Fool's Errand(Open)

[Lani Hunter]

One of the most boring parts of living at school. Lani sat on his bed and gathered the dirty clothing littering the ground around his laundry basket. Most of it got in there, eventually. Finding that he had enough space his stripped his bed and threw his sheets in the top of the basket as well. This was probably the cleanest that Lani's room ever would be. Grabbing the laundry detergent from his closet and a book from his shelf he ventured down to the laundry room. He trotted down the stairs the laundry basket following after like a loyal dog. Telekinesis certainly had it's perks and not having to carry his laundry down four flights of stairs was definitely one of them. He hummed a merry tune and spun his key chain around his index finger enjoying the light metallic sound it made. The slight smile on Lani's face did little to betray the level of merriness that Lani was experiencing. It was just after new years and 2013 was already proving to be a good year. Definitely better than 2012. For once the new year gave Lani hope.

Hope that this year would not be an endless string of trials. He had gotten back from Boston with Odion a few days ago and he was in a bright mood. Not only had the holidays not ended in disaster but they had actually gone rather well. The thought that he might have a boyfriend was still foreign and scared Lani a little bit but he still smiled when he thought about it. Lani's mind was occupied with a great number of things. He had talked to Dr. Neville about bringing down his old boss with legal help and hopefully Lani's family and several people like him would be safe from his ex boss. Then there was planning a heist with Odion to help his friend get out of debt. Needless to say Lani's mind was fully of plans and worries. But for right now he had several new books from Christmas and he was planning on reading them in the peace and quiet of the laundry room. He was still convinced that if he read in his room he would inevitably be interrupted. Besides being a thief himself he didn't trust leaving his clothing unattended.

The room was empty when he got there and he smiled with relief. That would make this chore much easier than if he had to wait and fight for a washer. Lani's humming momentarily became singing as he allowed his bright mood to emerge from him. The singing was light and under his breath. He didn't think he was all that good of a singer but he had been told differently by the few people that caught him singing. His voice was a warm tenor but as he heard the door open again his singing quickly ceased and faded to humming then quickly to nothing at all. He loaded a washer with light colors and another with dark. He paid the machines and started them. As he was pouring detergent it became quickly apparent that he should have gotten some before now. He got one load started and barely anything was left. He turned sheepishly to the other person. "Hey, sorry to ask, but can I borrow a little detergent it seems I'm all out." He laughed a little at his own foolishness.

[Roger Vandelay]

"Oh sweet Jesus."

New Year's Eve had not been particularly kind to Roger Vandelay, who had like usual partied a bit too hard for his tolerance level. Hell, it wasn't his fault that his slim stature and poor diet meant that he couldn't hold liquor very well. So having rolled out of bed just a few minutes ago to be greeted by a rather massive headache and an inexplicable bruise on his upper right arm, the last thing the young shape-shifter had wanted to see was a massive pile of laundry demanding his immediate attention.

Which, of course, was exactly what he saw.

Wordlessly - a miracle by the standards of anyone who knew Roger well - the teenage boy threw all of this clothing into his laundry basket, groaning as he reached up to grab his bottle of detergent and a few dryer sheets from on top of his dresser. All of this having been accomplished, it was time for him to make his way to the laundry room. Normally, the boy would shift into an interesting character for a little trip around the building, but he was already in pain as it was, and shifting would only add to his agony. Instead, Roger slipped into a loose pair of jeans, a grey shirt which he left unbuttoned at the top, and a pair of sunglasses - because God dammit, he did not want to see the sun right now. It was, in all likelihood, the worst this man had ever looked, but hey, it was laundry day.

While Roger did not have telekinesis, what he did have was a room on the second floor, which meant it would not be too much of an ordeal for the rather frail boy to move his ponderous basket of dirty clothing down the stairs. Approaching the door into the laundry room, he distinctly heard the sound of a young man singing some tune he did not recognize. "Oh Lord, please not now," he groaned as he pushed the door open, "I've been drunk since Monday." The complaint was mostly meant to be humorous - and, frankly, to brag about his own partying ways - but his headache was killing him.

Moving past the boy - whom he didn't notice right away was quite the looker due to his lingering grogginess - he placed his basket down on one of the free washing machines, deciding that that one and those surrounding it were his for the next forty-five minutes. He began lifting each clothing item individually out of his basket, tossing it into one of the three machines seemingly at random. Anyone watching this spectacle would likely notice that many of these items were, to be frank, not the sort of thing a more typical male would wear. As it were, there were plenty of skirts, bras, and other unusual items mixed in with the more common jeans and polo shirts; he wore these when shifted into a female human. "Christ, I don't even remember wearing this," he muttered as he held up a pair of black pantyhose, before carelessly tossing them into one of the machines with the rest of his darker clothing.

Shutting all three doors, he was just about to swipe his laundry card when he saw the other boy out of the corner of his eye turning towards him. Ugh, I'm about to get solicited in the laundry room, he thought to himself as he returned the boy's gaze. Upon hearing that this stranger was actually just hoping to borrow detergent, Roger simply shrugged his shoulders. Well, that's a bit of a letdown, he thought with an internal laugh. "Yeah, sure," he replied, voice weaker than usual due to the aforementioned hangover and drowsiness. He whipped out his cellphone, selecting the calculator application. "A bottle of Tide Ultra Liquid laundry detergent goes for $18.99," he began. "I'll make it an even fifteen 'cause I think you're cute. Now, a full bottle supplies enough detergent for thirty-two loads; your two machines will require one-sixteenth of the bottle," he continued matter-of-factly, as he entered the numbers with a completely serious expression on his face. "Now, most people use more than they need, so I'll charge you for three loads. That brings your total to one dollar and seventy-eight," he finished, extending an open palm towards the boy and giving a polite smile. After pausing long enough to wait for the boy to react, he giggled brightly before handing him the bottle. "I'm just teasing. Use as much as you want." He leaned back over to his own machines, starting each one. "I'm Roger, by the way. I haven't seen you around before." I'd surely remember if I had, he added to himself.

