[Julio and Kyle] - Moving In (backdated)

[x-rictor.livejournal.com]

Backdated to August 13th, Julio moves into the mansion. Some things are learned about Julio and Kyle, the most important being that Boys Are Dumb.



Kyle stared at the not-entirely small number of boxes in the common area of what used to be the shared suite, and was now... the suite with just him, and from what he'd been told, Julio. Who had a lot of -boxes-. Boxes that weren't Kyle's, so he couldn't just go digging around in them to see what was in them. Despite them being there and labeled in Spanish, which he still didn't speak. And very interesting.

"Julio, dude, did you need to totally build like, a fort or something here?" He called, as Julio came in, carrying yet another box. "And, can I help? Because box forts rule."

"This is the last of it, I believe." Julio set this last one by the door. Ana had gone overboard, really. He knew she would, which is why he asked for only a few things. Julio felt slightly embarrassed about the number of boxes. "I am not even sure if it's all mine. Our housekeeper might be trying to keep me from feeling homesick. It's nice, but I don't need half of our house. And you may have all of the boxes for a box fort." The mental image of the much taller Kyle hiding in the boxes was an amusing one.

Kyle had sprawled on the sofa, feet propped up on the armrest, and angled so that his head was almost hanging off the cushions, so he watched everything from a nearly upside down perspective. "Yeah, but if I build a fort, I have to clean it up later. Because, dude, Mr. Marko would totally flip if I just left a fort built in here." He paused thoughtfully, and then added. "Also makes it hard to play video games. Unless it's inside the fort. But then I'd have to move the TV and the couch and that's a lot like work..."

Julio paused and rubbed his head, he thought he understood all that. "Do what you will," he finally replied. "But wait until I get all of my stuff out first." He opened the first box labeled 'clothes' and discovered sweaters. "Ana," he muttered under his breath. "I can shop for myself, why does nobody believe that?"

Kyle barked out a laugh. "Dude, it won't get any better here. It's like, a chick thing." He twisted around on the sofa so that he was now totally upside-down, kicking his feet up over the back. "My advice? Keep your head down and let the women shove Forge into clothing stores. For some reason everybody wants to play dressup with him. I think it's because, you know, he's short." He paused, looking at Julio. "Course, that might not save you."

"I am tall." Julio retorted. "Well, for a Mexican I am tall. I was the tallest in my class." Although here, not so much. "And it is not fair, with the women being 6 feet tall here." And good God were they all pretty. Even the ones with funny colored hair. It was going to be so hard to concentrate during class.

"Still not gonna save you." Kyle argued. "At least you're not likely to get Lorna trying to cross-dress you. Apparently she used to go around trying to get the guys into skirts or something." He wasn't going to mention the Incident with the Underwear though. That could just get told to Julio later. By someone not him.

"Cross-dressing? What kind of a school is this?" Julio had been wondering that for weeks. He was still certain that it was the best, hell, only place for him. But he was starting to get a little apprehensive at the fact that everyone there seemed to be legitimately insane. And that was just the staff. "I mean, the counselor who acts like a different person every time I come across him set the carpet on fire, and he seems like the stable one."

"Anyone warned you about the demons yet?" Kyle asked, all wide-eyed innocent look on his face, that completely failed to look at all reassuring or honest. "And the dragon. And the robot squid."

Julio paused from where he was shoving the contents of one of the boxes in a drawer, organization be damned. Ana would have a heart attack. "I...no. I don't believe they have. There are no such things as demons, right?" Off the look on Kyle's face, Julio frowned. He hoped the guy wasn't just messing with him.

Kyle shrugged. "Dunno if they're really demons or just like, some weird other mutant shit, but there was stuff that looked like demons. But then, I mean, Mr. Wagner looks like a demon and he's all extra-super-Catholic and crap, so I guess it's more complicated then that. But the squid is totally real. Forge made it."

"Why build a robot squid? Just because?" Julio pulled a handful of books out of one of the boxes and began to shove them haphazardly into one of the small bookshelves provided. When that was full, he began to stack them on top.

"That's what Forge does..." Kyle said, with a shrug. "It's his thing. I climb, Shiro sets stuff on fire, Mr. Marko is cranky, Forge makes stuff." He watched Julio put the books up warily. He was getting dangerously close to the places Kyle had claimed as his own, with Kyle's stuff in them.

Julio was sticking to the part of the room that didn't have things already on or in it, the side where there were some scorch marks on the wall. "That is like saying 'what school do you to?' around here, si? You chase things and I destroy property." Not to mention that the new roommates had at least several kidnappings between them.

"Something like that, I guess." Kyle said. And then, somewhat abruptly whacked himself in the forehead with his hand, and sat up. "Dude. I suck. I'm sitting on my ass being totally not helpful and you have like, eighty hojilion boxes."

Julio waved a hand dismissively. "It is fine. There is no need, I am almost hallway done anyway." Julio's approach to unpacking was 'shove things in random corners' or 'stack things there', it didn't require much help. He picked up a book that wasn't his and moved to set it over on Kyle's side of the room, since he figured it belonged to the taller boy.

