Early Birds [open]

[JD Paerson]

JD poked his head into the lounge. No one. Though this was not unexpected, since it was only six o'clock in the morning. Sane students were still sleeping.

He sighed and shuffled over to the couch, where he flopped down. He was wearing simple sweats and a t-shirt, which he'd thrown on when he woke up this morning. Actually, when he woke up this morning he tossed and turned in bed for a couple hours, then finally decided he'd try to watch some boring TV and hope it would put him in something similar enough to a comatose state in order to resemble sleep. Not that sleep actually worked like that, but he could pretend it did, so long as he was only running on four hours of actual rest.

He glanced around. Still no ice cream machine in the room, which continued to be a bummer. Maybe he could run downtown and grab something from a store--nah, too much work. Plus, nothing was probably open. It was, after all, only six in the morning. The only people up at this time were insomniacs and military personnel.

JD wondered if that was why he sometimes had trouble sleeping in during mornings. Twelve years of dawn rising had been drilled into him. Yet, after five years at school, shouldn't he have gotten out of that by now? Oh well, too late to think about it now...or rather, too early. Was the sun even up?

He fumbled for the remote, finding it wedged between two couch cushions. The television flickered on to a news show. He changed the channel. More news. Change channel, more news. Didn't these people believe in having decent television anymore? Finally he managed to find some mind-numbing cartoons geared toward three-year-olds. He lounged on the couch, sticking his feet up on one end and laying his head on the arm. The TV played mindless colors and music in the background.

He was on his way back to sleep when someone else came into the room. The door opened and a shadow fell across the couch.

"Whaddya want?" JD asked grumpily, hoping the person would just go away.

[Ann Hudgins]

Ann's mornings were thankfully back into routine. Since she'd gotten the cell phone as a birthday present from Aiden, he's been texting her at about five forty in the morning, because that's when he wakes up to get ready and drive to school (he got roped into driving his little sister to preschool by his mother so that adds twenty minutes onto his drive). Ann normally woke up at about that time anyway, but she had to adjust the difference in texting him and then getting ready. Today, he had woken her up particularly early, with the news that there was road work, so he had to take a detour and he had to wake up earlier because of it.

And what sort of friend would he be if he didn't make Ann suffer along with it? Whatever, she was up and dressed, her teeth were brushed, and she didn't look so much like a trainwreck as per usual. She straightened her shirt as she headed outside for her before-dawn (thanks Aiden) run and she jogged around the training field a handful of times. Once she decided she'd done enough she headed back inside. She swung by the cafeteria and got herself a nice plate of fruit, because she managed to convince the lunch ladies setting up for normal breakfast that she was just fine with a few wedges of pineapples, oranges, and kiwi.

She hadn't wanted to stay in the cafeteria, with them bustling around, so she decided to head to the student lounge. She hadn't braved the area in quite some time, and she figured no one would be there at this time of day. She also had half a mind to see if the DVD of the Incredibles was there. Ever since Jared had told her about it on the Hammel chat, she really had been meaning to watch it. So she pushed the door open with one hand and flounced in, glad to see that no one was around.

However, she did spot someone reclining on the couch, she hadn't spotted him until she was standing over him, because she was looking for something smaller and square-er than him. When he addressed her rudely, and with a grumpy tone, she immediately had to tell herself she might have woken up, and he wasn't normally like that. She turned to look at him. "Nothing from you," she replied smoothly and with a tone that was neutral. She really didn't want to start anything.

She just wanted to watch the Incredibles.

She moved around the table and bent down beneath the Tv and started to sift through the movies that were located there. She saw random things from the Harry Potter harem to the old Star Wars, from What Happens in Vegas to He's Just Not That Into You, and things in between all of that. But no Incredibles. She sat back on her heels with a small pout and looked up at the Tv, her eyes befell a hellish looking cartoon that was saturated with colors and singing. She pivoted on her heels and knees to look at him. "What are you watching?" Her disbelief and aversion to the show were clear on her face. She understood that cartoons came on in the early mornings instead of the shows teenagers watched later in the day, but this? She was sure there was a Spongebob he could watch elsewhere. Anything but that really.