((I hope it's okay if I join you! I'm planning on having him mention that Lani has a nice voice in the next post; he works at La Maison Magnifique so he would be naturally inclined to comment on it ))

[Lani Hunter]

((OOC: Of course! That sounds good ))

Lani hadn’t had much to drink on New Years. He had rung in the new year with a rather unimpressive fizzle. Really had he not been home he probably would have done something but snacks and a mini celebration with his family had been rather well enough for Lani. Lani spared a quick glance at the person and his only comment was to raise a brow. Someone had had a good time last night. Lani’s humming died to nothing and he smirked a little bit at the complaint. This kid was certainly not in a good mood this morning. But then he shouldn’t judge this guy could just be tired and trying to get his laundry done before the crowds started to mob it. Lani similarly was in jeans and a hoodie. He had been too lazy to put on a shirt on under it, besides the inside was fuzzy and felt warm and soft against his skin.

Watching the person out of the corner of his eye he shifted a little to let him pass. He smiled a little bit but did nothing more when he caught the other boy’s comment on drinking. Oh yes, he had had a more interesting new years than Lani had. Lani hadn’t seen this kid much around, but really that shouldn’t surprise him. There were probably a ton of people he just didn’t know because he was never in class. But anyhow he watched him like a hawk without appearing to do so. Another nice thing about telekinesis, it was possibly to have eyes, figuratively, everywhere. Lani yawned a little bit as he went though his stuff. It was mostly devoid of color. He really only had black and dark gray and then lighter gray. The few colors he did have were dark and so washed out that it was hard to actually determine their true color apart from the gray. Oh well, he really didn’t need many colors. He didn’t really dress to impress very often. He huffed a little bit hearing Odion’s laughter in the back of his mind calling him a box.

Lani actually wasn’t too ashamed of his own wardrobe as he caught sight of what the other man was throwing into his washers. Was that a… bra? He looked back at his own sorting and as he started to realize he was going to have to ask for detergent he wondered for a moment if he should really just go get some. But why not when he had the potential to just ask for some. He didn’t need all that much, just enough to get him through this load. Lani opened his mouth to utter a ‘thanks’ when his brow raised at the numbers the kid started spouting out. He silently shut his mouth and leaning his hip against the washer and crossed his arms over his chest. Lani’s face flushed a little at the forwardness of the kid’s statement. He wasn’t used to people saying things like that to him, it just didn’t happen. Especially not random strangers. Lani rolled his eyes and shook his head waving the kid off. “Just forget…” He began but was cut off by the laughter.

Lani cocked is head at the man and let out a puff of air from his nostrils, clearly not amused. But grateful anyways Lani gave a smile taking the bottle. “Thanks,” Lani replied simply. He shook his head turning back to his machines and let out a little laugh. Well, he was the fool who didn’t bring enough detergent, he should be the fool got tricks played on him. This once Lani would let this guy get away with it. He started his last machine and handed the detergent back. He took his empty bottle and tossed it into the trashcan with a little more force than was probably necessary. “Lani,” he replied turning back to Roger, “Thanks, really, you’re a life saver.” He gave Roger a charming smile and simply shrugged. “I’ve been here a while, I guess it’s easy for people to just pass each other by,” he said. Lani hopped up on one of the folding tables and let his feet hang off the edge. “You training to be an accountant or something?” He asked his lips tipping up in a sly smile. Hell this kid was lucky he had been joking about Lani paying money or he would find himself short much more than a dollar seventy-eight.

[Roger Vandelay]

A roll of the eyes was exactly the reaction Roger had been anticipating; most of his jokes were really for his own amusement, so whether the other person got a kick out of them was irrelevant to him. He really was happy to let him use some of his detergent, though the brunette did think this other boy was a bit foolish for not having noticed how light his own bottle was before arriving down at the laundry room. "No problem, scamp," he replied to the other boy's thanks. He resisted the urge to respond with something like 'I don't save lives; I create them;' while this did describe his power of shape-shifting fairly accurately given that he loved to use his abilities to create new characters and live as them for a very brief time, he didn't like disclosing his ability to strangers. Really, it was no fun when they knew ahead of time that he could become someone new, since he liked to use his power to play little tricks on people.

Once he had started the three washing machines he had claimed, and the machines began soaking his clothes and tossing them this way and that, the brunette did what he always did on laundry day: he hopped up onto one of his machines, gently lowering his bottom to rest on top, and giving a wide smile as he made contact; while a washing machine did not rumble as much as a dryer did, the dryers were stacked in such a way that he couldn't sit on top of those, and the washing machines did vibrate a little bit due to the force of the water jets. "Ahhhh yeah, that's it," he breathed, eyes closing just lightly before opening up again. "You ever try this?" He asked, leaning back on the machine. "It's not exactly a Swedish massage, but for a buck twenty-five, I'll fucking take it," he added with a grin. More comfortable than the folding table, at any rate.

He smirked as Lani asked if he was going into accounting, leaning forward with both hands gripping the edge of his makeshift seat. "I can be anything you want me to be," he replied enigmatically with a wink. Not that he was really flirting - Lani would know if he was really flirting - but he considered that line his catchphrase, and a pretty accurate one when all things were considered. He shook his head then, figuring he'd give the boy a more serious answer: it turned out they would probably both be there a while, so might as well make small talk. "Nah, I do costume design over at La Maison Magnifique," he explained with a shrug.

