I Will Bite You (Open)

[Deleted]

This was something different, and Kodi wasn't sure if he wanted anyone to know about it.  It was probably obvious to most (or at least those that knew the dentokinetic) that he neglected his training.  A lot.  In fact the only reason he went to the few sessions he did were when he felt too guilty to not go, thanks to Gryph recently graduating and all.

So he thought, today, maybe he'd try training on his own.  It couldn't be that hard, right?

And so Kodi sat on the floor in front of the wall-sized mirror in the training room, staring at his stupid face with his too-thick eyeliner and deadpanned expression.  What the fuck do you see in me, he wondered idly as he stared at himself, thinking of Gryph.  Whatever.  He wasn't here to mope over his too-small eyes and weird-shaped mouth.

He parted his lips and looked at his teeth, which were probably the only thing he really liked about himself.    Kodi kept them as white and clean as possible, brushing and flossing almost obsessively, and it showed.  They had seen braces when he was younger, which meant they were also straight and all lined up.  Yeah, he had a pretty killer smile.  Super killer if he had his fangs out.

Which is what he did now.  Kodi concentrated first on his two upper canines, and watched as they slowly extended to pass over his bottom lip.  A small ache began to grow in his roots, but he ignored it.  He kept letting them grow until they were as narrow as needles and razor sharp, almost past his chin.  Kodi snorted at the way they looked.  "Just need a forked tongue an' I'll be a snake," he mused, poking one of the tips with his finger.  He almost yelped as it pierced the skin, and a drop of blood beaded to the surface.  "... Damn," he chuckled.

[Mychal Doherty]

The training rooms were by far Mychal's favorite place at Hammel, right after the cafeteria. He had never mentioned this to his mother, but he had always secretly wished to be a meta-human. And so, when his powers finally did manifest, after the initial shock, his primary emotion now, was joy. Mychal spent most of his free time, here in the training rooms, wanting to learn control as fast as possible. He had been at Hammel close to three weeks now, and had already learned moderate control over the ability. It definitely helped to have a power that worked in conjunction with your emotions and imagination; already having good control over these things meant quickly progressing in control over the power.

At the moment he was finishing up his training for that day in one of the many training rooms. Today he was practicing to control the different shapes the light changed into. He was sitting cross legged in the middle of his chosen training room. He had his arms held out before him, palms facing skyward, and fists clinched. He focused on his fists harder, and a second later, felt the tug in his gut as the power activated; seconds later he watched with a grin on his face as two spheres of light appeared and enveloped his fists.

A moment later he moved his hands apart, imagining the two spheres conjoining between his open hands; the two spheres became one larger sphere. He grabbed it, feeling it's weight and marble like hardness. Hefting it in his hands the ball felt like it weighed a good eight pounds. He tossed it in the air and then caught it. He tossed it a second time, and as it fell back towards him, he placed his hands wide apart, palms open, and imagined the ball becoming a six foot long staff. A second later, that is what landed in his open hands. Mychal lifted the staff up above his head, twirled it a couple times. A second later he changed the staff into a small frisbee; turned to face the punching bag, and flung the disc at it. The resulting 'thud' bringing another grin to his face.

He let the object fade into nothing as it fell to the ground, stretching and yawning as he took in the time. He had been there nearly an hour. No wonder he felt so tired. Using his ability drained him considerably, especially after prolonged use. That, the excessive hunger, and extreme night blindness made for some pretty bad drawbacks for this ability. But he would learn to live with them. He got up, stretched some more, and then gave an exhausted look as his stomach already voiced it's hunger, "Alright, alright. Pipe down already." He said, heading over to grab his backpack. Hefting it on his shoulder he left the room, closing the door behind him. He was walking down the hallway when he heard a little yelp of pain and a little comment afterwards. Arching an eyebrow, Mychal walked towards the room where the sound had come from and poked his head in the room. Upon taking in the boy's appearance, and the fact that he had highly exaggerated canines, his eyebrows shot up, and his eyes widened a bit, "Oh. Hello. I just heard something coming from here, guess that was you." He walked into the room, heading towards the boy, "I hope you don't mind my asking. But are those natural, or is that part of your ability? They're really cool by the way." Just then, another little wave of tiredness hit him, he yawned covering his mouth with a hand, and shook his head trying to get out an apology. He sat down finishing his yawn and said a little wearily, "Sorry. Damn side-effect of my ability. I go any longer than thirty minutes, and I'll be yawning for a good two hours afterwards." He yawned again, and this time wiped the resulting tears from the yawn with his hand. He blinked quickly a few times, and took a couple deep breaths, trying to clear away some of the tiredness.