[JD Paerson]

JD squinted at the girl who came in the room. He vaguely remembered her from around school. She wasn't in his grade--a year older--so he didn't really talk to her much. But he was pretty sure her name was Sue, or Mary, or something simple like that. He wasn't good on the names.

He grunted in response to her reply, then laid his head back down and tried to go to sleep. Then the DVD cases all started clacking together. JD opened one eye and watched the girl as she looked through every single DVD. Every single one.

Finally she sat back. JD closed his eyes.

And the question. She had to ask.

JD looked over at her. "Quite honestly, I have no idea. It was the first thing that wasn't news when I flipped through the channels."

The kids on the screen were singing the alphabet. Or maybe they were counting. Or maybe they were just all really high. Who could really tell?

"If you want to change the channel to something else, go ahead." He looked at himself sprawled over the biggest, most comfortable couch. Since he was not so far removed from a gentleman that he didn't know to make room for a lady--thanks again, military family. So he stood, stretched, and sat down at one end of the couch. He threw a pillow over to the other side.

"Would you like to sit down? By the way, name's JD."

He'd gotten enough sleep last night that he'd probably be okay this morning. He'd just have to sneak in a nap around two o'clock, since that would be around the time of the crash. And food would probably help. He glanced at the tiny plate of fruit that the girl had.

"Uh. Is the cafeteria open yet? I'm starving...."

[Ann Hudgins]

Ann wasn't good with remembering people unless she was properly introduced to them, other then that they just melted into the background, emotions and all. She wasn't sure if she'd seen this guy before or not, but maybe she had. He seemed to be about her age, so they might have had a class before (or now).

When he answered her question, she was a little relieved that he wasn't actively watching it, it was horrible, whatever it was. Then it dawned on her that he might just be trying to sleep, which would explain the grumpy behavior. She felt a little bad for disturbing him, but this was the student lounge, not private to this guy. If he wanted to sleep he was welcome to return to his dorm, where Ann would never disturb him.

With a pout she poked back at the movies, still sad that the movie wasn't there and turned back around to look at him when he offered her to change the channel. She wasn't exactly picky when it came to Tv, but that cartoon abomination was threatening her brain. She could already tell that stupid song would be stuck in her head later. When he got up and made a room for her, she grinned a little, and moved to the space he'd made, to be polite. He was probably really comfortable how he was, and she didn't want him to move all that way for nothing. She relaxed into the seat, feeling the muted emotions from people that had recently occupied the seat, but she could easily ignore them, they weren't very potent.

"'M Ann." She mumbled in reply to his greeting. JD certainly didn't ring a bell with her, but maybe that was because when teacher's called attendance, they used last names. Either way, he was as unfamiliar to her as anyone else in the school. She nodded her head to continue the civil greeting before she curled her feet up underneath her, after she extricated herself from her shoes, of course.

"You can have some fruit, if you want." She said and nudged the plate in his general direction on the table. She'd had quite a few already, and her breakfasts weren't very large anyway. "But yeah, it's opened. The Lunch ladies might complain about early risers, but I'm in there enough they don't snip at me." Ann grinned a bit fondly at the thought of the nice ladies before she took up the remote, finally ready to take JD up on that channel-changing offer. She flipped through, looking for a guide. She was happy when she discovered the guide button on the remote and she surfed the channels that way until, "The Incredibles!" The exclamation was a happy one. She actually hadn't even been looking for the movie, but she was happy to discover it was about to come on one of the movie channels.

"Have you seen it before?" She asked him, then, turning to look at him. "A friend told me I should watch it." She usually wasn't so jovial in her language or expression, but she was glad that she'd be able to tell Jared that she actually watched the movie, and from all he'd told her about it, it was silly and she was excited for this chance. She turned it on, 'cause JD had given her free-rein of the remote.

