Mixing It Up! [Koty]

[Bolin & Chonglin Zhou]

Bolin and Chonglin. Boy were they up to mischief this particular day. The first class was actually pretty easy despite there being a test. The good thing about sharing a mind with someone was that only one of them had to really study for the test (which led to the little argument of who would do the studying). All the same, once that was out of the way the test was a breeze. They were left with the last fifteen minutes or so sitting around plotting up something to do. Study hall was pretty much the same. They spent time brain-storming ideas. They had a few good ones, but wanted to ask their cousins to film it before pulling it off.

The bell signaling the end of the period sounded and Lin was off to the Cafeteria. They filed into the line that was slowly building up around the perimeter of the room. Slowly they moved up, step by step, until finally they grabbed a couple of treys with sandwiches. By the time they were free of the line, the scatter tables were already populated. No surprise that a few of them had a gaggle of kids the twins knew, but for a change of pace they looked elsewhere.

They spotted a table with only one kid there. Lin didn't know if he was waiting for someone else, but hey, they could give him some company! Bolin and Chonglin put on a couple of bright grins, and headed off towards the direction of the table. The each pulled up a couple of chairs.

"Hey." Their voices called out at the same time.

"Hope you don't mind us joinin' ya." Bolin sat on one side of him with his eyes on the kid.

"A lot of other tables are taken." Chonglin sat on the other side, they're grins still spread.

[Koty Hura]

A rather stoic-looking young man several inches shy of six feet tall had been sitting in the cafeteria since well before the lunch rush. His classes for that day were a bit odd, and up until the lunch rush the cafeteria was actually quite a pleasant and peaceful place to be. Unlike most schools, the chefs here seemed fairly competent, and the smells of the foods and the soft noise of preparations happening behind the scenes provided a nice ambiance for reading. What was Koty reading? Something he hoped might make it a little easier to get into Dante's head. The simplest book he'd been able to find about the science behind metahumans, their abilities, and their manifestations.

Unfortunately, Koty wasn't all that good with science or math. He was adequate.. could get through his classes without much trouble.. but this made for .. somewhat difficult recreational reading. Besides, there were no real or absolute conclusions, only observations. He had actually just closed the book when two voices had called out in unison, so close that it almost had to be directed at him. By the time Koty could turn to see what was going on, though, there was a person on each side of him.. and he suddenly realized the cafeteria was quickly filling up. Just how long had he been sitting here, anyway?

"Not in the slightest. I would merely hope that you would be willing to return the favor were our positions reversed." Koty glanced back and forth, noting how very similar the two of them looked. They didn't quite look like twins, but.. it was extremely possible that they were brothers. He rolled his shoulders back, straightened his jacket, and adjusted the collar of the simple dark grey cotton shirt he was wearing.. What would be harder to notice was that as he was straightening his jacket, Koty had adorned a pair of very fine grey cotton gloves. What each individual may not have noticed, the Gestalt pair's combined mind may well have noticed..

With a deep breath and a sigh, Koty leaned back in his chair, tilting his head to the side to the sound of a satisfying crack before he laced his fingers together across abdomen. "I seem to have lost track of time. I generally vacate the cafeteria before lunch time." That having been said, given that he was still here and now had company, Koty reached under his chair and produced a small shiny white box, setting it on the table and opening it.. Inside was a pair of chopsticks as well as rice, what the pair might recognize as cooked tofu slices, and little chunks of meat whose smell might give away that it was chicken cooked in a chili garlic sauce..

And since he wouldn't be being rude (given that they both had their own food) Koty would politely lean forward and start nomming his box lunch.. Open to conversation, sure, but not starting one on the chance that these gentlemen were here to eat rather than socialize.

[Bolin & Chonglin Zhou]

The boy they joined might've been had a hint of surprise towards the twins and the population of the cafeteria, but he kept his composure well. Lin gave a glad grin when they were given the okay. Like it made any difference anyways, seeing how they were already settling in with their food. There wasn't really much choice at this point.

"Thanks. We'll be sure to lend a seat sometime."

"What are friends for after all?" Chonglin nudged his elbow slightly into the boy's teasingly. The twins watched as the kid in between them glanced back and forth, comparing them. At this point they had grown used people trying to figure out whether they were brothers or just freakishly close friends. They weren't really paying too much attention to fully realize that a couple of gloves were now on the boys hands. They did notice gloves were on, but couldn't really place if they were being worn before as well.

