Power Swap: WHAT. [open]

"I'm surrounded by insomniacs," Josh sighed, shaking his head in mock distress. Sean never got enough sleep, either. He wished he had some suggestion to help his friends, but the best he could offer was a, "But congratulations on getting a full nights sleep. Maybe this is the start of a new era..." One could only hope; he didn't know what it was like to be unable to sleep on a regular basis, but he was sure that he wouldn't function nearly so well as either Sean or Cobalt. When he failed to get sleep he became grouchy and his brain melted.

He nodded and headed to the Halloween aisle, scrutinizing the bags of candy. He wasn't sure how much would be enough because he didn't know how many children resided in his neighborhood, or if children from other parts of Pilot Ridge would come by. "Should we get some for the inmates at Hammel, too?" He asked; it wasn't their fault they were kidnapped and forced to attend school there. He didn't know if the school would allow them out for Trick or Treating, and if not then they should at least be given candy as recompense for being held against their will and being unable to dress up in costumes and beg from the locals.

Cobalt's startled shout caused Josh to jump, clutching at his chest. "What!" He demanded, annoyed to realize that his heart was now racing. "What's the matter?" There didn't appear to be anything wrong. Oh, no! What if the sociopath on the loose had gotten into Cobalt's mind, and that was merely a sign? Would someone know if they were being taken over? Ugh, no, what a ridiculous idea, why would he even think that? There was probably just a spider in the basket or something. Nothing serious. "What happened? Don't tell me you're afraid of the Halloween decorations." He laughed shakily.

"So," He asked after a moment, "What do you think? How many bags of candy are appropriate? Definitely more than one and not because I plan on eating some myself or anything."

An excuse to buy and eat candy was, of course, the one and only reason for remembering that Halloween existed as a holiday. That and Sean's reminder earlier in the month, though that had been a suggestion that he host a party. After the awkwardness that was the last group gathering he'd attended, however, he wasn't sure that another party so soon after was a good idea. People needed time before being forced to face one another again; he needed time before he could face most of the other party-goers, anyway, although some of them had no choice, having to work together and all. So no Halloween party -- just candy. Candy he was purchasing ostensibly for the children.

"Hmmm. Here, what about this one?" He asked, holding out the largest variety bag of chocolate he could find for Cobalt's approval.

Josh eyed the basket suspiciously for a moment before walking over and picking it up, examining it inside and out. "It looks safe." He announced after a moment, finding no evidence of spiders or anything else worth shouting over.

He raised an eyebrow at the younger man. Focus?! He was focusing! They had a mission -- purchase candy. He was very focused. Cobalt was the one who was distracted. Still, he shoved his bag of candy into the basket and listened seriously to the talk of visions. "A vision...." He repeated. It wasn't that he didn't believe in visions; his time spent around meta-humans had lead him to the distinct realization that somewhere out there was a human being who could do almost anything at all. However, as his friend said, people did not just receive visions at random. They were gifted with that ability and that ability alone, so he had to agree that whatever happened didn't make sense. "Unless there's someone around here who causes other people to have visions..." He mused aloud, scanning the aisle for any sign that someone else might be about. He could see an employee restocking in the bakery section; maybe....?

Cobalt's realization that he couldn't control his own power, however, quickly dispelled that notion. He didn't think it would be possible for someone to both suppress powers and cause visions -- although he admitted he was no expert. He simply knew what Sean had relayed to him over the course of nearly thirty years. "I don't know!!" He shrugged helplessly. In all his years of knowing Sean he had never heard of anything remotely like this. He wished he could suggest a perfectly reasonable explanation, but he couldn't. So much for candy; he couldn't very well insist they continue shopping while Cobalt was having a panic attack over his sudden loss of shadow control.

"Ummmmm." He offered. "Sorry. I have no idea. That's really...that's really strange." He looked about the aisle again, as if this would give him any answers. "We ummm we could call the school..." Ugh, he hated to admit that they might know anything, but there it was. When it came to meta-human issues they really were the preeminent resource. "Or maybe just Clarisse, she's the side effects specialist, surely she would know something." In anyone would. Someone had to know!