[JD Paerson]

Ann. That was the name. JD nodded. He’d been right—pretty simple. Even if he hadn’t got the actual name. Or anywhere near it.

JD debated taking her up on her offer on the fruit, but ultimately decided that it wasn’t the proper course to take. First of all, the fruit probably wouldn’t be enough to satisfy him anyway. He was a big-breakfast eater, and generally piled up on pancakes, sausage, hashbrowns, eggs, oatmeal, cereal, orange juice, and milk. It was all there, so why not? It also kept his energy up, since he was constantly running around. Four large meals a day was the norm. Secondly, he didn’t think it was right to take food from a girl—it should be the other way around. He should be offering stuff to her, and it was this basic rule that ended up staying his hand in the end. Otherwise he might have taken a slice of pineapple and used it to tide him over until real breakfast.

“No thanks. I’ll be right back, though. Just a moment,” JD said, standing up as Ann flipped through the channels. “I will be right back.” He stepped out of the room, then raced down the hall to the cafeteria and returned with a couple plates all balanced on top of two cups, stacked on top of one another. He was back in the lounge by the time Ann had selected something to watch.

“Incredibles? Yeah, I think I saw that once. It was about superheroes, right?” He set all the food down on a side table and sat down on the couch again. “Was there a reason you were supposed to watch it? Power like one of the people in it?” He vaguely remembered that a kid in it was a speedy guy, but he was ridiculously fast. Nobody could actually run that fast and still survive, you wouldn’t be able to take in air and the force of the air would end up causing problems…all in all ridiculous. But still kind of fun to watch.

“Would you like any of the food?” He had enough here that he could share without any worry of having to go back for more. He smiled and shoved a plate of French toast across the table, just in case. He’d even grabbed a couple sets of silverware, and some napkins. “I recommend setting the silverware on the napkin. The tables here are not often clean.”

[Ann Hudgins]

She could tell by her power that he didn't particularly want to take her up on the offer of the fruit, maybe he had some personal vendetta against them, she could never tell, but she didn't press the matter. If he didn't want to nibble on some freshly cut fruit, then it's his loss. When he said he was gonna be back, she nodded a little. She didn't sense that he was getting out of dodge, for whatever reason, but it wasn't like...well he wasn't obligated to be in the room with her. She appreciated him telling her he was going to be back, and meaning it, but it was kinda silly that he did.

She liked the company, but really being alone was easier for her, but if he wanted to hang around with her then she wasn't going to stop it. She waved at his departure and turned her attention back to the guide on Tv. When he returned with the amount of breakfast for a small army, Ann was struck greatly with memories of home. Aiden ate that much food too. He usually spent about ten dollars a day on food at school--extra food--and ate all of it, though he usually forced Ann to eat something as well. And that was just in Junior High, Ann could hardly imagine the amount he eats nowadays. Ann was a girl that had small meals over the course of the day, but on occasion she pigged out with just one or two meals. Her parents raised her with a strict six-meal a day diet and while it was ingrained in her system, it was harder to eat six meals a day with only three being served in the cafeteria and no means of procuring food elsewhere on her own.

"Smells delicious. I really don't see you eating all that food." Ann couldn't help but chuckle a little bit, but Ann knew all too well how a guy could simply inhale a fridge full of food and still be hungry for more. This guy probably had an even bigger appetite then that because of his power--Ann didn't draw this observation from anything other than he seemed like a guy that moved a lot.

She grinned faintly when he asked her why she was supposed to watch it. It would take a minute to explain the conversation she had via the internet with another student at Hammel, and she was sure he wouldn't find it funny, or a serious reason to watch a movie. She was sure there was a socially acceptable thing to say to get out of it, like say it was an inside joke or something, but Ann didn't want to alienate the guy and she never liked people like that anyway. "A friend and I were talking about being superheros, and costumes and he said I needed to watch this movie to understand why I shouldn't wear a cape with my costume." That description should suffice, she believed with a small nod of her head to herself.

