Dunce [Devyn]

[Lucas Blacke]

He was doing it! For days his ankle had been hurting, but he had been able to walk normally though not run in any form due to his ability. Screw what other people said, Lucas just walked through the pain like a predator. Showing pain was a surefire way to get pounced on, or get a girl to see you naked, like that one time in Hammel. Boy did that still haunt him, but that talk did get him to think about his future quite a bit, and had he not talked to her about school and stuff he probably wouldn't be where he was right now.

Still, he also thought about girls a lot these days, and maybe, as he had been thinking about these past few days, it was time to branch out and look for guys he could tolerate. The truth was sad that Luke knew none of male population was any good, including himself since his own father had lied to him about the death of the only father figure he had in his life. Perhaps that had fucked up his mind a bit.

Setting his ankle down and twisting it around a few times on the soil he made sure it didn't hurt anymore before he went for his run, it would be bad if he broke down in the middle of it.

He was almost curious as to who he was going to meet this time as there was not a run he took without meeting anyone new, it seemed. And with that thought running amok in his mind he went off on his run with his freshly healed ankle.

[Deleted]

Devyn was not typically fond of running at the lake, he didn't like being near bodies of water. There was something about not being able to see the bottom of them that made him uncomfortable.

But the gym had been packed that day, all the treadmills were taken, so he'd been forced outside. At least the weather was cooling off, he didn't know if he would have still been able to complete his laps if it had still been hot outside.

He kept a fair distance from the water as he circled, closing in on the end of his second lap but assigning himself one more. There were very few people out that day, which was surprising considering the temperature, but there was one other person that had joined him on the trail.

The other man was a little ahead of him, and had been going at a decent steady pace for a while now. A wave of competitiveness rising he sped up his pace, feet hitting a little harder as he caught up to the other.

It would be a better motivation for him to complete his final lap if he gave himself a bit of a challenge. Plus, he just liked proving that he could do things well. He quickly gained on the other man, moving to the side of him a little so that he wouldn't accidentally run on top of him as he attempted to pass him.

[Lucas Blacke]

His thoughts were interrupted when this guy he didn't know flat out passed the Texan on his crummy foot. Lucas had noticed this guy running in the background for a while longer and did not seem to be running any faster than he was, but yet the guy decided to pass him for some reason. Why that exactly happened Luke had no idea, he had given no reason to be passed by anyone and could think of none other than genuine sudden hurry or an attempt at showing off. Well two could play that game, assuming the latter was what was happening.

He heard the sound of him running gaining a bit in speed and looked back over his shoulder briefly, reaching the conclusion that this guy was not yet his age just by looking at him. He didn't know why, but somehow he felt his own behavior in others was childish, specially so in a male specimen. The reasons to think less of those were redundant ever since his uncle, no one could ever live up to the guy and they did not have any reason to try.

Watching the guy trying to pass him he looked to the side and almost instantly Lucas' legs copied the rate of running the guy passing him had, effectively keeping up without even trying and just playing around. The only problem would be his ankle, what if he hurt it again? Sure, ever since deciding not to focus too much on a singular person anymore his ability had improved, but his ability lacked any hold over how his bones responded, it just regulated his muscles.

Lucas patted the guy on his shoulder as if taking a casual stroll and smiled, turning his head as his ability would keep him going in a straight line. ''What's th' hurry bro?'' He asked, ''Why'dya suddenly speed up? Tryin' ta pass me? Show off?''

He knew that was the reason, but he wanted to hear from this guy.

[Deleted]

Devyn hadn't expected much of a reaction out of the other man, save maybe a confused glance over the shoulder at him. He gave a bit of a sheepish smile to him when he noticed the man was offering a bit more than a cursory look at him.

Even more surprising than that, was the shift in the way the man ran, if anyone else were to be watching they might not have noticed the subtle change. But Devyn's ability lie in being able to notice such things.

"Ah," having been distracted by the man's change in running he was caught off guard when he began to speak, "No hurry, sorry. Just got bored, thought it'd be interesting to try and catch up," he spoke a bit lower after that, "...or pass you."

[Lucas Blacke]

It was fun when Lucas ended up with a run-buddy, even if they would turn out just to be good for one run. Though he wasn't quite sure yet if that Serena girl was just good for that one time, but aside from running she had proven to be plenty good at other things. Ah.. it still brought him a smile to think of that one day. Which, if anyone else had anything close to his ability, would easily see. And maybe even those without abilities would see.

