Clinophilia (Nic)

[Jonas Kent]

Jonas's first impression of the room was that it was . . . dark. Feeling along the wall, he found the light switch near the door. Turning it on revealed the smallish room where he would be living for the next few years. Blandly furnished, Jonas looked around, unimpressed. The school had provided him with a bed and a dresser of his own, but hadn't bothered to include sheets and the walls were painted a dull, sanatorium shade of white. Glancing over at his room mate's side didn't make him feel much better about the blandness of it all. The kid didn't seem to have much taste for interior design. 

With a sigh, Jonas dropped his bags at the foot of his bed and sat down. He struggled to think of something positive to say about his first day at Ashford, but all he could think about was how different it was from California. Of course, he had expected the people to be weird and all, but never before had he felt so out of place among his peers. He wished his room mate had at least been around to greet him. Taking off his sunglasses, he rubbed at his eyes before flopping backwards onto his bed to stare resentfully at the ceiling. He didn't belong here. 

[Nicholas]

Nicholas had finally gotten out of his last class and he just wanted to relax in his own room for a change and sit in the dark so he could take his sunglasses off with comfort. It even showed in his walk it being quicker than usually not really caring if he bumped into others. 'Why does my last class have to be so far away just want to relax afterwards sometimes' he thought to himself finally reaching his dorm.

After reaching his door he grabbed the handle with one hand and the other he took his sunglasses closing his eyes during the process so he didn't have to deal with the hallway's light. He opened the door and shut it loudly opening his eyes afterwards expecting his normal dark room. Though to his surprise it wasn't dark at all in face he the light was on. Through his blurred vision he stumbled to the light switch and turned it off mumbling about how he meant it to be off and whoever turned them off should respect his space. That was till he turned off the light and noticed Jonas " Oh umm hello why are you in here may I ask. Also did you turn on the light" he asked curious and annoyed at the same time.

[Jonas Kent]

The sudden sound of the door opening prompted Jonas quickly to his feet. He caught a brief glimpse of the person entering before the lights were off again. The kid muttered something under his breath that Jonas didn’t quite hear. Then the kid noticed the red-head standing awkwardly off to the side and addressed him. Caught off guard, it took Jonas a moment to respond and when he did it was with about as much social grace as a chimpanzee with a speech impediment.

“Ah, s-sorry, man. I just, ya know, kind of assumed that the lights were off ‘cause no one was home. I didn’t realise that, uh, actually, why are the lights off, anyway?”

He squinted through the darkness at the kid, his eyes all but useless in the pitch black of the room. Good job, loser, he thought to himself, it’s been five minutes and you’ve already pissed off your new roommate. Then, remembering the other half of the kid’s question, he said:

“Oh, I’m Jonas, by the way. This is room 407, right? I mean, my key worked in the lock so I’m pretty sure I have the right room. They didn’t tell you that I was coming?”

He shook his head at how bizarre the whole situation was. He wondered vaguely what sequence of events had led him up to this point, standing in the dark talking to a stranger who apparently had a fetish for meeting other dudes in the dark. This was weird even by Jonas’s standards, and he had grown up in San Francisco.

[Nicholas]

Nicholas could say anything about the kids lack of grace because he rarely had that grace himself however he could tell he was feeling awkward and he shook his head trying to make sure he didn't say anything he would regret because he was tired. With that in mind he walked over to sit on his own bed and motioned for Jonas to sit as well. " It is no problem just tired from a day of classes. Anyway the reason the lights are off are because of my powers. I can see in the dark but the ability has he negative effect of making me unable to see properly with light."

He looked towards Jonas now trying to see how he would be as a roommate vaguely remembering getting a notice he was getting a roommate but ignoring it. ' This might get annoying me liking the dark when he can't see in it' he thought quietly to himself still looking at Jonas curious before responding two the boys second answer. " Yes this is room 407 don't worry about that and they did tell me about you but well I just dismissed the idea. So, sorry about that little outburst just harder for me to relax with the light on and didn't expect the person who put them on to still be in here. Anyway the name is Nicholas, but basically everyone that I meet tend to call me Nick for short" he said with a smile and a nod.

[Jonas Kent]

Jonas missed the boy’s gesture for him to sit, his eyes still not adjusted to the dark room. But as he listened to his roommate- Nick, rather, talk, he began to feel more at ease. At least the kid was polite, and Jonas nodded along understandingly as Nick explained his powers.

“Night vision, huh?” he repeated, “that’s pretty sweet. Do you have any other powers? It seems like most of the kids around here have more than one.” As he spoke, Jonas thought about his own lame power that he had discovered only a few months ago. Although he had managed to repeat the trick any time he wanted, he still wasn’t convinced that he actually had any sort of magic power. Maybe it was just a lingering side-effect of some bad LSD. Maybe, he hoped vaguely, this whole situation was just a really intense trip that would wear off any minute now. It was at least a small comfort.

By now his eyes had partially adjusted to the gloom and he turned to heave his luggage onto the bare mattress of his bed to start unpacking. “Hope you don’t mind me unpacking while we talk,” he said over his shoulder, “if I don’t do it now it’ll never get done.” He chuckled lightly to himself, knowing that it was a small miracle in itself that he was bothering to unpack at all, but he was glad to have something to keep his hands occupied.