French toast. One of her only weaknesses; bacon and hot chocolate chip cookies were her other weaknesses. She eyed the plate and then glanced at JD. So it was OK for him to offer her food, but her fruit wasn't good enough for him? She wasn't offended by the notion, just curious as to why that was so. Food was food, was it not? It was, like, physically impossible to be allergic to fruit, right? Eh, Ann wouldn't really get anywhere trying to puzzle it out. She scratched her scalp to ease the thoughts. "A dirty table is the least of her worries." Seriously. Ann couldn't remember the last time she was sick because of a germ. All her illnesses and internal pains stemmed from her powers side effects, and unlike her roommate, her power didn't effect her immune system. Growing up as a kid playing in the dirt also helped that. "Thanks, though. 'S kind of yah." Ann reached out for the plate and a fork, she didn't bother with knives for breakfast, unless she was at a restaurant which she never was, so she just stabbed the square of French toast and started eating as the movie started. She re-situated herself against the cushions as the storyline set itself up. Interesting, the movie looked very interesting.

[JD Paerson]

“I sometimes wish I didn’t eat that much,” JD said. “Though I hear it’s a guy thing. I was fairly certain it was just a starving-person thing.” He decided to give up the weak attempt to make a joke. “No, actually, I just have a high metabolism, so I will still be hungry after eating a huge meal. This is nothing, really.”

“Oh yeah, I remember that part. ‘No capes!’” He tried to do the accent, but was fairly certain he failed miserably. Namely because he wasn’t a tiny woman who designed costumes, but rather a teenage boy who was sitting on a couch wolfing down a pile of sausage.

He winced a little as she ignored his warning about the table. “I’ve just heard a lot of frightening stories about some of the diseases you can pick up from dirty tables, and I’m not sure how clean they keep this place.” But he couldn’t really stop her. Instead he just slid another napkin across and left it in a convenient location. Though it looked like she had chosen to forgo the rest of the silverware anyway, so he guessed that was fine. “And you’re welcome.”

The movie started rolling, and JD double-checked his watch. 6:30 am. He had class at 8:30. And a part of him wanted to wander off to bed and see if he could catch a last little bit of sleep. But the other part of him kind of just wanted to watch the Incredibles, for no apparent reason whatsoever.

“Do you often watch kids movies?” he asked as the first commercial came rolling through. “I tend to watch more action stuff myself, but I think cartoons can be really fun sometimes. I still remember a lot of the ones I used to watch as a kid.”

[Ann Hudgins]

"I'd say it's more of a metabolism thing," Ann said after she swallowed a bit. Yum. "It's just with how society is and stuff, it's not exactly acceptable for a chick to stuff her face." She rolled her eyes a little. Ann couldn't possibly care less about what other people think of her 'image.' 'They', as a whole, didn't mean anything to Ann, so why should she care what they think? She didn't dress like the rest of the crowd, so she wasn't going to act like them either. Though, she also isn't good in a crowd; too many emotions.

When he quoted the movie (like Jared did, but with text), Ann couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Was he trying to get his voice to sound like the person that said it? Jared hadn't told her much about the movie outside the family's powers and the one friend that has ice or something. So his weird voice kinda worried her a little. It was a kids movie though, so how bad could it be? "Riiight." She half-grinned at his attempt, it was kinda funny. Then she was worried that she'd offend him with making fun of him (she considered that making fun of him). "Sorry. I didn't mean anything by it," She hurried apologized and turned her attention to her plate.

"I've got a roommate that shares the same opinion," Ann commented about his warnings against dirty tables. His discreet movement of the napkin wasn't lost on her, and she appreciated his caring-ness. Ann hadn't been 'taken care of' in years. She grinned a little at the idea but tried to not make more of it than what it was. "Growing up in a Marine neighborhood kinda had me exposed to all sorts of germs, foreign ones to boot. A High school can be much dirtier than that, right?" Her logic was thin, but there you go. She'd set the fork on the dang napkin. Though she didn't really plan on setting anything down with food still on the plate--that's how she was raised. You quit eating when you emptied the plate.