Lost track of time. That made sense for the kid's reaction (if there really was a bit of surprise, Lin didn't really care to take notice at that point), and the fact that he was finishing up some book rather than eating. "Don't worry about."

"If we start to annoy you feel free to leave or tell us."

"It's not like we brought handcuffs or anything."

"Well, at least not today." Bolin's comment was followed by a couple of snickers before they dug into their sandwiches. They really weren't picky eaters, at least when it came to lunch (their touchy breakfast habits are a different story). Though Lin was careful to get the same ham 'n' cheese sandwich. Last time they ate two different kinds they were stuck with weird after tastes all afternoon, ah the joy of Gestalts...

Curiously Bolin peered over as their new lunch-buddy pulled a white box onto the table. He grinned with slight awe at the meal. His brother was the one who spoke. "A bento box?"

"Neat." Lin could honestly say they hadn't seen too many bento boxes around since they came to America, especially one that appeared rather authentic. "I'm Bolin and that's Chonglin by the way." He added, looking back up at the kid before taking a bite of his sandwich.

[Koty Hura]

"I believe I am sufficiently difficult to annoy provided that your intentions do not have 'annoying me' as a priority. Though I can honestly admit to being glad that today is not.. a handcuff day. My abilities do not include lockpicking nor intangeability nor adequate strength to break them." ..Perhaps that was a silly thing to say. One could never be entirely sure when someone actually did, for whatever reason, want to handcuff an asian guy. If these two actually did want to at some point, Koty had just told them that he was cuffable. Perhaps not the wisest thing he'd done today.

Koty couldn't quite miss how well these two seemed to carry on one side of a conversation. They didn't seem to be finishing each other's sentences, but they definitely seemed.. well versed with each other. If anything, Koty felt perhaps a bit strange being between them. If they were so close and already friends, wouldn't they want to be sitting next to each other?

He glanced at the rest of the table.. and came to the rather solid conclusion that they'd chosen to sit on either side of him. As there were no other seats taken aside from the three that they were occupying. So they were either out to make friends, out to have a bit of fun at his expense, or.. this was just a regular thing for them. It sure as anything seemed fairly well practiced.

Now, given how many asian people there seemed to be around the school with no background in asian culture at all, Koty was genuinely surprised to hear the person he would soon know as Chonglin correctly identify his bento box as what it was.. Bolin a greed.. and introductions were made. Was a convenient little box lunch really all it took to break the ice and make conversation these days? Or.. was their focus on it more mischievous? The whole situation was a bit fishy, but not so much that Koty was concerned.. only 'aware'. It wouldn't be hard to slip one of his gloves off and tap one of their hands..

Clearly these two weren't averse to contact.. One had already bumped elbows with him in what Koty understood was a friendly gesture. "Bolin, Chonglin, my name is Koty Hura. It is nice to meet you both." It was actually fairly reassuring that they seemed to be interested in eating. People sitting by someone just to screw with them didn't often actually eat. Perhaps their intentions were innocent after all.

"I am curious.. How do you know what a bento box is? I have found that even most of the Asian students here seem to have little knowledge of.. anything Asian." Koty's box was only really authentic in that it was definitely made in China.. Call it 'mid-range'. Not exactly expensive, but not cheap crap either. Like his chopsticks.. and his food. Not luxury items, but respectable enough. In fact, looking at his clothes.. that seemed to be Koty's thing. 'Upper middle class'. Take it as you will.

[Bolin & Chonglin Zhou]

"So, no phasing, strength, or epic lock-picking skills." The two of them were glad he wasn't a kid with a short fuse. That would be no fun to have him blow up (or maybe cause something to blow up?) at them. He almost seemed unfazed by the two of them. Most people they know would either be laughing with or rolling their eyes at Lin by now.

"We'll keep that in mind then." They were a bit curious about what the kid could do. He already opened up the topic of powers for further conversation, but didn't feel like being too rude to just bluntly ask.

As for their speech pattern, Bolin and Chonglin weren't really into finishing each other's sentences, and only spoke in unison for greetings or getting a point across. They felt it was too stereotypical of twins, Gestalts or not, and it was really only something identical twins did. They also liked having people sit in between them. It was easier to, well, keep tabs on them. It was always easier to observe something if one had a surrounding view rather than from one point. Just as long as they weren't on opposite sides of the room they were happy.

