly, underwear couldn't eat people. Hokee said silly things. As per the paintball gun, Chase's eyes went wide with disbelief.

"I don't know," Chase mused, "What kind of gun do you want?"

Chase didn't know much, if anything, about guns or paintballing. The cause for the alarmed look was that he hadn't expected to get a paintball gun. He didn't have much of a concept of money, but he assumed that such a thing would be very expensive.

The kid was funny, had no clue at all about the finer aspects with the ladies, but that could be changed easily enough. He might have to pick the kid up a nice 18+ magazine for the kid. Sure with the internet and TV he was sure Chase could learn a few things, but a good old magazine under the mattress was a must have for any guy growing up. Wait how old was he? Oh even better, he could just plant the magazine under Chase's bed....oh even better, he could slip it in the cop car so the guy she was all kissy with....."You'll learn."

"Something high end...fast and light. Not sure really, you just got to feel it to know if its right." There were certain aspects he couldn't explain fully. Plus the gun he was going to get really was determined on what one he could get his sticky fingers around. It would be his biggest pick yet. If he hadn't bought the car, then buying the stuff wouldn't have been a problem at all, but now he had to either do it the honest way or the Hokee way.

"You need compact and small. You run fast....when your not falling in pools..." This was the first real time he saw the kid one on one since the little swimming trip. Flickering with the radio, he wasn't sure what to do with conversation right now. He really needed a good distraction right now, something to ease his mind away from conversation and onto something else. Stopping at a red light, he leaned back in his seat. Where exactly was a good place around here to get paintball guns? Hmm, he'd figure that out eventually. Hopefully before they ended up in Boston or Las Vegas.