By discreetly glancing at her phone in her pocket she saw the time, and guessed this movie ran the standard hour and a half which gave her plenty of time before her 8:45 class. She just hated having to stop a movie because it was nearly impossible to pick it up from the same spot you left off--when watching it on Tv anyways. Ann was also one of those people that got really drawn into movies. It was hard to leave the storyline half revealed. At his question she gave a little shrug of her shoulders.

"I actually don't watch many movies, or Tv in general, but my favorites are psycho-thrillers, and second rate movies." Her parents were big movie buffs and a family movie they all loved and had seen a billion times was Tremors, all four of them. (yes, there is a fourth one.) "Cartoons are a great thing to reflect on...like in every single Disney movie there is some sort of reference you just don't get as a kid. I nearly peed myself laughing so hard watching Toy Story over again, at all the innuendos." Now it didn't occur to Ann that admitting something like that was a bit rash talking to someone she just met, but she was innocent in the ways of conversation, having been such a recluse these last four years. She's learning, though. Slowly.

With her eyes on the screen, she noticed the animation of the movie was a bit different than she had first imagined. Jared had said a cartoon movie, but this was some sorta...not cartoon. It was odd, and the people were oddly proportioned. That huge guy looked silly with his little feet, and that short guy had a pretty big, and long, head. And while it wouldn't have been her first choice how to design a cartoon, it was oddly entertaining and appealing. However, she had to remind herself, it was just a cartoon and not meant to be read so far into.

[JD Paerson]

JD was surprised to see her attack the food so ferociously. But then, what could he say, really? He went at food with the same vigor. He nodded at her comment about girl’s eating habits, as it was something he could recognize. Wasn’t he shocked himself to see her going at her meal?

“No offense taken. I am horrible at faking accents, anyway. Much better at the actual languages, though I still end up having an American accent. Lots of people would make fun of me for my patchwork German or whatever.” He smiled a little. “Though I dare you to try to quote the line without trying a bit of a funny accent.”

JD was grateful to see that it looked like she might actually use the napkin instead of just ignoring the warning completely. “Your roommate probably read some of the same articles I did.” He shuddered. “There’s some really icky stuff out there, and I’d just rather keep it all at bay.” He still could remember the cleanliness of some of the bases the family had been to. Strangely enough, he’d always done pretty well with illnesses. If he did get sick, it was only for a short while. Now, though, he tried to take precautions. It was just safer, in the long run.

Ann’s movie tastes were far from his own. He was the basic “shoot-em-up” kind of guy when it came to movies, and some of his favorites were things like The Matrix and Iron Man. Mostly mainstream, nothing really artsy, and he wasn’t really big on horror or thrillers. He didn’t get it a lot of the time—it was all suspense stuff, and he just got bored. The pace really had to be quick for him to really like a show. Shorter movies tended to be better, since they had a lot to say in a short time.

“I like going back and watching some of the old cartoons again, too. Though I’m not sure I ever laughed that hard.” He shrugged. “Mostly I just like to sing along.”

Now why had he said that? Nobody wanted to know about that. IT was a stupid thing, and Ann would probably think him stupid for it. He did his best to keep himself from cringing, and instead smiled at her. “You know, I just like to sing.” Worse! Shut up, his mind said, Just shut up! “I really like the Lion King songs.” Good job, he said to himself. Just brilliant.

Finally he just turned to the screen and let himself just try to enjoy the movie. Pixar really had improved its people over the years. Incredibles just happened to be in that vaguely awkward stage when they knew their people didn’t look realistic, so they just made them kind of comical. Or maybe they were just supposed to be caricatures. He could never tell with these things.

“Do you think they did boss’s head so big because they wanted just to be funny, or were they mocking someone in particular?”

[Ann Hudgins]

"Oh at least you can attempt another language. I've only got enough room in my head for English, and I have problems with that as well," Ann laughed faintly at herself because she really did suck at learning other languages. Most people her age could at least say 'hello' and 'thank you' in four different languages. She could say 'scuzi' like the Mario Brothers, and maybe 'ciao' but that really was as far as it went. Though she wasn't really giving herself enough credit. She could speak military pretty fluently.