Mentioning the House got the cogwheels in his brain turning: the boy had been singing when he had first walked in, no? He had basically yelled at him to stop - facetiously, but the other student had clearly complied with his 'request.' He hadn't been paying attention since he had been groggy and hungover at the time - he was feeling more awake now, but his head still hurt and the fluorescent lights of the laundry room weren't helping - but he recalled that it hadn't sounded atrocious, and that was pretty uncommon around the dorms. "Hey, you didn't sound half-bad by the way," he added, one leg crossing over the other tightly as he sat up. "Do you sing a lot, or just when you think nobody's around? Ugh, it's like freaking Oscar bait. Boy discovers fabulous singer in the laundry room of a cheap hotel, and rockets him to fame," he exclaimed, making broad hand gestures as he imagined it. "But seriously, kid, what's your story?"

[Lani Hunter]

Lani just lifted a brow at the kid’s off handed comment. Scamp? Really? Lani resisted the urge to sigh and bit his tongue on a snide comment. That would not be the proper response to someone who had just been gracious enough to let him use some of his detergent. He shook his head a little bit and decided not to go with it. Some of the people here were strange and such terms were one time deals. Hopefully, one time. Taking a moment to place his basket on top of one of the machines to get it out of the foot path he looked at the book now sitting in the bottom of it. Well, apparently he couldn’t read in peace in his room and he couldn’t read in peace in the laundry room. Lani couldn’t say he minded too terribly much. Conversations were pleasant most of the time and making small talk while doing laundry would only make the time pass more quickly. He glanced at the time left on his machines. That and then combined with the failure of the dryers to actually dry anything he was going to be stuck here a while and so was Roger.

If Roger really wanted to sit on a dryer Lani could make that happen. He wouldn’t make any promises about getting Roger down or even that it would be comfortable. Lani looked out the windows at the snowy world watching Roget out of the corner of his eye. He glanced at the boy when he sat on the machine. Lani laughed a little bit behind his hand at the boy’s comment. Lani raised a hand as if to say the boy could keep his shaking machine anytime Lani was perfectly fine here on his not moving table. He shook his head and gave a little bit of a laugh, “No, but you have fun with that.” He pulled his legs up onto the table and sat comfortably folded with his elbows on his knees. Lani couldn’t help but smile at the boy’s enthusiasm. Perhaps he should get out more. Get that Swedish massage. A massage did sound good though. Lani shifted and leaned back on his hands stretching out a little. “I guess you get what you paid for,” Lani said with a shrug.

Lani blinked a little taken aback by the answer the kid gave him. Part of Lani figured that he should get his book out and consider this conversation over. He was about to do just that when he got a real answer. He narrowed his eyes at the kid. “Really? I haven’t been there but I’ve heard about it.” Lani was curious now. “Sounds fun, what kind of cosumes?” Lani asked his eyes drifting momentarily to the washers. What Lani had heard about the club had been rather vague. Perhaps he would go sometime. He wondered if this kid went to Hammel he was probably underage or at least not over twenty one. That would mean the club was probably underage for the most part at least if he was able to work there. Which meant it might be frequented by the older Hammel students which meant he would probably not be able to get away with drinking. Which would defeat Lani’s usual purpose for going out. Lani grinned at the boy making a quick connection, “Is that where the hangover’s from?”

Lani’s jaw clenched and he stiffened a little sitting a little straighter. He looked at the boy like he had grown a second head before laughing and shaking his head. “No, no, I can’t sing,” he protested his eyes going downcast as he tried to swallow his embarrassment at being caught singing. It was very much the latter. When no one was around Lani would sing sometimes. But really the laundry room had been a slip due to the good mood he was under. Lani was a good enough liar he might be able to pull it off. “Are you sure you weren’t hearing something? These halls tend to echo.” Lani just shook his head, “Not everyone is fame starved,” he commented and wondered if he could make this kid feel like he was hearing things. “Besides that sounds like a bad lifetime movie.” He shook his head, plot with the depth of a puddle. Nothing of value ever really came from movies like that in Lani’s opinion. They were all the same, some person has a talent and they give up everything to pursue it, everything goes badly but somehow the main character manages victory in the end. Well this was real life and Lani was not so foolish to seek fame.

Lani couldn’t help laughing as he shook his head. This kid did not just call him a kid. He was too shocked and honestly found it too amusing to be truly upset. Lani was a Super Senior and he was willing to bet money that he was older than this kid. Lani held up a finger, “First off, don’t call me a kid, kid,” he held up another, “And second, I don’t have a story. I’m just trying to survive.” Well Lani had a story but it was a rather long and rather… incriminating story. “You seem like a man with a story, though,” Lani said in quick response turning the conversation back on Roger. Roger, Lani had to admit, was interesting. Actually any male who was throwing a vast array of clothing from both genders was interesting. Admittedly it would make perfect sense if this boy was doing laundry for his sister or something. Or if they were costumes. That would certainly make sense as well. Oh yes, this Roger most certainly had a story.

[Roger Vandelay]

In Roger's defense, 'scamp' was really more a term of endearment; he meant no harm by it, just as he meant no harm by his occasional prank, joke, and sexual innuendo. He called a lot of people a lot of different things: Lani could expect to hear 'champ,' 'mac,' 'peach,' and virtually any other cutesy and/or faux-condescending title the young man could think of so long as they continued their conversation. Roger had no intention of leaving, at any rate - how often did he have a cute male captive audience? - so they would surely get to these. Were it not for the presence of this other gentleman, Roger probably would have left; he had no problem trusting that his clothes would be there upon his return, and at any rate he could have gone back to sleep for another half hour. Given his current state and all that had occurred the previous evening, that would have been enjoyed. As it were, Roger himself was surprised by how sunny he felt now, though that was probably because, as far as he was concerned, he'd made a new plaything - er, friend.