But this time, snapping back to the situation at hand, he had met a male specimen on his run. Well, met, more like briefly seen so far, they hadn't even exchanged names or anything. In fact, Luke had no idea who or what this guy was apart from checking him out. But he didn't blame the guy, Lucas was great to look at and he figured it would be the same for guys, but the way this guy jerked his head upwards a bit when addressed meant he was actually looking instead of looking. So this either meant that this dude was gay and quite entranced by him, Bisexual or just plain weird. Or had his ability.

That last option would turn out to be the most unlikely one, in all his years in Pilot Ridge and on Hammel he had never met someone with the same power he had. He always felt it'd be fun to do so and he had always thought he would be able to spot a user of said ability in a single flash, but with this guy his mind jumped to other conclusions first, so Lucas was either vain or wrong to assume this guy had the same ability as him. After all, if like he said he wanted to pass the Texan, why wouldn't he have copied Usain Bolt or something?

''Let's not run ahead o' th'situation 'ere, aye?'' He laughed as the guy seemed to be picking up words at random and forming them into a sentence. ''Ain't no fuckin' way yer ever gon' get past me. Be happy I let ya catch up!''

''Lucas Blacke by th'way. At yer service.'' He said with a smile directed at the one trying to one up him.

[Deleted]

There didn't seem to be anything particularly wrong with the guy so he didn't feel weird about continuing a conversation with him. Devyn laughed, "Yeah?" He wondered what made the man so confident in his athletic ability. Probably just cocky, but it was hard to tell around here with every other person he ran into having some sort of ability. "So I'll never be able to beat you," he flashed a toothy grin at the challenge.

Devyn had always been a rather competitive guy, he didn't mean to be ill-spirited or rude, he just liked to prove himself. He didn't even get mad if he got beat, he just pushed harder so that he possibly could next time.

"Let me catch up!" he sputtered in laughter, tripping up in his footwork when he did, "You didn't change speed till just now!" It wasn't an accusation, Devyn was very rarely cruel or mean, mostly when he was at his wits end, but he was in a fairly good mood currently and just taking part in a bit of friendly banter.

"I'm Devyn," he stuck his hand out to shake, no matter that it was a little awkward to do as they ran.

[Lucas Blacke]

''Unless I let ya.'' He laughed as he shook the hand of this guy without a second thought. Only a second later after he had withdrawn his hand did he realize that shaking hands while running was a bit of a tough thing to do if you didn't have the same ability Luke had. So this guy really liked showing off, or had the same ability as him. But again, if he had the same ability why didn't he just imagine someone running faster than Luke currently was?

So logic answered that question at that point in time, Devyn didn't have his ability. Unless it was a slight variation on it, or some weird sort of 'copy the power in your vicinity' type deal. Thinking about it made his head hurt a bit even if the answer turned out to be given just like that.

''Only ta make sure ya wouldn't catch up on me.'' He replied when it was pointed out that he had just sped up. Of course he did, there was a certain pride in being the fastest. And Luke wasn't exactly the kinda guy to let some deranged kid pass him. However nice or not-annoying this guy seemed to be, there was still the issue of that thing supposedly dangling between his legs. Since time unknown (since just after losing his uncle) he had problems remaining normal in personality when it came to men, like none could live up to his image of one, so it didn't make sense to try, right?

And a little belated he returned the smile, still running at the same pace as the guy. ''Nice to meet ya, Devyn. Any reason ya wanted ta pass me?'' Whatever the reason, he wasn't going to let him.

[Deleted]

Devyn couldn't help but chuckle again, he had confidence in his own athletic abilities and even without that he knew he'd be capable of at least keeping up with the guy until fatigue crept its way into his muscles.

He was amused at how the man had pointed out his attempt to best him, not many would after all; the typical response would be to remain silent and either speed up or let him pass. He'd never been confronted with the type of person that would strike up a conversation with him, and mid-run even.

"You said you let me catch up, though," Devyn chuckled, "Just admit I'm giving you a run for your money already."