[Nicholas]

" I do in fact which is the main reason I did my share of work back home. See I can manipulate the shadow around me and even make more of it. My last power basically just makes my steps harder to hear than normal. All of those together made me the perfect person to do things people did want known it was being done." he spoke smiling widely remembering the time back home with his 'family' as they called it. However he knew he had already talked to much about himself " Yeah most people have more than one and they tend to be powerful from what I have seen. Anyway since I have I told you mine what are your powers?" he asked genuinely curious about what this guy could do specially since he would be sharing a room with this guy. If he showed any signs that he was thinking about his life Nicholas had missed them.

 " Yeah sure if you want I can help you with that. I didn't get to unpack much myself so it be a neat experience for me" He said cheerily hoping up to walk over to help him. " I can see better than you so I could probably help quite a bit with it," He said eager to help.

[Jonas Kent]

“Oh, sure, man, thanks,” Jonas replied as Nic came over to help him unpack. He listened quietly as the kid explained his powers, nodding along to show his interest. “You’re, like, the ultimate spy,” he remarked, “that’s awesome.” His hands moved unconsciously as they talked, pulling out pieces of travel-crumpled clothing and smoothing them out in piles over the mattress. Though Jonas didn’t seem to be aware of what he was doing, the repetitive movements helped put him at ease and he was already starting to feel more at home in the dorm.

He had expected Nic to ask him about his powers, but it still took him a moment to decide how to answer. “I, uh, can make pictures move,” he replied uncertainly. Then, quickly recovering he jokingly added, “I’m no James Bond, but the chicks dig it.” He smiled as he reached unconsciously into the suitcase for the next t-shirt, only to find that it was already empty. Looking down he said, “Oh, hey, that was fast. Thanks for the help, man.”

[Nicholas]

He followed Jonas's example in making the piles on the bed making sure he put them into the right pile hoping he didn't mess this up. Then Jonas said something about his powers and he smiled " Yeah it came handy a bunch of times back home. Also probably why they brought me to this island not that I am very unhappy with it" he smiled widely. " They brought me to the place I was looking for anyway. I found where they took Rex the whole reason I left home" he said  to himself more than Jonas clearly zoning out having a flashback to when he was taken into the gang's family.
 
  He shook his head abit to shake those thoughts out of his head. ' Can't be zoning out on my new roommate now' he thought to himself chuckling a little. " Hey I think that power is cool I mean it is almost like you can make a movie scene by drawing the characters in a background. Bet you could make a selling with those little shows not like many people can say they saw a man make a scene without a projector and it still be pictures on a screen" he spoke up beat trying to make the dude see it was pretty cool before bringing a topic he was sure would probably be sensitive. " Soo how was your life before they got you out here?"

[Jonas Kent]

As he listened to Nic talk, Jonas scooped up piles of clothes and shoved them haphazardly into his dresser, effectively ruining all of the work they had done sorting and folding each piece. He didn’t seem to put much thought into his actions, but he had more than a few questions to ask his roommate. Before he got the chance, Nic asked him about his own life. Casually shrugging off the kid’s comments about his animation powers, Jonas launched eagerly into explaining his life back home.

“Dude, not gonna lie, I had it pretty sweet back in Cali. Sneaking out, hanging with friends-- it was pretty great. Just wish my parents would get off my case about my grades and crap, like come on, it’s just school,” he waved his hand dismissively before continuing, “It’s not like I’m gonna go to college and be the president or whatever anyway. I just want to chill with my friends before I get old and boring like them.” Forcing an over-stuffed drawer closed, he said, “anyway, they have my stuck-up sister to uphold the family legacy or whatever.” He wrinkled his nose in disgust at the very thought of his sister.

“But yeah,” he said, turning to face Nic, “what about you? Who’s Rex?”

[Nicholas]

Nicholas watched Jonas and couldn't help frowning a little disappointed a little that after all that work folding that after it all,but he kept that feeling to himself and eagerly listened to Jonas talk about his own life at home obviously interested. While Jonas was talking he motioned to Jonas's bed to ask if he could sit down while trying to not interrupt Jonas. When he finally got to his sister he brought up his sister he piped up " You have a sister? Are you not worried that they might bring her here as well if this gifted stuff stays in the family or something?" He knew brothers and sisters could dislike each other but he didn't think it was likely anyone could want this on anyone.

 " Oh did I say that aloud sorry I will tell you but is a complicated story so yeah. Anyway he is the guy that took me off the streets and into his home. You see I grew up with my powers and used it to keep myself alive on the streets by stealing from others. One day I found what I thought was a  abandoned building and slept in it finding out it was a gang. Then I just stayed there stealing what I needed till I was caught" he spoke a half smile coming onto his face. He had truly loved the days he spent with that group and now he missed them at times.

