So Now You’re my Roommate (Neo)

[Miles Daugherty]

Miles was not fond of change.

So every time he got a new roommate, or worse had to actually switch rooms, he spent a few days freaking out, refusing to talk to anyone, and hiding away in his closet. Though his teachers and the staff tried to get him plenty of warning so he could get accustom to the idea before moving day actually came, Miles still hated it. It went against the order and schedules of his life. Anything that went against the order of his life was horrible. It didn’t matter that the staff told him it was a part of life at Hammel. It sucked. And Miles wasn’t going to be able to get used to it anytime in the near future.

Because of this, when Neo moved in, even though Miles looked up to the older boy both literally and figuratively, it had still taken him a while to come to term with the idea. There was a good chance the other boy probably thought Miles was either mad at him or scared of him from the way Miles had been sulking and hiding around their room.

It also might have surprised him to walk out of his bedroom one morning to find Miles standing there, starting at a point somewhere near Neo’s knees and holding a pencil in the boy’s face.

“It changed back,” Miles said, robotically.

[Neo Harris]

Neo recognized Mile's name before he'd even started moving into his new room. The older boy found it a little odd that he'd be roommates with his younger acquaintance, and wasn't sure how he'd handle prolonged interaction with the boy. Frankly, Neo was unsure of how he made it through the ordeal with the flashlight during Hammel's power outage. Miles was a bit... off. He was told before moving in that Miles was Autistic - and frankly it explained a lot. Neo was fine with this, of course, but still wasn't sure how to go about his daily routine with a kid like Miles around.

Turned out, at least at first, that Neo didn't have to worry about Miles much at all. The boy more or less shut himself away when Neo and the other boys moved in. He avoided conversation and eye contact whenever possible. In the first few days Neo barely got a 'hello'. The older boy always shrugged it off, telling himself that it was just how Miles was. There was nothing he could do about it if he even wanted to.

That changed one morning, just after Neo woke up. Neo slipped out of bed, still in his boxers and a tshirt, and groggily made his way to his bedroom door to make his way to the bathroom. He didn't get too far, though, because when Neo opened the door, he jumped in surprise. There stood Miles, looking awkwardly down toward Neo's knees, and holding out a yellow number two pencil. It took Neo a moment to catch up to exactly what was happening. When he realized that Miles was holding the pencil from a few weeks ago - now reverted to its original state, Neo sighed.

"I told you it would," Neo said, reminding Miles of what he had told the boy briefly after changing the pencil to gold to begin with. "Want me to change it back?" Neo asked, afraid to simply change the pencil while it was still in the boy's hand - not sure what his reaction would be.

[Miles Daugherty]

It never occurred to Miles that maybe he should let knew acquaintances know that he was Autistic. It wasn't that he was ashamed of it. He had been told the was different, that he was special, pretty much his whole life. So he was used to it by now. Even he could see that other kids weren't like him. But to him, it was everyone else that was a bit...off.

Miles nodded. He had remembered Neo telling him that the pencil would eventually return to its normal state. Truthfully, he had been a little glad when it had. Though he loved to look at the golden pencil and watch the light bounce off of it, he had been to worried to touch it much. He hadn't wanted to ruin it.

Miles paused after the question. He hadn't even considered that option. Instead he had thought that since the pencil had turned back, Neo might need it for class or something. After all, you couldn't use a golden pencil for writing. Maybe that was the only reason the older boy had been so willing to part with it in the first place.

"I would want you to," Miles answered. "But your pencil back to write with." He paused, trying to find a solution. "I could pay you a pencil. Then we'd be fair." True, he had given Neo a button as 'payment' last time, but that had been more for the help with the flashlight.

So Miles dashed off, probably before Neo could even have a chance to reply, and ran to his room. He returned a moment later with a brand new un-sharpened pencil from his desk. He then held both pencils up for Neo to take. One to change and one to keep.

[Neo Harris]

Before Neo could even reply to the words Miles was saying, before he could even express to the kid that the pencil, already half used up, was basically useless to Neo as he had a ton more, Miles was off running to his room to collect his "payment". Neo sighed slightly, but chuckled as he took a seat on the arm of the couch and waited for Miles to return. It didn't take long either.

He came back, pencils in either hand, and held them out for Neo. "Thank you, Miles, that's very nice of you," he said, finding the boys consideration for his pencil needs both ridiculous but also incredibly kind. Neo took both pencils from miles, tucking the new one into his hair just above his ear. He hadn't gotten his hair cur in a while, and the quasi-afro was perfect for sticking pencils in. There was no way he'd lose it there. He then took the other, older pencil, and held it between his thumb and middle finger. With just a moment of concentration, the item transformed from its wooden state, to one of pure gold. The transformation began at Neo's fingertips, and followed all the way to the tip of the pencil.