Devyn stopped running, "Hold up, it's hard to run and talk," he got to distracted when his brain locked on to movements. It was hard to stay on task when his brain was cataloguing something entirely different than what he trying to focus on. "And it wasn't that I was trying to /pass you/. I was just giving myself a goal so I could finish up my last laps. You seem pretty upset about it, though," he grinned once more, "Afraid I might outrun you?"

[Lucas Blacke]

Conventional runs? Lucas hadn't had one of those in ages! His last reasonably normal run was with.. with.. oof, painful memory. But then again, even that one ended up being a bit more than a simple run, though if he were to put all his runs ever side by side he would still deem that the most normal one. But maybe this one could be slightly normal, and even finished like a normal person would do.

Lucas chuckled mentally at the word normal, he hadn't been normal in over four years. And he still felt like the odd one out even in a town with meta people, to him it was almost like being put in quarantine with the rest of the people who were sick. But in the end he knew it wasn't like that, and as long as he kept repeating that he would be fine.

A nod when his mind was pulled from those thoughts and back to Devyn, still running beside him saying that he let him catch up. In all honesty, yes he did. His pride wouldn't allow him to be passed and his body wouldn't allow his pride to be hurt. It may have sounded odd, but he was physically incapable of giving anyone a break if they were from the male variety. So he'd never admit anything, ''If ya want me ta admit yer givin' me a run for me money yer askin' me ta lie.'' He replied without thinking about his words.

Ah, it seemed Devyn had no ability like Luke had because he stopped and claimed that talking and running at the same time was hard, which Luke could see, but it wasn't for him. And the fact it was a guy in front of him made him want to show off extra so he kept on running while Devyn stopped. ''Just means ya can't do anythin' complex 's all.'' He sneered slightly as he fell into running circles around the guy.

The next statement had him stopping in front of the guy though, his brows slightly furrowing and his mouth opening slowly, ''Outrun me? Do I sense a challenge?''

[Deleted]

Typically, Devyn felt that he could deal with any kind of social situation he was presented with. This was proving to be one of the interactions that would not go so smoothly as he might have hoped, and he blamed it on the fact that he'd manage to bump into a man who was turning out to be equally as competitive as him if not more.

When the man began to run in circles around him Devyn rolled his eyes, not bothering trying to track him with his eyes as he moved.

Devyn had never thought about it before, but he was patting himself on the back for his spectacular self-control, considering he had yet to stick a foot out to trip the man as he ran around him. It was an incredibly tempting idea.

"Is that," he shook his head at the man's boastful antics, "really necessary?"

When the man finally ceased the ridiculous show, he quirked a brow at him, "I can do plenty of complex things," he didn't really want to move far enough to call the man's intelligence into question, but he certainly wasn't above it.

"Yeah," Devyn crossed his arms over his chest, "it is."

[Lucas Blacke]

''Really necessary.'' He had repeated with a nod before finally coming to a stand still. The mere thought of someone being annoyed by him worked wonders for him, and doubly so if it was a guy. Not like he would like to sweet-talk his way into Devyn's pants anyway, he just didn't swing that way. Or so he thought anyway, he had never tried. Maybe he should just once to be able to say for sure he didn't like it, and if he did turn out to like swinging a bat for the other team, well he never did say he was straight. Everyone just merely assumed he was, and so did he himself.

When the retort came about being able to do complex things he would just catch a blank stare from the Texan. If he was able to do complex things, why was he standing around and talking instead of running and talking? ''Well then,'' Luke replied with a small smile. ''Make like a woman an' go do two things at once.''

He meant what he said, he didn't want to stand around with this guy, especially now that he had uttered a challenge of sorts to Lucas as he said he could outrun him and he just confirmed it. The guy sure was full of himself, but luck would have it Lucas was full of himself as well. And that had a reason, he could move almost any way he wanted! So outrunning this guy would be a breeze.

''I'll count ta ten an' then I'll race ya once 'round th' lake, 'kay?'' He said as he jumped up and down, ready to go and beat Devyn fair and square. ''One, two,'' He got ready and looked at the guy next to him. ''Ten!''

[Deleted]

'Devyn clucked his tongue fighting the powerful urge to roll his eyes, he couldn't let himself slip up and get mad at this guy. No, he should play it cool and not let Lucas get to him. "Oh, it is," yeah the agitation was definitely seeping into his voice, so he stopped and recollected himself before speaking again.

Well, it had been his intention to calm down before he spoke again, but it kind of went out the window at the man's challenging tone.