[Jonas Kent]

Jonas didn't seem to notice Nic's disappointment about the clothes and plowed straight forward with the conversation. He nodded at the kid's gesture to make himself comfortable and followed his lead, heaving himself up to sit on top of the dresser.  "She's nothing special, just a bitch with an ego," he explained, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, they'd have a hard time prying her away from my mom, she just adores Eleanor. She would never ship her perfect, precious daughter off to some freaky school in the middle of nowhere. Not that I'm bitter, or anything," he added, bitterly.

Jonas listened, surprised, as Nic talked about living on the streets. Suddenly, he felt kind of guilty about complaining about his family. Sure they were a major pain in the ass, but at least he had one to complain about. "Oh," he replied, face reddening with embarrassment, "sorry to hear that, dude." There was an uncomfortable moment of silence. "So, uh, can I ask how you got caught? Or is it too personal?"

[Nicholas]

After Jonas gave the okay he  happily flopped on to Jonas's bed before continuing to listen to him talk about his sister. " Hey everyone has their flaws but she is family no need to use that wordage." he spoke slightly annoyed and slightly defensive of her because she was Jonas's family. " Anyway don't be to surprised if she gets up here. Not all the gifted here arrive here by choice." He remembered how strange it was to one minute be sleeping in an alley and the next be in a boat towards a island a frown appearing on his face for a second because of the thought.

Nicholas looked at Jonas with a look of confusion when he said sorry " Why would you be sorry instead of dieing or never dealing with humans other than using them to get what I needed to survive I was brought into a family of my very own." he spoke shaking his head alittle from his point of view he was lucky to get what he did and there was nothing to be sorry about other than not being with them. Then he went on to answer Jonas's question " Na nothing for me is really that personal just not kind of person. Not really that complicated after awhile they realized the pattern of when I took things from them so Rex filled in and because I was used to a different person I was careless and was caught." he spoke shrugging as if the event that gave him a family wasn't that big a deal before continuing a little into the event " After he found me he caught me and started asking me questions most of which I didn't know"

[Jonas Kent]

Jonas shrugged a little as Nic scolded him for calling his sister a bitch. He had his own reasons for being resentful. “She’s probably too old to be sent here, thank God,” he said, his stomach churning at the idea of being stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere with Eleanor. Jonas himself hadn’t been sent to Ashford by choice. His mother had made up his mind for him, and he wondered if she ever felt guilty about it. He wondered if they even missed him. It wouldn’t have surprise him if they didn’t. Pulling his legs up, he wrapped his arms around them and rested his chin on his knees as he listened to Nic’s story, trying not to feel too sorry for himself.

Again, he was struck by a pang of guilt when the kid mentioned being lucky to be alive and find his place with Rex. Jesus, he thought to himself, even my sob stories suck compared to everyone else’s. “Sorry. . .” he half apologised again, this time for being sorry, then he listened as his roommate finished his story. “So, when they caught you they figured out that you had powers and sent you here? What happened to Rex and the others?” Genuinely interested, he tried to think of all the students he had met so far and wondered if any of them had been part of Nic’s gang. He was sure that he hadn’t met Rex yet. From what he had heard so far he suspected he would know immediately if he ran into the kid.

[Nicholas]

He just glanced at Jonas when he said she might be too old for this place because in truth the thank god could be taken as a compliment and a insult to her with how chaotic this place had been so far for him. Also truth be told if he had the option of either choosing having the people from the gang here it would of given him some slight problem not wanting to hurt them but knowing he would love having the feeling of home they brought with them. He laid down looking up at Jonas now considering his new apology.

He decided  that it was directed to a feeling than him himself so he let it go just going to the question Jonas followed with. " Well depends on who you mean about found out. I actually used my powers to help me sneak which in turn I did to help the gang. Even Rex and some other people in the gang had powers of their own. However after we attacked another gang and when we were tired from said fight the government came in armed and offered Rex a deal. If he came with them they would leave the rest of the gang alone" He spoke now frowning remembering the day and what truly brought anyone that was in the gang here. 'It all started  that day didn't it' he thought to himself for alittle along those lines before he actually laughed it had a hint of bitterness in it but otherwise it was still a laugh. " From what I heard after I left to try and follow them and help him they came back and burned down where the gang lived." Still laughing alittle he got up and began pacing surprised at how angry he was feeling right then. " If they only let us Rex stay with us and leave us be we would all be together still"

[Jonas Kent]

Jonas closed his eyes as he listened to Nic’s story, imagining the gang of kids living together and looking out for each other just like a real family should. He tried to picture Nic, just a few years younger, sneaking around and stealing food and money from unsuspecting strangers. It was almost unbelievable, like something out of a book, but the thinly veiled anger in Nic’s voice convinced Jonas that it was all true. Blinking open his eyes, he looked seriously at Nic. “Sorry, man. Didn’t mean to get you all worked up like that,” he said, tilting his head slightly to one side as he considered the kid. He really was a kid, after all.

“Hey, let’s talk about something else now. All this talk about families and crap is way too depressing,” he changed the topic, releasing his legs and letting them dangle off the dresser once more. “What do you like to do for fun?” It was an easy question and Jonas hoped it would be enough to calm the kid down. The last thing he wanted was to stress out his roommate before they even got to know each other.