The next second his stomach complained loudly again, to which he gave a derisive glance at the ceiling, closed his eyes, and shook his head sighing. Giving the boy an agitated smile thinking about his stomach, he asked, "So what's your name?" Raising and lowering his eyebrows with the question, and pursing his lips a little. "My name's Mychal. I just got here a few weeks ago. Late bloomer I guess." He said with a tilt of his head, and shrug of his shoulders, while smiling.

[Deleted]

Kodi heard faint sounds in the distance from another training room, but thought nothing of them. They didn't concern him, and therefore he wasn't interested in investigating. He was still staring at the droplet of blood on his finger, which he tilted to watch the crimson spot drip from his fingernail and onto the floor below. "I could really hurt someone with these," he mused, sliding an uninjured finger up the shaft of the tooth. It felt frail. "Too bad they're too weak t'do much..."

He was still considering these things when a voice echoed into the room. Kodi jerked and glanced back over his shoulder at the intruder, his kohl-lined eyes narrowing suspiciously. He didn't say anything at first - who did this guy think he was anyway? - but the question about his ability eventually made him speak. "My ability," he drawled shortly. "Dentokinesis." He gave a small smirk and let the long canines retract a bit back into his mouth. "It is pretty sick, ain't it?"

Something made the boy think he was welcome to just come and sit down by him, apparently. Kodi's brow furrowed and his lips twitched into a frown, but he didn't shoo him off instantly. Not yet, at least. Mostly because the guy thought his ability was cool. "Side effects are shit," he agreed in a low grumble, already feeling the roots of his affected teeth ache from the use of his own ability. "... What were you doin' anyway, makin' all that fuckin' noise?" Okay, it hadn't been a lot, but Kodi liked to exaggerate things.

If this guy was looking for an interactive conversation, he was going to have to be patient. Kodi wasn't one to just open up to anyone, especially in his current state. ".... Kodi," he uttered, wiping his still slightly bleeding finger on his shorts. He looked over the other guy with a scrutinizing eye, trying to determine what it was that he wanted. "I been in this shit-hole for 'nough years. Shoulda been outta here by now." But Kodi, despite being (surprisingly) more than intelligent enough to pass his classes, simply didn't give a shit about them enough to try. "... Can I help you with somethin'?" he finally asked outright. "I gotta boyfriend, if that's what you're after. Ain't no luck there." Kodi smirked again.

[Mychal Doherty]

After Mychal had sat down and voiced his question, he caught a look pass over the boy's face. He seemed to be a little aggravated by Mychal's presence. Whether it was because he didn't Mychal personally, or he just didn't like people being close to him in general, had yet to be determined. He didn't take the look personal though, he just kept a light mood and little smile on his face, in spite of the frequent yawns.

A moment later the boy asked him what it was he had been doing in the other training room, making it sound like he'd been causing a lot of ruckus. He knew that he hadn't made a lot of sound, but said, "Sorry about that." Grinning with his eyes closed and scratching the back of his head. "I can get a little carried away sometimes with my ability. I didn't mean to bother you if I did."

It seemed this boy was the suspicious type, because he constantly held a scrutinizing gaze while he answered Mychal's questions. As if he was trying to unearth a hidden meaning in Mychal's actions. 'A suspicious one.' Mychal thought with a grin, noticing the typical loner behavior. He of course couldn't guess what events the boy had been through, or was going through to make him so, but he recognized the signs. Aversion to company, quick curt answers with a less than friendly tone, and a look that suspected duplicity from everyone and everything around them. He was far too familiar with these traits, having had them himself years ago.

Apparently, the boy's patience at Mychal's presence was wearing thin. Because after he gave his name, he asked Mychal what he wanted, and then jumped to a conclusion that startled him. Eyebrows raised with a little shock, he said, "Is that how this appears?" And he laughed a little, smiling, "Sorry if I made you think that, I didn't mean to." His face was kind as he studied the boy, and tilting his head some he said, "The knowledge doesn't surprise me though. A good looking guy like you, with an awesome ability like that? Of course you're already taken."