Ann figured that it might be rude to reveal Piper's power side-effect to this guy, even if Ann didn't actually say the girl's name. It wasn't really his business too know that Piper had little to no immune system, right? So instead, she just shrugged a shoulder. "Maybe. There are bottles of hand sanitizer everywhere. It's almost a habit now, to put some on after everything, thanks to her." Ann really didn't mind, she kinda liked the familiar cold burn of the hand-gel. Like her routines, they were safe and she could rely on them to always be the same.

If Ann figured out that he was a military brat like her, they'd have a bit more to talk about, but as it were, she didn't know. Ann's father hadn't moved or changed bases the entire time that Ann was alive. He was an MP and while that was basically a road cop in the real world, he was pretty much a dick-head and hated by everyone else living and working on base. His job was to get other people in trouble. Great, isn't it? Whenever Ann was asked what her father did, or what his MOS was, she shrugged her shoulders and played dumb, mostly because she didn't want to hear what anyone had to say about it. They'd just be rude and she'd be hard pressed to yell at them, but then refrain and feel guilty about it later.

However, people at Hammel weren't the norm, so there were probably five people, at the most, that knew exactly what her father did, if she told them.

Ann only liked psycho-thrillers because she was really good at predicting what was going to happen. Even the best 'oh my god, it is a total twist at the end!' movies weren't a huge surprise for her. She was nearly apathetic in all other movie types, for the general lack of creativity, and the fact it's the same script over and over and over again. Ann's mother had a problem with heckling every movie she watched and that bad trait rubbed off on Ann. It was hard for her to be silent while watching a movie, and not to point out the mistakes.

Ann couldn't help but laugh when he admitted he watched them for the songs. Ann was guilty of that too, and she commended him for actually admitting it. Ann certainly didn't have enough pride too. "Oh totally. I sing El Dorado when I write essays," she grinned as she admitted it, she could see and feel that he thought himself stupid for admitting he liked to sing. Hey, singing was a talent. It was a talent Ann did not possess, but that didn't mean she judged others who could (as long as they didn't over auto-tune and sing through their nose. Britney Spears = fail).

Ann's bad habit of movie heckling was threatening to show. He seemed like he liked the movie and she didn't want to offend him by pointing out the ridiculousity of how those people looked. If that guy really was that big, and had those small of ankles, his legs would break! When JD made his own comment, she held back her laugh just in time though it still made a 'snrk' noise in her nose. "Totally mocking someone. And that little granny is definitely someone's neighbor." Ann pointed to the aforementioned old woman with a small little laugh. If JD turned out to be a heckler as well....well I feel sorry for Pixar.

[JD Paerson]

JD shrugged on the comment about languages. "I don't know. It's not that big a deal. It's just, when you live in a lot of places, you want to know what's going on. So I just learned the language, or tried, of wherever it was we moved to." He wondered whether he should mention that he was an army brat, but decided it wasn't really important. It wasn't like the experience had changed him...at least not that he could really see. Sure, he was a little distant from others, but who was to say he wouldn't have always been like that?

JD didn't tend to talk about his past. This was mostly because that was something you did with friends. People you cared about. And it was easier just not to get involved. Better to keep your distance. Even now that he was out of the army and had been for the past five years, well, old habits died hard. Besides, what was he supposed to do? Just jump in and say Hi I'm JD and I grew up in the military. That wasn't how you started conversations. And generally, no one bothered to ask. So there was no point telling.

He finished wiping out the food and cleaned his hands with a napkin. He almost licked his fingers, then decided not to, since an attempt at manners would probably be a good idea. At least, that's what all the adults tried to tell him. And it probably wouldn't hurt to be polite in front of the fellow students, either.