The boy's eyes lit up when Lani said he had never been to La Maison Magnifique. "Oh, honey, you must go," he began, excitement evident in his voice: he officially had a new goal, and that was to get this boy into the House. "It's like stepping into an awful French film. Ze girls, ze drinks, ze musique...," he continued with a terrible French accent, "seriously, though, it's gravy." He brought a single, thin pointer finger to the corner of his mouth. "How old are you, tiger?" He asked, bringing his legs up to sit cross-legged as the other boy was doing. "I mean, I could get you in either way, but it's more fun if you can drink as much as you want." He assumed Lani was under twenty-one since he was at Hammel, but the club was 18+ on Thursdays and Fridays, so he could still get in as long as he wasn't younger than eighteen. And if he was, then Roger wasn't so sure he'd like the place, anyway. "You can come on a Friday and see all the pretty ladies, or you can come on a Thursday and see all the pretty boys," he added with a wink. What this boy was interested in mattered very little to Roger: he joked around with anyone who would listen long enough.

Roger scoffed at the boy's protestation. "Everyone can sing," he replied, shifting to lay down across the three machines currently washing his clothes; he was probably the only student to ever do this, since the hard material of the machines meant it certainly wasn't comfortable, but Roger didn't mind. "Just not everyone can sing well. I, for instance, can't sing for beans." He allowed his eyes to close slowly, enjoying the rumbling of the washers below him and the relative silence. "A bad Lifetime movie sounds gooood to me," he added quietly, and for a moment, he was content to leave it at that.

Though he didn't sit up, he did lift up his head when Lani told him not to call him a kid, one eyebrow arching high on his forehead. "Relax, cupcake," he said with a giggle. "It's just a name." Okay, so maybe he called him a cupcake because he knew it would annoy him. But really, Roger thought some people just took things too seriously. At Lani's suggestion that he was 'just trying to survive,' the boy finally sat up, crossing his legs once more. "Trying to survive?" He repeated, a bit incredulously, looking around the room. "Did I just walk onto the set of the Walking Dead?" He brought one of his knees up, resting his chin on it comfortably. "I don't have a story," he replied when asked of his own. "I make stories." And it was true: whenever he shifted, he gave each of his 'characters' a bit of a back story so that he could draw from it in conversation. It was fun, but he wasn't in the mood to explain that to Lani. Besides, if he told him he was a shape-shifter, then he wouldn't be able to have fun with it later.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani had a problem with nicknames. He hated it when they made him feel inferior or worse if they made him question his ability to intimidate. Really Lani wasn’t that intimidating unless he had a reason to be but he liked to have the potential. Roger was lucky Lani had a high tolerance level. He looked again at the time. So much time. Well, there was a reason it was called laundry day and not laundry hour. Lani found himself growing ever curious about Roger and he was going to find his answers one way or another. But since they were both here Lani was intending to be as nosey as he could without being blatantly obvious about it. That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to let Roger get away with his little nicknames. The telekinetic had a reputation as a troublemaker and a trickster and he was perfectly fine with those titles. In fact he enjoyed them, if no one could recognize him for his skills at theft then they could at least know him to be trouble.

But this boy didn’t know that. Lani hadn’t seen him and he hadn’t seen Lani before. Which meant his reputation probably didn’t proceed him here. Lani found himself chuckling a little bit at Roger’s sudden enthusiasm. He shook his head. That was a terrible accent. “I never said I wasn’t planning on going,” Lani replied putting an elbow on his knee and resting his chin in his hand. A sly smile crossed Lani’s face and mischief flashed in his eyes. “I can be as old as I want to be,” Lani said slightly mirroring the phrasing of Roger’s earlier statement. Basically Lani had the identifications that would get him in anywhere. He was legal now but not to drink. And that was the fun part after all. “I hear that,” he laughed when Roger voiced what Lani was thinking, “What’s going out if you can’t have a little fun?” Lani’s mask remained a pleasant smile and he did nothing to react to the mention of either night. Inside his mind was scrambling for something to say or not say. He decided silence was his best ally. He was still working that out in his own mind. He had dated Adrianna and he knew the emotions he had felt there were real but now he had Odion. He didn’t know what to think about himself anymore. Only that he wasn’t going to tell his parents anything until he was sure.

Lani raised a brow not buying the boy’s statement. Not everyone could sing. Not even close. Lani bit his tongue as he watched the other boy lay out. Lani could look at him and it wasn’t hard to see that he was attractive, but to Lani he wasn’t Odion and no one could hold his eyes like the redhead. Lani laughed and shook his head. “I’m sure it’s not that bad,” he offered kindly. He really couldn’t imagine Roger being any worse than him. Lani didn’t think he was very good at all, so part of him was sure that Roger was making fun of him. Lani chuckled shaking his head, bad Lifetime movies were only good for curing broken hearts. Lani let the silence stretch on for a while longer and looked up at the pipe covered ceiling. The room was not made to look nice it was made to function and as such there were not so many things as to make it look nicer

Lani’s eyes narrowed and he shook his head sharply. “That’s also no okay,” Lani informed Roger and tried to suppress an exaggerated sigh. Instead Lani shot his point home by giving one of the washers a little extra shake. Lani nodded a brow raised as he watched Roger. “What’s the Walking Dead?” Lani asked cocking his head and missing the reference. Why shouldn’t one aspire to survive? There was a lot more to life perhaps, and Lani had plans. He raised a brow, as Roger said he as well didn’t have a story. Now if anything Lani’s interest was more hooked. He gave Roger a level gaze and hummed a little in thought. “You take life in your own hands?” Lani asked confused. Lani supposed that someone could make their own story, but Roger had pluralized it. Perhaps Roger was more than he seemed. The last person Lani knew who created stories had been the same person who gave him his fake identities. Lani wasn’t going to assume anything at this point but perhaps if not friendship was found alliance would be.

[Roger Vandelay]

Unbeknownst to them, both boys were having the same thought: that with no prior interaction, they really could create themselves in any way for the other's acquaintance. Obviously any sort of change would be but temporary, but the idea was tempting nonetheless. As it were, Roger was well used to doing this, as whenever he shifted into a new form, his 'character' inevitably took on a new personality that better fit the shape than Roger's own. Sometimes, Roger felt as though he didn't have a personality of his own - that all he was was a blank slate upon which to draw these other lives. That somewhat morbid thought was usually fleeting, though, as most people did think Roger himself was larger than life.