Lin had quickly grown aware of how many Asian students were brought up with western culture. It was a bit saddening to them. They sometimes wanted to just ramble on in Mandarin with some kids who actually knew what they were saying instead of staring at them befuddled. But since they're in America now it wasn't quite as simple as walking up to someone and just talking to them in Chinese.

"Nice to meet ya too, Koty Hura." Messing with Koty wasn't their priority. Food was, and then having a little fun with him. No, they weren't planning to mess with him, just enjoy his company. Maybe after getting to know him better they'll start pulling pranks or such on him. "Oh, we're from China."

"We've only been in America for a few years now." Chonglin shrugged as he continue to nom. They did miss Tianjin at times, but on the bright side they had their parents with them on the bright side. "So what about you, Koty Hura?"

"Foreigner or American born 'n' raised?"

[Koty Hura]

China? That got a slight eyebrow raise and a nod. Cool. And only here a few years. they must have studied English from a young age like Koty had. They seemed to speak it as well as anyone else did. "To be specific, I am three-quarters Japanese, and I have only lived in America for a short while. Unfortunately, I know no Mandarin. From the time I was very young, my mother wished to emigrate here so that we could be with my father. I was educated on American customs and the English language along side of Japanese. It is nice to know that I am not the only person here.. somewhat out of place. I have had the fortune of finding my trainer here from Eisai and several that speak Japanese. I would imagine that it is more difficult to find others that speak Mandarin. I do not envy being unable to communicate in your native language."

Sure, they could just find someone who was omnilingual.. Or perhaps someone else from the Chinese school. But it was likely to be more rare, given that China had slightly stricter ideas about what to do with their metas.

"Has it taken you long to become accustomed to western food? I have yet to find a hamburger that I would chose over nigiri or riceballs. So many of the foods here are.. processed and made for convenience above all else. I was under the impression I ate too freely until I understood what was available on any street corner here."

Ack. Talkative Koty. Very talkative. What if these guys wanted to eat their lunches and not converse? Koty had said quite a bit more by this point than the both of them combined. They'd joined him, they were his guests (in a strange way, at least) and it was just bad manners to possibly keep them from eating their food. Bad Koty. He dug back into his food to avoid being a chatterbox for at least a little while.

[Bolin & Chonglin Zhou]

The two learned English like any other Chinese student, at school, but for whatever reason, they seemed to excel at it. Still, they did slip up at V's and R's more than they'd like to. They would like to find some people that they could talk to in their native language, but it was fun to see people's confusion at times. "Lucky you found some you know, huh?" There were far more students from Japan, or at least Japanese ancestry, than there were Chinese as far as the twins were aware.

"We got used to the food here quick enough, I guess."

"Well, when we first came to America we were living with a host family, so it'd be imposing to complain about it. The only thing we can't just get our stomachs used to would be breakfast." Chonglin shook his head. Sandwiches for lunch, and whatever was for dinner for dinner was fine by them. But sitting down to eat cereal and milk or scrambled eggs was just weird. They grew up with breakfast on the go, where they could find vendors selling quick and easy baozi or even a sweet potato.

"Cereal? Pancakes? It's weird. The closest we can find to congee is oatmeal, and even that is something people sit down to eat!" Bolin grinned. "Glad to see we could get you talking though." He nudged his own elbow into Koty's side, again, in a friendly manner.

"It's no fun being able to only talk to yourself." Technically Chonglin was right when he considered having a conversation with his brother the same as talking to himself. the only difference was they could keep talking without looking crazy. But that was always tiresome and boring. Now they were sitting with Koty Hura, someone to talk to.

[Koty Hura]

"I am extremely lucky to have found my trainer here, yes. He is.. important to me." The other people Koty had come across that happened to speak Japanese.. One of them wasn't even actually Japanese by origin.

Koty.. didn't particularly want to get used to the food here. Some of it was good enough, sure, but some of it was just.. bleh. He didn't have nearly the same issues they did with cereal or pancakes, though. Given, he'd only had pancakes once.. and Cereal twice.. and he'd sat down to eat eggs and hash rounds at a waffle house the fourth day he'd spent with his father.. But all of those things had been edible enough, at least. Koty didn't mind sitting and eating, but he also didn't really fancy 'food' for breakfast, either.