"El Dorado is good essay music, huh? I'll have to mark that down." He still felt kind of stupid for bringing up the subject to begin with, but at least she didn't seem to be laughing at him for it. "I sometimes like listening to music when I go for a run. It helps to keep me from thinking too much about everything else that's going on, just letting me, well...to just run. Instead of worrying all the time." He gave a small smile as an apology for a poor answer, but he couldn't exactly explain how the music helped him to calm down inside, to tap into that extra layer of speed which he couldn't actually find when he was trying to reach it.

"Someone's neighbor, huh?" he said, looking at the screen. "Yeah, I can definitely see that. I wonder, if we knew all the Pixar people, would we be able to tell all the different people that they based their drawings on?" He leaned back on the couch and waved his hand at the screen. "Sometimes I wonder if these movie people have any creativity. I mean, sure, some of the music's great, but a lot of movies just seem to be the same, and even then they're all based off books. And this one's just kind of ridiculous, since Pixar hadn't even got to drawing realistic people yet."

[Ann Hudgins]

"Ah, that makes sense. I bet it was cool, always moving around. I've always lived in the same house, and didn't vacation a lot. I bet the change of scenery was nice, especially from one country to another." Ann tended to ramble when she wasn't exactly sure what she was talking about, a little nervous, out of her usual conversation, or some combination of the three. Ann was a little interested about how or why he moved so much, but it really wasn't her business to ask. If he wanted to let free the information, then she'd be listening, but she wouldn't just ask. That was far too forward of her. Just as well, something tickled her instinct that he didn't even want to.

Ann's plate of food dwindled to tiny crumbs at about the same time JD's did. When she was finished she place the fork on the plate, the plate on the table, and then wiped her mouth and hands with the napkin. She'd enjoy to lick the syrup off her fingers, but with JD present (and not licking off his own fingers) she'd just feel odd and out of place. "Oh yeah, that cheery tune just seems to focus my mind. Another good one is Under Da Sea. Just the drum beat, though. Singing the song is actually a bit distracting." Ann didn't seemed bothered with continuing the subject because it was actually quite funny and enjoyable to her. Her childhood was most certainly the 'golden' age, and any chance at reflecting, or going back to that time, was a good thing.

"Oh, I can't listen to music when I run--it's about the only time I can't. I just can't regulate my breathing how I should, and it throws me off step." Ann leaned forward and nibbled a bit on some fruit because the girl still had a bit room for more (or maybe she just didn't want it to go to waste).

"Oh yeah, either the good kind neighbor that always invites you for dinner, or that crotchety old one that complains about the noise, and kids playing in the street all the time." Ann chuckled because the old woman could have been viewed in either light, being so small and shrunken. "That is probably very possible. They might even be their family members, and if they were I wonder if they would realize if they had been animated." Ann chuckled at the same time she realized that that would probably be a bad feeling. "The plots generally are all carbon-copies, and most movie makers are doing remakes like it is cool now, right? Maybe the generation in charge now just dropped the ball? Hopefully they will get better." Ann hadn't necessarily seen many movies recently to make such a harsh assumption, but she saw enough movie adds, and remembered her parent's movie opinions very well.

[JD Paerson]

"Naw, I never really liked moving that much," JD said. "It wasn't like we had a choice, though. You know, the call comes, you gotta answer." He shrugged. Since he was already in the thick of it, he decided to plunge ahead. "Dad always loved his job, but I never liked being just another one of the military brats. It was hard to get a sense of home, y'know? I never really knew what would happen next, where we'd be going, and it was hard sometimes. Especially in countries where everyone was making fun of you for not knowing all the languages."

He laughed at the thought of Ann singing "Under the Sea," especially since he could imagine her doing it with an accent. "Yeah," he said, "that one's kind of fun." Then he blushed a little. "Um, I'm not laughing at you," he said quickly. "I mean, I don't mean anything by it." Aw sh*t he thought. If I wasn't stupid before. "There's a lot of good songs, though, from our childhood. That's when they were writing all the songs that you can sing along with." Like Hercules. But no need to mention it.

