Flying Balls (Vinny)

[Julian Wes]

Julian was sitting in the empty student lounge, confused and worried. Having spoken on the phone with his mom earlier, she had given him the impression that things weren’t smooth sailing on the home front. She hadn’t said anything direct. But when he asked how dad was doing the first time, she changed the subject. And the second time she rushed off the phone because she said Talia was waking up from her nap.

His mom seemed to have forgotten that Julian did in fact know their schedules. And he knew that Talia’s naps were at three in the after noon, not eleven in the morning. It was more than a little disheartening. Izzie had never lied to him before that he knew of. Except for the lies all little kids are told of course, like Santa and the Tooth Fairy.

Their relationship had always been pretty honest. So if she were lying to him, it had to be something bad and that panicked him. And he wasn’t used to feeling helpless. It made him feel weak and powerless and helpless. He’d never been this frustrated before in his life. And if he thought his grandparents would tell him what exactly was going on, he’d call them, but he knew they wouldn’t say a word to him.

So here he sat, in the empty student lounge as it neared midnight, contemplating what was possibly going on at home that was being kept from him.

In an attempt to distract himself, he got and went to the pool tables, raking up the balls. Knowing nothing about pool, except the very very very basics, he lined up the stick to make what he thought might be a good shot… Except that the white ball went flying across the room.

[Vincent Verax]

Vincent often found himself wandering with no real purpose lately. Sometimes it was too hard to stay at home, in the rooms that reminded him so much of Misato, in the apartment that he knew he wouldn't be able to afford on his own, but was too fond of to leave. Even the school made him think of the pretty pixie boy and all the times he'd been scolded or bribed into showing up for class.

It was late, but Vincent was still hanging around the school, thinking that if worse came to worse, he could always go bang on Sammy's door and beg to stay the night. He was just walking into the student lounge when a disturbing noise hit his ears. It took a few seconds for him to realize that the sound was that of a pool ball colliding with his skull and it took even longer for that to realize that hurt.

"Motherfucker..." He wheezed, bringing his hand up to the spot of impact as if covering it would somehow alleviate the throbbing pain. Which... it technically did. Although instead of his hand doing the work, it was his power. "Nice aim." He grumbled under his breath in the direction of the pool table, finally moving his hand to reveal the steadily fading bruise.

Had the circumstances been different, he might have hammed it up and then laughed, but as it were, he didn't see much use in doing either of those things. There wasn't even any drive to be mad and besides, he was sure the kid (who he didn't recognize) didn't actually mean to drive the cue ball into his forehead.

[Julian Wes]

… Well Julian’s timing was impeccable. He’d seen the guy walk in, only because the ball drew his attention that way. And he knew what was gonna happen. He was hoping that maybe since he was a bit away, maybe the angle was playing a trick on his mind. But then the cracking sound when the had ball actually hit him in the head.

“Oh shit!” Dropping the pool stick, he hurried over the to the older boy’s side. “Oh shit oh shit oh shit.” This was an awesome first impression. Hadn’t even met this person yet and he was already a huge douche in their book. “I’m so sorry. Really. Truly. Very sorry.”

The look on Julian’s face was comparable to a puppy’s when it know it’s done wrong. His eyes were big and sad looking. And he was chewing his lip, afraid anger would come raging out of the person in front of him. “Can I get you ice or something? Maybe you should sit down?” … Were concussions possible from being hit in the head with a cue ball?

When his hand moved from the spot where the ball had hit him, Julian said, “Here, let me take a look at it.” Not that he would know what to do; other than to lead him to the infirmary that is. With ease he looked at the boy’s head. It… It was already fading. “It’s… Almost gone. Holy damn….”

Staring at the boy in awe, eyes wider than normal, Julian couldn’t help but to be impressed. With a wide smile now on his face, he said, “That’s so COOL!”

“Are you a healer? Can you do it for other people too?” He wasn’t asking because any part of Julian needed to be healed. But to him, that seemed like the ULTIMATE power. Especially when somebody when it came to Julian’s need to constantly help people and make them better.

Despite injuring a random stranger, one good thing had already happened in their meeting. Julian was no longer worrying about what was going on at home.

[Vincent Verax]

Julian's concern was sweet, but unnecessary. Vincent merely grunted at the apologies as he rubbed his head. "S'okay." He didn't want the kid to think that he was mad, because in all honesty he wasn't. If he'd been Sammy or even Zac, he might have retaliated with a fist to the face, but this kid? Nah, he looked way too fragile for that.

Vincent finally got a good look at his face when he pulled his hand away, that kicked puppy look being one of his weaknesses. "Dude, really. S'alrigh'. Shit happens, yeah?" He clapped Julian on the shoulder, hoping that would be enough to make him realize that he was okay and there was no reason to be so upset.

Of course, he found something else to distract him. For a moment, Vincent just stared at Julian, confused at his excitement over something that he'd grown so used to over the years. Eventually, he laughed. It wasn't like his normal bellowing laugh, more muted than boisterous. "Y'ain' been here that long, have ya kid?"

It wasn't like such things were uncommon at Hammel, but Vincent often felt like he'd been at Hammel all his life. (Close enough.) "Nah, only works f'me." He smiled just faintly, this kid's enthusiasm rather endearing. "An' I'd prolly b'dead without it." Truer words have never been spoken.

[Julian Wes]

A smile came to Julian’s face, nodding when he said ‘shit happens’. “I suppose it does Forrest, I suppose it does.” Yes, Julian was a dork quoting Forrest Gump to somebody he’d just meant.

But the young boy was happy. This person seemed to accept his apology, which gave Julian the greatest relief. Cracking somebody in the head with a cue ball wasn’t the best way to meet people or go around making friends. But you’d never know until ya’ tried!

“Is it really that obvious?” Julian asked, scrunching his face and the slightest tinge of a blush colored his cheeks. He’d been trying to act as if he’d been here forever and knew exactly what he was doing and knew most everybody here. It was sort of a defense mechanism for not knowing a damn thing since coming here. “Uh yeah… I just got over winter break. So, new kid.” Reaching his hand towards his accidental victim, he said, “Name’s Julian. Or Jules.”

His face fell slightly when he said it only worked for him. “Well damn… I was going to have you fix me up if I needed it.” With a shrug and a smile, he chuckled. “Still pretty awesome power.” If Julian had yet to gain any control over his phasing, he’d show it off to him. But he had a feeling this person had been here longer and no longer found peoples’ abilities to be fascinating.