"I find that I have always been more fond of either eating what is called 'brunch' here, or having soup or some sort of nourishing drink for my first meal. I am unsure when it happened or how.. My mother never served such things. My mother never did cook much at all. But at some point I became accustomed to.. drinking breakfast." There were several benefits, sure, but when Koty had started his liquid breakfast..thing.. he hadn't known about any of them. He'd just preferred at the time to sleep in, and it was really hard to eat on a bus. Drinking from a thermos or cup, however, was no big deal.

"I.. will admit that you two seem to encourage me to be vocal. I am not often so 'chatty' about issues that do not require so much talking. I do not, however, regret the effect you seem to have. You both seem to be good company. I do not understand, though. You are with each other often.. You came here together, you were with a family together. If you are together, why not speak to each other? There should be no need to speak to yourself, especially if it is no fun."

As much as Koty could be observant, he clearly had no idea that Bolin and Chonglin were a Gestalt pair. He'd never seen an pair before, and he was under the impression that a pair must be twins. Also, despite their remarkable ability to play one side of a conversation, the thought hadn't even crossed Koty's mind. The two seemed.. different. Unique. Not one person in two bodies. Perhaps that was what they wanted.. to be treated as very close individuals rather than a single being.. If that was the case, they'd already convinced Koty that it was a good idea.

[Bolin & Chonglin Zhou]

The older brother nodded in agreement with Koty. Lin couldn't really say they found anyone they knew when they came to the school. There were River and the Cheng twins, and despite being family, they never really had contact too much until they all started attending Hammel.

Simultaneously, Lin shrugged to Koty's comment about brunch. "Food on the go is so much easier in the morning. Especially the drinkable kind."

"Congee is pretty much a liquid-y oatmeal in a cup." Chonglin piped up. They did figure breakfast drinks are a good compromise. There were times however when solids were more desirable, but beggars couldn't be choosers.

The two looked across Koty to one another as if thinking about talking to each other. It was like looking in a mirror, only difference was that they weren't looking at an exact replica. Neither could say they felt that it wasn't really them they were looking at. Lin just knew it was, but there was always something a little weird about seeing one another eye to eye. Still, they burst into chuckles. It was apparent that Koty hadn't realized that Lin was a Gestalt pair. This gave them the opportunity to mess with him some. But they decided to go easy and not confuse the poor guy… Too much.

"I dunno… Wǒ am not a very conversationalist." Bolin grinned at his younger brother. This is where things started getting confusing for them. When the question of what personal pronoun to use came up, Lin would automatically use the Mandarin form of "I." It was their way of avoiding people asking if they really consider themselves as fully one person yet or are they still feeling individual. The sync was still a work in progress, but at times they couldn't help but be one entity, they just slipped into it at times.

"Yup, wǒ get boring pretty quickly." Lin looked over to Koty to see any reaction of his.

[Koty Hura]

"Do you make your own breakfast food? Do either of you cook otherwise? I have considered joining whatever culinary extra-curriculars are offered here, but I would much prefer to learn food more similar to what I am fond of. I would very much enjoy sampling your version of breakfast and I would gladly trade my version of lunch for it if you would like."

Somehow Koty had never had Congee.. He actually wasn't really a fan of oatmeal, but it was edible.. like hamburgers. Not his favorite food by any stretch, but edible. A source of nutrition. Carbohydrates and proteins. Condiments could be yummy, though. Ketchup and mustard made a fantastic difference to a hamburger. Not things he would ever want to sample on their own, but like any condiment they made other things far better when added. Still.. Rice was not something Koty would ever put ketchup or mustard or mayonnaise on. Well.. maybe mayo. But only because for some reason the combination with some sort of meat sounded strangely appealing.

"Wǒ? ...." It didn't escape Koty that Bolin had just used both 'I' and 'Wǒ' in the same sentence. It was hard not to know a few words of Mandarin in Japan like it was hard not to know a few words of Spanish in America. He didn't entirely know what it meant, but it was.. peculiar. "Forgive me.. You both seem to speak fluent English. At least as well as I speak it. I could accept that 'old habits die hard' as they say, but is there some significance to your use of English and Mandarin pronouns?" ..Come to think about it.. Each of them tended to refer to themselves as 'we' more often than 'I'... and then suddenly Mandarin words.