As Lani echoed his earlier statement, the boy's eyebrows raised both at once. "Oh, I like you," he exclaimed, practically singing the words. "You're gooood. I should have met you sooner." Roger needed more friends who could handle him, and while he didn't know this new boy all that well and thus couldn't be sure that Lani would tolerate his eccentricities for long, it did seem at the time that he could hold his own in a conversation with the very flippant teenager.

As Lani suggested that a drink was helpful, if not necessary, to having a good time, Roger only smirked; yes, this was mostly true, but in his view, it was sometimes more fun to be the one who hadn't been drinking, the one who was still in charge of his faculties when everyone else had lost control. During times like that, it was easier than ever to have his fun. He didn't say this out loud, though, as it was a somewhat evil thought, instead returning the boy's statement with his usual naughty grin.

Roger scoffed at the remark on his voice. "Please, my voice? With this San Francisco accent, ain't nobody wanna listen to this," he replied with a laugh. "But you're good, though. I heard it. I mean, I was hungover as fuck, but I know what I heard, and I know what I like." His eyelids narrowed somewhat, as though perhaps talking about more than just the boy's voice; and while it was true that this boy was attractive - any idiot could have seen that - Roger wasn't looking for anything other than a bit of amusing conversation at the moment. Had they met at some bar, and Roger had looked a little better than like he'd just stumbled out of a coma, then maybe he might have tried something.

The brunette rolled his eyes as Lani admonished him yet again not to call him the typical cutesy names Roger so often used. He was content to leave it at that, though, until suddenly the middle washing machine jolted. It wasn't extreme, but it was certainly noticeable, and it caused Roger to sit up suddenly and shift fully onto the machine upon which his feet had been resting. "Holy shit," he muttered once he had recovered from the initial shock. "What'd I put in there, bricks?" He laughed in spite of himself before turning towards Lani to see him giving the washer a look. Did he... no. It was surely just a weird thing. Stupid machines were always malfunctioning, anyway.

Roger sighed as Lani asked what the "Walking Dead" was. "I don't know, it's a show, it.. don't make me explain my jokes," he replied sort of shortly. He hadn't meant to be rude, but he really hated it when people didn't get his jokes. He recovered quickly, though, replacing his scoff with a smile, because he didn't want this conversation to end badly and for them to have to sit there silently for another... two hours.

The smile was replaced with a grin as Lani asked the clarifying question regarding the rather enigmatic conversation they were having about their life stories. He decided to answer the question with another mysterious statement. "Why live one life..." he stated, shifting to bring both legs up onto the machine, "...when you can live a thousand?" Roger was definitely trying to intrigue the boy, pique his curiosity so to speak, and truth be told, he thought Lani was pretty interesting as well. This certainly wasn't turning out to be the boring morning he thought it would be.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani was hesitant to lie outright but he would simply tell half truths. Give bits and pieces without the full truth. However these half truths had gotten him into much more trouble than outright lies had gotten him of late. Powers made life harder than normal. Life as an average teenager wasn’t easy, attempting to forge paths into the future, learn about themselves and find their niche, it was hard. Add a power to that and it was a mixing pot for disaster. But it also created people who came out stronger in the end. Lani had met people here who were on his level of hatred of their power, people who embraced it and people who were worse off than him. Roger seemed to be one of those people who embraced their power, either that or like Lani had finally just accepted it. If asked, however, Lani would have said with ease that being void of a personality was something that Roger was most certainly not.

Lani’s sly grin grew and he nodded his head a little bit unable to keep himself from laughing. Roger would have to be very careful not to stoke Lani’s already large ego. Lani just smiled, “If fate had had us meet sooner than I would have been left without laundry detergent,” Lani pointed out. If they had met earlier then it followed that they wouldn’t meet now which in turn indicated that Lani might have been left with no one to offer help, or someone who would not be so pleasant in lending him some. He shook his head at himself. Sometimes his own idiocy amazed him. Lani wasn’t stupid in the matter of intelligence but he was forgetful and tended to be absentminded when he was constantly planning the next big heist or the next trick and carefully watching people and gaining information that sometimes simple things such as laundry and how much detergent he had slipped his mind. He had probably actually made a mental note of it earlier and had forgotten all about it.

Lani was of the opinion that if everyone was drinking he would be as well. He could understand the need of people to not drink to watch the action but Lani himself never had as much fun as he did when he let loose. Being drunk, that was indeed another time he could be coaxed into song. Usually waking up with regret for the memory, if he remembered it at all. He raised a brow and shook his head. Lani was conscious of how subtle his own Boston accent was. It seemed that the less time he spent in the city the more he lost it. He had never really had a strong accent either but he just laughed. “Accents have nothing to do with it,” Lani chuckled sure that Roger was just making excuses now. He scratched his head wrinkling his nose. “Perhaps the hangover has something to do with that,” Lani suggested then with a little bit of a smile Lani raised a brow and decided he was going to take that comment at face value. He laughed, “Thanks,” he finally decided but he wasn’t relenting, rather Lani was trying to stop talking about it. “You’re crazy,” Lani informed him, “But thanks.” Having been caught Lani wouldn’t be caught dead singing outside his room anytime soon.

Lani smirked a little at Roger’s reaction. Then quickly covered it with a puzzled look. “What? Did something bite you?” He asked with a raised eyebrow feinting cluelessness. Lani lied as easily as he breathed and his masks slid into place without as much as a slip to show Lani’s true thoughts and how internally he was smiling in triumph. “Did you forget to empty your pockets?” Lani teased. Lani laughed at his own joke, it was all too easy to blame crappy machinery for the jumping. Lani knew because of his power that the machine had lifted and fallen but none of the internal mechanism had been altered. Roger glanced at him and Lani just blinked as if he were unsurprised but also unconnected to the incident. If asked he wouldn’t lie. He was one of the few telekinetics at Hammel. It would be hard to hide such a lie. He would however, deny any involvement with the washer.