Pulling one knee towards his chest, he leaned back on his hands. "No, I'm not here to flirt with you." He said, tilting his head forward and lifting it back. He took a deep breath and exhaled saying, "No. I just thought I'd take this opportunity to meet someone new here at the school. You seemed like a good guy, so I decided to come over here and sit down." His eyes and grin were playful as he talked. He figured the boy was probably annoyed right now, but no amount of rude comments, scrutinizing looks, brooding behavior, or flat out insults would detour him from getting to know this guy. In fact, it just encouraged him.

[Deleted]

Hmph. Kodi wasn't sure what to make of this; he wasn't exactly social, and didn't usually welcome unplanned interactions, but this guy didn't seem too bad... Yet. "Yeah, well, what were ya doin' in there anyway?" he mumbled, curiosity edging him on. "Throwin' a weight around or somethin'? You got super strength?" If that was the case, Kodi would make sure not to aggravate the guy too much; he didn't need all of his bones broken, thank you very much.

He wished Gryph was there. Though the older boy wasn't all that much better at conversation than Kodi was, at least he was more polite than the dentokinetic. He kept Kodi from getting out of line when he was annoyed. And this conversation had a potential to go a couple different ways, annoyance being one of them. Because people were annoying.

But of course he would jump to conclusions, because that was what Kodi did. And given how often he thought about sex and hooking up, it wouldn't be a surprise to anyone that knew him what he'd just asked. A small smirk played about his lips as the other boy replied. "Could look that way, yeah," he drawled. The guy was a smiler. Kodi didn't know how he felt about that. What he said next, however, made the smirk drop from the southern boy's mouth, and his expression turned a little baffled. "Well, shit, you know how t'flatter someone, don't you?" he finally mumbled back, trying to determine if this compliment was genuine. Kodi didn't think he was good-looking; he couldn't even leave his room without making sure his hair was perfect and his eyeliner was on. It was something Gryph was trying to get him to stop doing, but Kodi was stubborn.

He shifted where he sat, feeling confused more than anything. It could still change to annoyance. "Well, good, 'cause more relationship drama is the last thing I need right now," Kodi grunted, giving no details. He didn't say anything else until the stranger mentioned 'good guy', and Kodi couldn't help it - he burst out laughing at the irony. "Oh, man, you have no idea," he chuckled, staring up at the ceiling. "You wanna meet a 'good guy', you should prob'ly get the hell outta this room as fast as you can an' talk t'someone else, 'cause I am a messed up piece'a shit." Kodi glanced over at the guy for a reaction. "Most people tend t'either hate me or fear me, or both. Ask... Almost anyone." Except Gryphon, but that was an exception that Kodi still didn't know how he'd managed to get.

[Mychal Doherty]

When the guy asked him what exactly it was that he'd been doing in the other room, he thought about it for a moment. One more short little demonstration shouldn't hurt right? Bringing his left hand up he said, "This." A second later, a glowing frisbee appeared in his grasped fingers. It was a very lite pale gold color, and was almost completely translucent. Another second later he let the object disappear, and laying his arm back on his leg. "I can create physical objects out of light. What I was doing in there was trying to make sure I could maintain the objects form, after I threw it. What you heard was the sound of the frisbee hitting a punching bag."

Apparently the guy wasn't too good with compliments, because when be gave his, the boy's face became a little embarrassed looking, and he mumbled something about flattery. "Yeah, flattery is a bit of a forte of mine. And you shouldn't think that I don't mean it either." Years ago, flattery and compliments were simply tools for him to use to get what he wanted. Nowadays however, he easily found beauty in almost everything. Once he mentioned the 'Good guy' part though, that seemed to be a bit much for Kodi, and he started laughing, telling Mychal that he was off with that one. He then tried to inform Mychal of just how off he was, and proceeded to basically insult himself.

Mychal just sat there and waited for him to finish. "So let me get this right." He said, and then crossed his legs, and leaned forward, placing his elbows on his flattened knees and clasping his hands in front of him. "You think, that because you have flaws, that makes you a bad guy." He said and pointed his fingers at him and then pulled them back on the last few words. "Well, if that's what you want to believe, then by all means believe it. But honestly, all that really makes you, is human. You have flaws, big deal, everyone does. What really matters is how you deal with, confront, and fix those flaws. Nobody's perfect, and the ones that try and BE perfect, are honestly, the ones that are the most flawed." He pulled his knees up to him, keeping the ankles crossed, and then wrapped his arms around his knees clasping his hands together again.