One eyebrow arched upwards in something akin to surprise, "So is this something you do regularly? Challenge random people to a race?"

Even though he was put off by the man's behavior he couldn't turn down a direct challenge, it just wasn't something he did. Devyn set himself up for the race, stretching one leg back behind the other and leaning low and forwards.

He didn't like using his power to help him win these kinds of things, so he kept his eyes trained away from Lucas, not wanting to mimic him on accident.

He waited for the countdown, shooting from his start position as soon as the man finished his countdown. Devyn was an athletic guy, he'd been involved in sports and the like since he was young and the hard work he put into his extracurricular showed. He was small, but he was coordinated and fast, which would definitely come as an advantage here.

[Lucas Blacke]

Right off the bat Lucas had failed what he said earlier, he let Devyn take the lead. But he only did that because he knew he could gain up no problem, there seemed to be no super speed or imitation anything to be in the game that could make it difficult to catch up. Lucas was sure he could take his sweet time in this one to the point where he actually feared a hare and tortoise kind of race, being so sure of himself that he would lose the race.

Soon after that thought he began picking up the pace a bit by imitating Devyn's way of running to make sure he was close to the guy, but wouldn't pass him. No, the passing would be slightly after the fact when he would start imitating some Olympic runners or something. ''Seems like ya passed me.'' Luke mockingly said even as his legs moved him forward at the same pace as Devyn, yet still a few good paces behind the guy due to running the exact same speed and not being faster nor slower. ''Woe is me!'' He joked.

Suddenly his legs upped the pace a bit and he shot forward, his legs now moving faster and pushing him closer to the male before him. Upon seeing that one's muscles move he was sure there was no real ability in play, which made him think that he was actually cheating. But also that he was going to win. Slowly passing the guy with a smile was enough for his mind to go into the set of already having won.

''Loser owes th' winner coffee, 'kay?''

[Deleted]

With all its limitations and consequences Devyn's power couldn't be considered to be very potent, but it came with certain benefits. The way his mind worked was so much different from everyone around him, it was trained to notice the tiny details.

Such as when a person's particular style of movement changed drastically, which was what Lucas had done. It was hard not to start thinking this guy might have a power.

And one very similar, if not identical to his own, meaning this race would be a very circular event. Especially, if they were to continue on copying each other over and over again.He was dragged away fromt he brief distraction by the man's mocking tone. Devyn frowned, watching as the man pass him. He'd switched again.

Well, two could play it that way. Devyn hated using his ability in situations like this but the urge to wipe the smugness from the man's face was stronger than any sense of honor that he felt.

Devyn sped up, mimicking the man's speed and hoping they finished the race before any serious fatigue sat in. "I suppose warning me you were going to playing dirty would defeat the purpose of cheating?" He accused with a slight stern-ness.

[Lucas Blacke]

''Trouble keepin' up?'' Lucas asked over his shoulder as he passed Devyn on his way to get free coffee, which would be disastrous as all hell for him. ''I've read certain guys have that issue, nothin' ta be ashamed of.'' The line between joking and making fun of Devyn was getting thinner by the minute, mainly due to those last few words the guy spoke, he felt. Seemed this guy had some fight in him. Who knew, maybe Lucas would actually physically get tired for once in his life.

That would be quite the miracle, if this guy legit tired him out. Luke had never had that happen, and maybe that was part of his dislike for men; that they could never tire him out and give him a sense of achievement. As of yet the only person who had really been able to tire him out was Serena, and that was partly due to the ability she held.

So what if what he had been thinking the entire time was true, but for Serena instead of for him? That he did have an ability that made him tire out less fast or something instead of the ability to mimic. That would, in the long run make for an awesome.. run. That made him think though, he had never finished a run, so maybe this guy being all competitive (which was quite contagious) was a good thing to make him actually finish one.

When he finally caught up due to moving a slight bit faster the thoughts of him having enhanced stamina dimmed down a bit. Stamina or not, to suddenly run as fast as someone was not-done in most cases. And though Devyn didn't look like the type of guy to sit around lazing it up he felt it odd that it happened all of a sudden with the mention of the word cheating. Maybe this guy did have some sort of mimic ability..

''Dirty? Me? Heck no.'' He looked at his phone while running and smiled, ''Been clean fer two months now. Good, aye?''