Lani raised a brow at Roger’s return. He didn’t know it was a show but it could be easily understandable from the title. Lani watched Roger, his expression carefully schooled to give nothing away. Admit to nothing and when in doubt feint ignorance. Lani’s straight face was shadowed by a ghost of a smile dancing across his lips as Roger returned to his smile. Lani didn’t really mind if Roger thought him daft. In reality it made his job easier. He was sly and clever and the less people realized that the more Lani could get away with things, such as making washing machines dance. Lani’s smile grew and he had to admit he was impressed. He cocked his head at Roger measuring him with piercing eyes. He studied Roger for a moment. That statement could mean any of a million things, Lani wondered for a moment if he was a shapeshifter, that would allow someone to go about as other things. But Lani had never heard of a shapeshifter who could take on human form, or at least never met someone who could.

One thing Lani was sure of however was that Roger and he were of different worlds. A thief would never boast of the number of aliases they had and no one on the run constantly had a thousand names. A thousand was a lot to keep track of. Most people Lani had run into had the assumption that master thieves could be anyone they chose, make an alias and they lived high profile lives with their fortunes. It was quite the opposite. A good and old thief had just enough aliases to have some left when burned and none lived lavishly if they could not explain away their fortune. To which Lani gave a little bit of well disguised advice. “A thousand is a lot to keep track of,” he commented leaning forward his fingers tapping on his chin thoughtfully, “But infinite, now there is a dynamic number.” He gave a sly smile. Being infinite people, but only a few at a time. Lani had, since leaving his old boss, burned several of his own names and gained several more in the process. The key to success in identities was to know when to let one go and gain another. That way one didn’t have to remember a thousand names and a thousand stories.

[Roger Vandelay]

Roger's outlook on the life of a teenager was decidedly different. If it was supposed to be difficult, then he sure as heck hadn't gotten the memo. He supposed it might have had something to do with his upbringing: he wasn't a member of the elite by any means, but he never wanted for anything, and was generally given anything he wanted. This life of relative privilege, combined with the fact that he had been rather quick to embrace his sexuality (in both senses of the phrase), meant that he really just didn't know what it was like to be one of those confused, angsty teenagers. Frankly, those types sort of annoyed him, but Lani didn't seem like that. To him, the blonde was reserved, sort of mysterious, kind of sexy, and right now, the only thing keeping him from being bored. So Roger liked Lani.

What's more, once Roger had learned to control his power, he had embraced it. He loved it, lived it, and thrived off it. And why shouldn't he? The way he saw it, the ability to shape-shift was the gift that kept on giving. He could be anybody he wanted, even if just for a few hours, but that was really all he needed. He usually shifted to play pranks - whether it was to shift into a beautiful woman to catch the attention of an unsuspecting male classmate, or shifting into someone older to get into places children weren't usually allowed, among a wide variety of other uses - so longevity was not really a concern. The notion that someone could not want to be meta was completely foreign to him.

The brunette laughed heartily at Lani's remark on accents. Poor, sheltered child, he thought to himself: a 'San Francisco accent' was not an actual accent, but rather just a euphemism for the lips that many gay men had. His wasn't awful, but it was pretty evident by the way he spoke, acted, and dressed that he didn't exactly fancy the ladies. "Not quite what I meant," he said with a grin, though he didn't feel the need to delve into the topic with the other boy at this time. "Suffice it to say I'm not really from California." The fact that Lani didn't know that, and just generally seemed unworldly (a false assumption, but one Roger had jumped to nonetheless) almost made him cuter. Roger liked to play with the unsuspecting. "Oh, yes, I'm definitely crazy," he agreed quite willingly. "Just not in the way you think," he added with another, softer, laugh. Even Roger's closest friends would say he was a bit 'off.' It came with the territory, though: only an eccentric could pull off all of his many characters, and really, someone who could do that would surely be an eccentric.

Though initially suspicious of the blonde immediately after his washer jumped, Roger fell quite fast for the boy's air of ignorance. No, it could not have been him: after all, how could he have possibly reached the washer from where he was sitting? The idea that Lani could have moved it from afar was lost on the brunette, who knew very little about the diversity of meta-abilities present at Hammel. As far as he knew, he was the only shape-shifter who could turn into other humans, and the self-absorbed boy was content with that being the extent of his knowledge.

Though he didn't know enough about Lani to decide this on his own, it was quite clear that his and Lani's philosophies on alternative identities was quite different. Roger was never serious in the use of his power: it was mostly for fun, and while he could easily shift into the same person more than once, he rarely had need to. The way he saw it, it was more fun to make up someone new. Beyond that, it was safer: using one character more than once meant having to keep track of whom he had met, what he had said to them, etc. It just wasn't worth the effort. Besides, Roger really didn't have all that much to hide, so it wasn't as though he relied on his characters. When Lani suggested it would be difficult to keep track of a thousand different lives, Roger hopped off the washing machine, moving towards the other boy. "Not if you don't have to," he returned, leaning against the folding table at a comfort distance from the other male. "In fact, it's quite easy when you can ditch 'em as soon as you're done with 'em," he added, bringing up a hand to examine his fingernails listlessly. Roger usually did not reveal this much about himself - he had more than hinted at his ability, which was far more than he usually did - but something about Lani had made him want to brag a little. Beyond that, he wasn't so sure Lani would even fall for one of his tricks: he seemed a bit more discerning than most.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani had been disillusioned to the truths of the world at a young age and thus had grown accustom to the trials the world had to offer. Thinking that everyone in the world was a liar was the safest way to pass through life but he was learning truth ever so slowly. Sometimes even when Lani wans’t being an angsty teenager he came off like it because he didn’t trust anyone. Lani had never been easily excited into anger or any emotion really, he found a level head and calm not only helped him reason a situation but kept his power from throwing things through walls. Roger seemed like a rather happy person. Perhaps he had grown out of the angst period. Lani was still learning that he didn’t know everything, but frankly he was glad he didn’t feel the need to be angry all the time anymore. It was like he had been trying to prove something, waiting for a fight but now he was glad to just take life with an air of caution and out had come a gentle and fun loving Lani. A person he liked being much more than the angry one.