"I mean, think about it. Would you honestly rather hang out with someone who has flaws, can admit this, and are working on trying to fix those things. Or would you rather be around someone that is trying to say they don't need to fix anything about themself, that they are perfect." He said with a derisive glance. "No one is without flaws, you have them, I have them, we all do. The only way that those things could make you a bad guy, would be if you were to take pleasure in them." He yawned, putting a hand in front of his mouth. When he was done he said, "Damn, sorry."

[Deleted]

Kodi eyed the other boy warily as he lifted his hand, and almost flinched (almost) at the sudden appearance of... Whatever that was. "The fuck," he mumbled, head tilting curiously. That was actually... Kind of cool. Not that Kodi would say that. "Weird," he said instead, watching the object disappear. "So... You could prob'ly hurt someone with that if you wanted, huh?" he mused. "How would you explain gettin' injured by photons an' shit?" Kodi snorted, more amused than he should be.

He wasn't sure what to say about the flattery comments, so Kodi just stayed silent, picking at a hole in his jeans. He didn't know how to take flattery because he very rarely got it, and for good reason. Gryph, again, was the exception, but even Oriel had usually only insulted him during their little... Flings. That was what he was used to. Kodi had a tough shell that could take insults much better than the unfamiliar compliments.

Oh, fuck. Where was this guy going? Kodi's lip slowly curled as the guy started spouting off some nonsense about flaws and character and a bunch of stuff that, okay, might have been helpful to someone, but not to Kodi. Because Kodi knew he was a fucked up piece of shit, but that was because he found entertainment in some of the cruel stunts he pulled. "I ain't sayin' my flaws make me a bad guy," he retorted, eyeing the other boy with contempt. "And I sure as shit ain't fixin' 'em anytime soon. You ain't seen what I've done, so don't go actin' like you know me." Kodi was fairly certain if this guy knew he'd bitten and fought and insulted innocent people that didn't deserve it for the sake of his own personal torment, he wouldn't be so fast to try to make Kodi feel better.

When he finally finished his little tirade, Kodi jabbed a finger at him, his point made. "That's exactly what I'm gettin' at," he said lowly. "I do take pleasure in the messed up shit." Not as much recently as he had in the past, but still. "So if you still wanna argue that I'm not a bad guy then you're gonna have t'come up with a better argument than that." Stewing, and uncertain why this had set him off so badly, Kodi stood and turned to take a few steps away from the goody-two-shoes, glowering at the floor with his arms crossed. His teeth were getting sharper and longer on their own now.

[Mychal Doherty]

"Yeah, I could." He said to his question of if he could harm someone with his ability. He smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes; a memory flashed through his mind as he had answered. To his next question he merely grinned and shrugged his shoulders, "Oh I don't know, I guess it would just depend on the injury wouldn't it?" Not really. The objects may be made of light, but they functioned just as any normal object did, they just happened to be made of light. The light itself played no part in how the object was handled, meaning if Mychal were to hit someone with a bat made of light, it would be the same as getting hit with a regular bat.

He had learned recently, that he could create much more lethal objects than simple balls or frisbees. However he wasn't about to tell the guy this, mainly because he knew he would never use them without the proper provocation, his training saw to that. Also, he felt no real need to tell the guy this, he hadn't even told his trainer, feeling the knowledge wouldn't be look at favorably. So yes, he could do damage with his ability, but if he had his way, it would never have to be used in such a manner.

After he had said his spill about what made someone a bad person, Kodi seemed to become angry. He told him that he did enjoy his darker personality traits and habits. Mychal had to physically restrain himself from rolling his eyes, 'I won't even bother telling him how he just proved my point better than his.' He thought. Truly evil people rarely ever admitted to their heinous natures and habits, but the defining trait was a complete and utter lack of regret for any and all of their actions, at any point in their life, no matter how big or small. He didn't sense that at all in this guy, what's more, it felt like he was trying to convince himself rather than Mychal of his own darkness. 'It'll take time with this one.' He thought as Kodi got up and moved a couple steps away from Mychal. 'Everyone has their demons Kodi. Perhaps one day you'll trust me with yours.' He thought with a calm expression on his face. He was willing to be this guy's friend, if he'd let him. He just had to let down those walls he'd built up, which Mychal knew from personal experience, wasn't an easy thing to do. It was comfortable behind those walls, familiar, easy. It was trusting that was hard.