The pencil was small, and so it barely took any time or energy for Neo to change the item to gold (which is why he hadn't noticed doing it the first time). This time though, he watched the transition all the way through before holding out the pencil to Miles again. "There you go, man," he said with a small, still slightly sleepy smile. "And you know where to find me if it ever changes back again." Miles still hadn't quite conquered changing items to gold permanently.... though apparently with some extra concentration and practice he would at least be able to transform small objects into gold without them ever changing back.

[Miles Daugherty]

Miles didn't really do facial expressions. He had to actually think about them and force himself to do them usually, especially when it came to smiles. So even though Neo's compliment made him feel good, his face didn't really react to the nice feeling of hearing someone said he was 'very nice'. He tried to be very nice all of the time, even though it was very hard sometimes since it often seemed that no one else was trying as hard.

Miles waiting patiently as Neo changed the pencil, sneaking a look out of the corner of his eye to watch the yellow pencil change to gold. It was fascinating and scary. Like most thing at Hammel. Sometimes he felt like he'd spent his whole life learning rules about how the world worked only to come to Hammel and find that everything had been lies.

He reached out to carefully taking the pencil, pulling down his shirt sleeve to use as a glove as he did so. He hadn't had too much of a problem touching the last golden pencil, but he didn't want to chance it. "Thank you. That was very nice of you," he said, slipping the pencil into his pocket.

He paused, shifting a bit back and forth as he stood there trying to get the words to come out for the questions he really wanted to ask. He started to chew on the end of his sleeve a bit. "How?" he asked, mumbling around the cloth. "How do you do that?"

Maybe if the older boy told him his secret then Miles could learn too. Though their powers weren't exactly the same, it was the closest Miles knew of.

[Neo Harris]

"Your welcome, Miles," Neo said politely, weirdly glad that he finally had an interaction with the boy that was more that three words. It was a little weird living with the kid when he only ran away and hid. Neo was fine with talking to the boy, and he was much more comfortable having real interaction than feeling like he was an intruder in Mile's life.

Though Neo wasn't entirely sure how to answer Mile's next question. How DID he do that? Sure, Neo had plenty of practice in training and learned to control his ability to a much higher extent, but he wasn't entirely sure how to explain what he did. So it took a moment for Neo to come up with an answer he thought would help Miles more than confuse him. "Well... it's a bit hard to explain," the guy said honestly as he rubbed the back of his neck, looking at boy as he chewed on the sleeve of his shirt.

"I practiced a lot," Mile said, "With my trainer and on my own. And... I guess I just focus all the energy I have into what I want to do," Neo said, hoping that his explanation made sense. "And... I think if you want to be better at controlling YOUR ability... you need to try and not be so afraid of it," Neo said, sensing that Miles was terrified of himself, just in the few interactions they've had.

[Miles Daugherty]

Miles listened patiently to Neo's answer, trying to commit each word to memory. He really expected the older boy to have all the magic words. As for his patience, Miles could be very patient at times, like when he was organizing his buttons or rewinding a Disney movie. But there were other times when he completely lost it, like any time someone touched him or when his tutor or trainer pushed him a little to hard.

Miles, who had been staring somewhere close to waist level, dropped his gaze even lower at Neo's advice. It was true. He was petrified of his power. Even during training, where he'd be reassured countless times that he was safe and nothing bad would happen, Miles still freaked out whenever he had to touch metal. Half the time he freaked out even when the metal he touched didn't melt or change in any way.

"Were you ever scared?" he asked Neo's shoes.

[Neo Harris]

Neo wasn't trying to make Miles feel worse, but the way the boy hung his head kind of made Neo feel like he said something wrong. He couldn't take back those words, though, only attempt to make it better.

"I'm still scared a lot of the time," Neo admitted. "It's a scary thing, sometimes, to have one of these abilities," he attempted to reassure the boy. "When I first got my power everything I touched was turning to gold. EVERYTHING!" Neo explained maybe with a bit of drama in his voice. "I was afraid of touching anything I could hurt. I wouldn't even hug my mom..." Neo told the boy.

"But when I got here my trainers told me I can't change anything that's living and I shouldn't be afraid to touch people or animals or plants," Neo said. "And they were right. You gotta trust them sometimes. They know what they're talking about," Neo promised. He wasn't sure exactly where Miles was getting hung up, but he hoped his trainers were telling him positive things, trying to subdue his fear. Maybe some reassurance from his end would help.

"Why are you afraid?" Neo asked the boy.