Lani flushed when Roger laughed knowing he had missed something. He ignored a lot of things that he didn’t think were of much importance so if he had ever heard the phrasing before he hadn’t paid it much mind. In truth it was partially due to his innocence in that area. He had never had time for relationships and thus hadn’t even tried to learn much about it. In Lani’s eyes he was going to be a thief for the rest of his life and a thief couldn’t connect himself to people. Well, all that had changed when he came to Hammel and met Adrianna and Odion. So it was fair to say that while Lani was far less innocent when it came to the darker things of the world, he was rather green in the romantic world. “Ah,” Lani uttered his head nodded as it struck him. No it wasn’t hard to tell that Roger’s gaiety spanned a lot more in his life than just his mood, but Lani never liked to make assumptions. He’d never heard it called a San Francisco accent. Part of Lani wondered what the people who lived in San Francisco thought about that.

Laughter pulled from Lani’s throat and he nodded finding nothing to disagree with. Lani raised his chin in a defiant gesture, “What makes you think you know what I think?” Lani’s grin turned mischievous. If Lani hadn’t been joking he would have said that such a thought was arrogant. Unless Roger actually was a mindreader… in which this would be a certainly interesting thing indeed. Everyone had their quirks and honestly Lani would rather befriend the crazy people, since the ones with level heads were the ones that needed to really be looked after. Lani sometimes wondered how many people deemed crazy really were the only ones that could see the world as it was. Crazy didn’t have to be a bad thing. Lani’s first assumption of Roger had not been normal, but caution also always forced Lani to assume the worst of people and be proved otherwise.

Lani wasn’t surprised that Roger didn’t immediately recognize his power for what it was. Telekinesis wasn’t common. Neither was shape shifting human form. But Lani would soon realize how wrong he was, as soon as he searched Roger’s file. Lani always felt the need to shift through the school files on people he found interesting. Roger was on his radar because he wasn’t like most of the people here. And Lani really couldn’t read him or figure out what was going on behind his eyes. Lani didn’t realize that in talking about identities Roger didn’t live by the same rules as everyone else. Lani was thinking of all the holes that needed to be filled to create a person in this world. An identification card in most cases would suffice but occasionally things went very badly and much more important documents were needed. Lani couldn’t change how he looked so he needed to be careful to make sure that his identities had nothing that would lead back to him. It was easy to give a fake name and personality but Lani couldn’t even imagine being able to give that person a different face. Well, that was indeed a thief’s greatest wish, well, second to invisibility. But to give too many names to one face, that was where the greatest error lay.

Lani shifted a little watching Roger as he moved and did nothing more than turn his head so that he could keep his eyes on Roger. Suspicion was rose alongside mystery and Roger was indeed mysterious. Lani cocked his head at Roger. “That must be nice,” Lani mused his mind was itching at something, something that the other boy said didn’t sit well with logic. It was easy to just ditch an identity, all it took was a swift cut of a knife and a toss in the fire. “But people remember a face and they remember a name. Just because it’s burned doesn’t mean it’s gone.” Memories were perhaps the hardest part of Lani’s job. Someone remembered a face and it didn’t matter what name they used. Lani remembered every person he had pretended to be, even the ones he had burned. Lani’s mind worked and he gave Roger a curious stare. What if changing his face wasn’t such an absurd idea after all? Lani hummed laughed a little bit adding to his act, “Unless you can change your face,” Lani paused and let that thought sink in then added, “but even masks have cracks,” as if he were thinking aloud. If Roger was a trickster then he might have met his match and Lani might have met his.

[Roger Vandelay]

Roger didn't have to try to be jovial; it came naturally to the teenager. It helped that he had a sense of humor that could be described as callous, if not dark or in fact macabre. Given the world they lived in, one had to be able to find the humor in situations wherein laughter was perhaps less than appropriate. Roger, who was quite adept at the fine arts of gossip, drama, and pranks, thrived on this philosophy. He never really thought about it, but were he to give it any of his mind, he would likely conclude that it was the only way to survive in this maddening world. But the merry lad didn't usually think along those lines; life was too short, the way he saw it, to waste time analyzing it in such a manner.

Though it likely didn't seem so, Roger was fairly new to the 'romantic world' as well. He was no prude and had partaken in more than his fair share of bedroom experiences, but those could hardly be labeled as "romance." Though, in truth, his promiscuity was far greater in reputation than in reality; he just liked to flirt, and if that led somewhere more interesting, than so be it. But all things romantic simply eluded the young man; hell, he had never even been on a date before. And while his multiple and ever-changing identities meant he often didn't grow close to the random people he met at bars or clubs, he didn't have the excuse of necessity; he just shifted for fun, and to see who he could attract.

At the blonde's accusatory question, Roger raised his hands gently in the air, as though surrendering. "Nothing meant, pal," he replied simply. Roger didn't purport to know what Lani was thinking: this kid seemed fairly elusive, and in truth Roger did want to tickle his brain a little, figure out what he was all about, but wasn't yet having much luck other than their current enigmatic exchange. Roger was, in a way, sort of the opposite of Lani: everyone knew what Roger thought about them, for he was the type of boy to wear his heart proudly on his sleeve. What was the point in keeping secrets when it was so much more fun to spread them far and wide?