"I guess running is just so second-nature to me anymore that I never even have to focus on it. At least not most of the time...I tend to go faster anyway when I don't pay attention, weird as it sounds." He shrugged once again and eyed the last little bit of fruit on the table. But it wasn't really his, so he directed his attention away.

"Yeah, there's nothing at all original about the movies. I just look at them and wonder what in the world is going wrong. The only 'new' plots are horrid. I mean really? Vampires that don't suck blood?" He blew his hair up out of his face in an exasperated sigh. "I didn't bother watching it. Most things I don't watch anymore, because they just look like they're going to be a waste of my time."

[Ann Hudgins]

"Ooh. That explains it. What branch is your dad in? My dad's a Marine. He is a First Sergeant, as of three years ago." Ann grinned a little when he mentioned being a military brat. Ann was as well, and it made her a little more comfortable. She knew that life better than this one, and could easily relate to someone who did as well. "He has been in for twenty six years now. I think he had once been planning to just do the twenty and retire, but I think his last promotion got him to stay in." Or maybe her mom ordered him too, Ann couldn't be sure.

If, and when, Ann sang that particular song, she did imitate the Jamaican accent a little. She certainly failed at it, however. When JD laughed, she didn't think he was laughing at her at all, mostly because she felt that it wasn't directed at her. His emotion was hard to put into words, but she could tell that it wasn't at her own expense. When he apologized for it, she held up her hand and shook her head. "You don't have to apologize--I mean I know you weren't laughing at me." She laughed slightly awkwardly. "Yeah, like in Snow White and Hercules, yeah?" The one song all the dwarves sing, and Meg's song with the muses were classics, as well as Paul's song for Hercules when they were training; Classics."

"Yeah, I know what you mean, I love running, to take my mind off of things." Not to mention, it was the only way she could exercise and stay in shape--at least out of her old work out that involved sparing and grappling, the two latter were no longer possible for her. Ann caught his eye on the last bits of fruit on the plate. She leaned forward and nudged it towards them. "Have 'em. Really, I don't mind."

"Vampires that don't suck blood? What? That's totally bullshit." Ann shook her head a little exasperated and scoffed at the idea. Vampires were vampires because of sucking blood. If you took that away, then they weren't vampires. It was a fail idea.

[JD Paerson]

"You too?" JD sat forward and put his elbows on his knees. "Yeah, my dad was in the air force. It was great. Just great." He rolled his eyes. "We were forced to move around everywhere. I was actually born in Gibraltar." He glanced over at Ann. "Marines, you said, for your dad? How was that? I never really got to know any of the other kids on the base, it was just me and my little brother. But if your dad only got the promotion three years ago, does it make sense that he's spent six extra years in the service?"

He was a little confused when Ann said she knew he wasn't laughing at her--how would she know? But he decided not to push it. "Yeah, I like Hercules a lot, actually. I don't know about the love song for sure, but I do like the training song. Though I think the guy's name is Phil, that little satyr thing? But I kind of just like the whole "Go the Distance" song, though it does get a little repetitive after a while."

JD took the plate when she nudged it over and picked up a piece of pineapple. "Thanks. I hope you don't mind too much." He wasn't about to turn down food, not with his constant hunger. He stuffed the piece in his mouth and sucked on it for a moment. Then he looked at his hands, now covered with pineapple juice. He looked down at the napkin, then back at his sticky hands. Finally, he sighed and started licking the juice off his hands. When it came to fruit, there was just no way around it. Fruit juice was too good to just wipe off on a napkin.

"I know, right? They've totally ruined vampires today. Whatever happened to the days of Dracula? Some of the newer movies and things are driving me absolutely nuts. And the worst part is that most of the world seems to think this is perfectly fine. We need to do something about this, stage a rebellion or something."

On screen, the little boy was running around, zipping around everywhere. He was almost invisible. "I wonder if that's the way everyone with super speed looks that way when they're running. I mean, disappearing and all that. And if I remember correctly, that kid can run on water. What do you think, does that even make sense?" JD had never tried it before, but now he kind of wanted to.