"Or maybe it's just the store, we could go somewhere else," He continued, because he really had no idea what else to suggest. Was it possible for locations to impact meta-human powers? It wasn't anything he'd heard of before, but it would be much preferable to leave the store and realize that Cobalt could control his rightful powers once again than have to rely on the Institute for help.

Josh nodded slowly at Cobalt's assurances that he was fine. He hadn't behaved as if he was fine; was suppression of meta-abilities a normal sign of illness? He'd never heard of anything like that before and honestly it sounded more than a bit worrisome.

He shifted the basket in his grip, glancing down at it in puzzlement. It seemed like a normal, harmless basket, not the sort of item that would be the cause of visions. He couldn't tell if his friend was upset because visions were normally not his power or because the vision itself was something disturbing.

"Have at," He replied, crouching down to see what other types of candy were available. There wasn't any particular type of candy he favored, so he wasn't going to get into arguments in the middle of the grocery store over the remaining bag. Really the variety bags seemed to be the best deal, as they meant he didn't have to make a decision about one candy over the other. And a variety was better for children. Right, children. That reminded him, he still hadn't gotten an answer about distributing candy at Hammel.

"So ummm. Are you on board with handing out candy to the students at Hammel? Or does the school do its own celebration?"

But once again his question was ignored as his companion dropped the bag of York's he was carrying. "Ummm...." He began again, mentally preparing himself for another freak out. But none came. Instead the basket was snatched away from him.

"...What are you....??" He demanded, stooping to pick up the basket once more, shaking his head. This was obviously distressing to Cobalt, and he really wanted to be patient and understanding, but it was difficult when his friend kept randomly flinging things across the aisle.

He wrinkled his brow at Cobalt's explanation. "You....what?? What do you mean you see what happened last??" He questioned, his gaze straying over to the bag of candy still lying on the floor. "....that's suspiciously generous of you. Are you feeling unwell? Or do you just not want them now that you dropped them on the floor? I am pretty sure the plastic bag is protection enough, the candy itself isn't going to have floor germs all over it."

Josh was definitely not expecting to be prodded in so rude a manner, and despite the fact that Cobalt was shorter he ended up stumbling back a few paces in surprise. "What was that for?!" He griped, rubbing at his shoulder in irritation before the explanation sank in. Oh.

He eyed the York's bag in puzzlement. The younger man's sudden lack of interest in it coupled with his deduction of what power he now had made accepting the offer to keep the candy seem a questionable decision, at best. "Really. Let's just put it back, then." He decided, snatching the bag off the ground and shoving it back onto the shelves with little regard to placement

"I've seen a few," He responded, relieved that the conversation had taken a turn away from panic,"but I don't know if they trick or treat in my neighborhood or if there are places with a superior treats selection they gravitate toward. I'll find out on Halloween." Truthfully, he wouldn't be terribly upset if he spent the entire evening alone with a basket of candy. He didn't dislike children, exactly, but he never really knew how to interact with them and while handing out candy involved minimal contact there was a certain amount of oh, what a nice costume. what are you supposed to be? that was expected. That just wasn't something he was comfortable with, and, if he were completely honest, having most of his purchase to himself was an appealing prospect.

."I don't think dogs can be evil," He added, tossing a few extra bags of varying candy flavors into his basket for good measure, "Although I can't be sure, having never had one. I have a rabbit and I don't think she would get along with a dog, evil or not. Speaking of, what's Leila doing for Halloween?" He assumed that she would be out partying with the other young people rather than passing out candy to children. At least, it seemed a safe assumption that most of the younger adults would be attending parties. "If you don't think you'll have any children come by your place and Leila is busy, you can come hand out candy with me," He offered, "and we can split the remainder when we're done."

Having company was always preferable to being alone, even if said company was only there to eat bags of candy. He wondered if he should invite Sean to join them; he imagined that with a house as huge as his best friend's was he had no shortage of children stopping by. In fact, the older man had probably made a reputation for himself as the best place to get candy in the entire town. "Right. Does that look like enough candy to you?" He asked, holding out his basket for inspection, "You uhhh you don't have to touch any of it, just look and make a guess."