"I cannot escape the feeling that I am missing something obvious.."

[Bolin & Chonglin Zhou]

"Eh, sort of. If you count drowning oatmeal and cooking a couple of sweet potatoes."

"Also rice, but seriously, who in China or Japan doesn't know how to make rice? Other than that making baozi, or dumplings, wasn't too hard to learn."

"As far as fortés go, cooking isn't one of them." He shrugged with a grin. "It'll be easy to make and bring in some time." They had a feeling Koty would like the baozi much more than their makeshift version of congee, seeing how it was a goopy mess most of the time. And of course Lin was willing to try some of Koty's food in return. It was a fair trade, and if they like it'd be another thing to have.

Quiet little snickers came out of both as Koty noticed the pronoun. It wasn't like they were trying to hide it. That was half the point of it. To see how he'd react, and Lin was almost certain that a few gears were grinding in that noggin of his. They quickly glanced at one another again, catching each other's eye contact. Neither of them had even realized Bolin said "I" before switching to Mandarin. Only one word went through their mind.

Whoops.

They were hoping that he wasn't paying attention to what pronoun(s) were used even earlier in the conversation. If they were feeling more individual they'd use "we" if their minds were more together at the moment they'd use "I." It was as simple as that. They tried not to worry about this little detail often, and it was often annoying to discuss. But with Koty, they were trying to bring it up as a little fun.

"Eh, it was meant to be only Mandarin. Wǒ means I. Guess, wǒ didn't slip into it quick enough." Bolin tried to casually shrug it off. Now that the Mandarin was used, they didn't feel like confusing him anymore by switching back.

"Well…" Chonglin leaned a little closer to Koty, again nudging with his elbow. "Don't worry, it's not always obvious."

"But incase you were wondering…" They both leaned their outer elbow on the table so they now faced Koty in an almost symmetrical manner. A grin spread across their faces. The exact same grin.

"Wǒ am Lin." Bolin and Chonglin introduced himself as one person. They hoped with that their friend would get the message.

[Koty Hura]

The shared gestured that each boy exchanged didn't go entirely unnoticed by Koty despite the fact that he had been munching on his lunch at the time.. Still, he didn't make much of it, only noted it. Still, if there were suspicious things going on, they were only compounded when Bolin explained the slip-up and Chonglin then did another elbow-nudge and pointed out that things weren't always obvious.

If anything was going to put Koty into detective mode and have him assuming something was, in fact, up, it was that.. so he did his best to stare at each of them out of the corners of his eyes.. watch them.. chew on what he knew and what information he already had.... Wǒ am Lin? .. Didn't that get confusing, them both having 'Lin' in their name? And.. finishing each other's sentences again.. and literally mirroring each other on either side of him.. The same grin at the same time...

Koty glanced left, then right, then back down at his food for a moment, though he was staring right through it and the table and floor beyond. They finished each other's sentences, didn't really like talking to each other, mirrored each other, used mandarin pronouns.. often spoke with the term 'we'.....

As it clicked, Koty took in a breath and let it out in a bit of an embarrassed sigh, shaking his head slightly. "I was under the mistaken impression that a Gestalt Pair had to be composed of identical twins... I am.. sincerely sorry if such an assumption is offensive." Of course, now Koty was just talking forward and not directing his speech to either of the two..

"Please forgive what may be an ignorant question.. but.. which of you should I primarily address? I will admit to being somewhat.. confused by the concept of exactly what you are, but.. I would still feel as though I were ignoring one of you if I gave my focus entirely to the other. Is this a common issue you encounter? I would be willing to guess that your positioning was only meant to exacerbate that decision making process..."

[Bolin & Chonglin Zhou]

Lin smiled as they watch Koty work things out. They didn't really show they were Gestalts by leaving hints around like they were doing with him, but it was a bit fun to see his reaction. They figured it wouldn't take long for things to fit into place for Koty. The kid was pretty damn observant. As for their own observation skills, they did indeed catch their friend looking at them with his side vision.