Changing the subject, he said with a light tone, "I have a question for you. You don't have to answer of course, if you don't want to." He said, holding his hands up a little in defense, "I'm just curious. Everybody has their little story of how they got here. What's yours?" He asked with a little tilt of his head.

[Deleted]

It was a good thing that someone like Mychal had a potentially harmful ability rather than someone like Kodi. Well… Okay, Kodi could do quite a fair bit of damage with his shark-teeth, but it required getting close and they were more fragile than he would like to admit. “Interestin’,” was all he said, still musing over this knowledge. He was going to have to ask for a bigger demonstration sometime, but… He wasn’t in the mood now.

Heh, he could probably make a really realistic-looking lightsaber… Not that Kodi was a nerd and had seen all of those movies or anything. And not that he wanted to see Mychal try it. Nope.

Kodi’s walls were built up incredibly high. He’d been teased and tormented and dragged along constantly when he was a kid, living as one of the only non-white children in a place populated by very religious, very conservative people, his father one of the most among those (not to mention metaphobic as well). He’d been practically disowned when he’d manifested, and had done his best to build himself into this character he’d become so he didn’t have to deal with the same shit when he came to Hammel. It had worked, almost too well – Kodi knew he was a sinner and was going to Hell anyway for various reasons (being gay, being a meta, for just being a fucking asshole), so what was the point in trying? Besides, he got the punishment he deserved for being such a sick fuck when he got in fights with people, which was where he got his cruel sense of satisfaction. He growled and curled and uncurled his fists, waiting for the other guy to show some sign of disgust or dismay, but nothing came.

When Mychal completely changed directions on the subject, Kodi spared him a suspicious look over his shoulder. No way did he think the guy didn’t have any opinions about what he’d just said, but fine, he’d play along. “Hmph,” he grunted, slowly turning back around, but he stayed standing. “…. Manifested when I got angry at someone an’ fused their teeth together. Didn’t tell my meta-hatin’ parents until the recruiter came. Came t’Hammel an’ never looked back.” Or so he imagined. The truth was, he was so stuck in the past he had trouble moving forward. “…. You got a story or soemthin’ too?”

[Mychal Doherty]

"Really?" Mychal said with a slight raise of his eyebrows when they boy told him how he had gotten here. "I was wondering if your power could work on anyone else besides yourself." He thought for a moment before continuing, "I imagine that would be pretty...no, really painful, wouldn't it?" He did catch the part about a judgmental and hateful background, but decided to spare the guy his sympathy at the moment. He figured it wouldn't be taken too well if he did.

"You could say my story's similar." He tilted his head, eyes becoming soft as he remembered the day he'd manifested. "I was walking by myself, when this guy that had been trying to pick on me all year found me. It was early this summer, and all I had been trying to do was be by myself and think. I'd never had much luck making friends when I was younger. I was rude, hateful, disrespectful, but in middle school, I had made a couple really good friends that helped to change me. Unfortunately I'd had to move away from them recently." He took a deep breath and exhaled, leaning back on his hands.

"Sean found me while I was out walking alone, and proceeded to start yelling insult after insult at me." He was speaking, and his stare was distant as he remembered, "However, I just kept ignoring him, trying my best to not let him provoke me. That all changed though when he decided to stop using words, and convert to physical actions instead. Ultimately I ended up breaking multiple of his ribs after I dodged his attack and punched him in the side." He blinked his eyes a couple times and looked back at the boy standing and looking at him. "Apparently when I hit him, my hand had been enveloped with a sphere of light. So it had been as if I was punching him as hard as I could with a fist made of solid marble."

Mychal popped his neck, and sighed before continuing. He looked off to the side as he spoke, "I learned from the hospital when I called them, that one of his fractured ribs had punctured his lung. And that...had I not called them when I did to come and pick him up..." He stopped and grinned at the boy, however his eyes were completely dead. With just a little tilt of his head he finished, "He would have died." A couple seconds later he gave a hollow chuckle and laid back on the ground, "So, yeah." He said looking at the ceiling, "That's my story."