While the ability to shift may have been a thief's greatest wish, it was also a gift to pranksters like Roger. Roger's little tricks were innocent enough: he didn't use his ability to steal or hurt people physically. Really, the greatest use he'd found for it was that it allowed him to go out on the town as another person and see who he could fool. Did he occasionally use it for ethically questionable deeds? Well, yes, but not often.

When Lani stated that people remember a face, Roger could not help but toss his head back and laugh heartily. "Yes," he agreed, grin wide on his face. "Yes, they do." Roger knew this all too well, and it was exactly the reason why he rarely, if ever, used a 'character' more than once. Given that many of his characters were designed to interact with others, it would be dangerous to give a repeat performance when he couldn't control for who he would run into while in that form. However, he didn't want to delve too much more deeply into this: Lani seemed to think rather highly of himself, and the brunette was beginning to think it would be a lot of fun to try out his abilities on this boy when he wasn't expecting it; were he to explain, or even just imply, to Lani that he had the ability to change his face, then that might ruin some of his fun.

At Lani's next assertion, though, the smile disappeared from Roger's face almost instantly as he turned towards the boy. They were a few feet away from one another, with Lani still sitting on the table and Roger standing on the floor nearby, but Roger felt as if they were suddenly a bit too close. Does... he know? he asked himself, eyebrows furrowing briefly before the boy recovered. "What do you mean?" He asked at length, trying to make his voice sound more curious than suspicious, with questionable success. Lani had intrigued him since they had first started speaking, but now he was very interested. He doubted he was a mind reader - he didn't seem to know him that well, and he had (unfortunately) met one of those before - but perhaps he was naturally more intuitive than most? He resisted the urge to assert proudly that his own masks had no cracks - that he smoothly transitioned from character to character without missing a beat - but that would give everything away.

[Lani Hunter]

Roger was definitely someone that Lani could get along with. Lani felt at ease around people and yet at the same time nervous. He covered the latter very well but he loved talking to people and he was certainly enjoying Roger’s conversation. Granted if he hadn’t been he would probably still be talking. Odion could think what he wanted Lani had some form of manners. Lani’s mind was good at multitasking, at least not when he was working with his power, things just got hairy when that happened. It was better to keep his power under lock and key when his mind felt like wandering. Or better yet claim a training room and meditate letting his power do whatever it wanted while he spend time in thought. Roger was interesting indeed and this conversation entertaining to say the least.

Lani rose his chin a little bit and narrowed his eyes as if suspicious of Roger. The ruse fell and Lani gave him a smile. If Lani weren’t elusive, then birds did not fly nor fish swim. It was part of the thief’s definition. Lani found that in the realm of secrets when they were not his own they were fascinating, interesting and he had been paid rather well to retrieve some of them. They always held the most devious of scandals and the most frightening of details. It was fun to learn them, and to get paid too. But Lani found that his own secrets, he was not a fan of having spread around. In Lani’s opinion there were already too many people here that knew of his true nature. Lani would often offer a sliver of truth to mask the mountain of lies he hid behind. A sliver of truth occasionally sounded as truthful as a lie when told in the right intonation. Anything could be changed from fact to fiction in someone’s eyes. Truth, it seemed was in the eye of the beholder.

Raising a brow Lani found himself smiling, the action drawl out of him by Roger’s laughter. “So if someone sees you as who you are instead of who you are pretending to be,” Lani said still unsure they were actually talking about the same thing, “You can get into trouble.” If Lani had a clue that Roger didn’t actually need to have the same face he would have been embarrassed by the words that crossed his lips. But for the moment he was learning, testing the waters seeing what he could get out of the poor hungover soul before he balked. Lani didn’t even think about what he was doing, the lies and the act came naturally. He had been trying to be friendly and make pleasant conversation. But Roger had a secret and Lani wanted to know what it was.

Arrogance was a flaw that Lani had never quite been able to get rid of. He had a lot of fun making fun of himself and he could acknowledge flaws here and there but he knew he was the best in line of work and that went to his head. Whereas he could and would admit that there were better pickpockets than him he would never accept that anyone could play in the shadows of a museum better than Lani could. A vast boast, but one Lani was sure he would be able to uphold. If Roger saw that then Lani was doing a bad job of pretending he didn’t let his pride get the best of him. But Roger had also missed when Lani had fallen to the depths of the abyss and it had taken him a lot to restore the little amount of pride he had left and it had been a long climb back to where he was. Well, he was certainly not going to fall again, that was for sure.

Lani watched Roger carefully for his reaction and it was satisfying. Lani schooled his expression to not notice the change in Roger’s expression. He merely watched the boy with interest. The change had been all Lani needed to confirm that he was on the right track. Impos… well, Lani had learned long by now that the word impossible did not apply to the world anymore. For it should also be impossible that a person could make washing machines dance with their mind. Lani smiled at the question and decided it was time to back off. He had the information he needed. Something this kid could do could change faces, he wasn’t sure if the boy was an illusionist or something but Lani had a feeling he hit it on the nose. “I mean,” Lani began hopping off the folding table as his machine’s time fell to zero. “That you can’t fool everyone. Or you will and that is worse.” Lani grabbed his wet laundry and walked around the table putting it in a dryer. He had to make several trips since pride and foolish secrecy were keeping him from using his power. Lani sobered for a moment and was glad he was turned away from Roger when he continued. “People can fall in love with a mask and when the mask cracks and you’re not who they thought you were it’s a…” He sighed, “It’s a disaster.” He closed his eyes Adrianna coming immediately to mind.

But when Lani turned to face Roger there was not even the slightest sign of distress on his face. No old wounds showing pain. “So, Roger, I would advise you to be careful who you pretend to be. Masks wash away, sooner or later and always at the worst of times.” He started two dryers and leaned against them momentarily. Lani wondered momentarily if he had divulged too much information, then realized it wasn't necessary. Anyone who knew Adrianna or knew him knew that their relationship had crumbled because Lani had lied. But no one knew why.