The twins moved out of their position to continue with their meal. Chonglin gave shrug to Koty's assumption. It was common for people to think that the two had quickly learned. "It's alright. Turns out fraternal twins can be Gestalts too." Even the two of them originally had no idea this was possible. Both their parents who're metas have twin sisters, but none of them ended up as one entity. It was a bit shocking to find out about their power.

"Either or. Wǒ'm not completely in sync yet."

"If that wasn't already obvious. And don't worry, the concept isn't very clear to wǒ either."

"Yeah, so just saying Lin is fine. At least one will be listening." Neither Bolin nor Chonglin saw a reason for Koty to get apologetic and… embarrassed? The question wasn't ignorant it made sense. What annoyed them was when someone tried to address only one of them as Lin and the other by their full name. "So what about you then?" The topic of powers was now brought back up. Might as well ask at some point, right?

"What's your power?" There was a curious smirk on Chonglin's face. Bolin once again had a similar grin, but they weren't perfectly matched up like moments before.

[Koty Hura]

A fraternal twin not-quite-synced Gestalt pair... "Fascinating.." Koty glanced back and forth.. noting the differences in each of them but how very similar they were to each other. "Two halves of a mind in separate bodies. You are the first I have had the pleasure of becoming aquainted with. If you will forgive the odd stare or question for a few moments I am reasonably certain that I should be able to keep myself in check." Seriously though.. Koty wanted to understand what it was like. Who wouldn't? To be an individual and slowly over time become literally one with someone else. They weren't so much similar people, as literally the left and right half of one person. Asking who to speak to was like asking if it was better to speak into a person's left or right ear.. look into their left or right eye. It really, honestly, truly didn't matter.

"I could imagine how ridiculous it might be for a person to try to keep secrets from one of you but not the other. Similarly having a crush or some sort of vendetta. What an.. interesting perspective." For real, though, Koty was going to have to stop himself before he got into all the little cliche things that any Gestalt pair had likely answered or listened to dozens of times..

"As for me.. I possess telepathic abilities. Not the wireless sort, though. I am only able to use telepathy with a hardline. Physical skin-to-skin touch." He raised his hands and wiggled his fingers slightly before closing his fists. "This is the reason I wear gloves and clothing that does not reveal. The most powerful emotions most easily able to jump from person to person are fearful, angry, and anxious ones.. Memories centered around them, if powerful enough, tend to 'jump' and become my own before I am even able to react.. I have never touched the mind of a Gestalt pair, though."

He paused, glancing back and forth. "Would you like an example?" This was.. new and possibly dangerous territory.. While Lin seemed stable and positive, two minds worth of energy operating as a single mind could be an insanely powerful thing.. Not just added together, but perhaps multiplied. Koty wasn't sure. He was already preparing what mental shielding he possessed on the chance that Lin was, in fact, curious.

[Bolin & Chonglin Zhou]

What Lin found fascinating was how interested Koty was. Maybe it was because it was their power, but it just seemed sort natural to them. There were already a few Gestalts in the family, for them to grew into being one had become normal. Sure there were times when they sort of… pulled away from one another. It felt awkward though, so they tried to stay following one another's actions. The two of them were well aware that there were other Gestalts around the school, they just hadn't met all of them. "Wǒ have cousins who're a pair too."

"But watch out you meet them though. They're a couple of troublemakers." They giggled over the idea of the Chengs messing with Koty a little. In truth Lin wasn't much better, only their cousins had the smarts to record everything they do. "Well, wǒ haven't really had the trouble of love-"

"Yet. And if one doesn't like someone the other doesn't. Wǒ suck at keeping secrets by the way.." Well, they could keep one if they tried, neither really bothered. Sure they've heard the whole nine-yards before, but Koty really seemed interested, so they amused him with answers.

So, they had a telepath sitting in-between them. Neat. Not only that but through contact? That was a first they heard. The way he spoke of memories 'jumping' sounded really intriguing. But again, maybe this was a 'grass is always greener' sort of situation. While the twins found it cool, maybe it was just normal for their friend. "Sure."

"If you don't mind." Yes. Indeed they were curious. Their minds were still getting into sync, so they were unsure how it would seem to Koty. The mind was sort of like a space they shared, their thoughts lingered through both their heads, but they still had thoughts to call their own. The two usually kept one the same page, not necessarily on the same line, but definitely had an idea of what was going on. They had no idea what Koty's experience would be.