Kyle visibly twitched his fingers, frowning. He was going to be -good-and not spaz out. Air wasn't his. He wasn't allowed to claim air or corridors or anything that was common areas. Despite that it just bugged the crap out of him that people could just go walking around through places that other people used more. He knew damn well it was stupid. But it bugged him anyway.

Julio was completely oblivious to Kyle's discomfort as he set about unpacking the rest of his things. He tossed another box into the common room, noting that the reason that there was so many boxes is because he sort of came here with nothing but the clothes on his back. And they hadn't even been his. "Oi," he nodded to Kyle and picked magazine. "This yours?"

"Yesss..." Kyle said carefully, trying to get the hair on the back of his neck to sit down and shut up. Or sit down at least. Talking hair would be freaky. It wasn't like it bugged him when Forge did this. Or, well, it did but Forge cheated and used his mutation against him. Or threw things. And besides, Forge was Forge. He'd been around forever, and Julio hadn't and so Julio didn't have Mess with Kyle's Stuff privileges.

It was an accident, really, Julio wasn't looking where he was going and knocked over a small pile of dvd's that were stacked by the door. It wasn't his fault, why they were stacked there he had no idea. And he would claim no responsibility for what happened next.

Kyle's head snapped towards the sound of clattering DVD's, and watched them intently as they all came down into a very untidy, unorganized mess onto the floor. His floor. His DVD's, his nice tidy organized pile, by what he hadn't watched, what he had, what he was copying to try to see if he could actually do the moves.

It was going to take weeks to get them back the way he had them, and he'd have to watch half a dozen bad fat luchadors mock-punching each other to do it.

"Don't. Touch..." Kyle started, growling, and rushing towards Julio. "My. Stuff." And in a single motion he bent, grabbed Julio by the seat of his pants, and then one ankle, and flipped him over, lifting him off the ground. "This is my side of the room. That is your side of the room. My side. Your side. Comprende?"

Julio had been through a lot this summer. It was a testament that he did not freak out at being held upside down. His first instinct was to attack his attacker, which he did by reaching out and gripping Kyle's leg. He was in reality going to just rip out some leg hair, but instead he was surprised when he felt a current pass through his hand and into Kyle's calf. Fast vibrations felt a hell of a lot like an electrical current.

Kyle yelped, loudly, and let go of Julio's ankle, though not of his pants. "Ow! No shocking the roommate! Bad!" He said, before letting Julio go, after being sure he wouldn't fall on anything really important, like his head. Or Kyle's DVD's. "I thought you were earthquake guy, not electricity guy!"

Julio fell bonelessly onto the floor, still too stunned by what he had done to be really angry. He stared at his hand, incredulously. "I am earthquake guy. That was. . .that was weird." He laughed. "I didn't know I could do that."

Kyle looked at his leg, pulling it up as high as it would go, which was fairly high. Nearly to his chest. "Doesn't look electrocuted. Huh. Try that again?" He said, putting his leg back down. "I mean, it's not like I'm gonna die from it if I didn't die from it before? Maybe you're like, earthquakes and electricity guy. Like a peanut butter cup, only with earthquakes and not peanut butter."

"I have no idea what that means. Give me your arm, I'm not touching your leg again." Julio gripped Kyle's forearm, and paused. "Nothing. How do I do something if I have no idea how I did it?"

"Damn if I know.." Kyle said. "I could flip you upside down. Maybe you're only electricity guy upside down." It was a logical thought. By Kyle-logic. Right side up Julio was earthquakes, upside-down Julio, electricity. He was sure that had to be right.

Julio backed away and held up his hands defensively. "You are not holding me upside-down again. Perhaps it happens when I'm in danger? Try to punch me? I mean, do not actually punch me, but look like you are trying?"

Kyle considered that. It made sense. But if he did that, Julio would know that he was going to pretend punch. It was like scaring someone with the hiccups. You couldn't just say "Hey, scare me." and then have it work. You had to do something to surprise them. Kicking Julio in the shoulder would probably surprise him. Or pretending to. Kyle was almost positive he could kick near Julio's shoulder without actually doing it.

It was worth a try anyway.

Julio instinctively blocked Kyle's kick, but it knocked him backwards a little. He grabbed Kyle's foot in order to throw the older boy off-balance, and this time noted what felt like a little "push" that went down through his arm. The effect was less strong that the first time, but Kyle's leg still shook uncontrollably.

"GYAH!" Kyle yelped, lurched backwards, and fell gracelessly onto his ass, arms and legs sprawled onto the floor. "Dude, that is freaky. Super-freaky. It totally felt like getting electrocuted or something, but .." He sniffed, just to be sure. "Nope. No burning."

Julio grabbed Kyle's leg and examined it for himself. No red marks, just Kyle's incredibly hairy leg. "Huh. I felt it that time. It was like, shaking?" The smaller boy grinned. "That's it! It's shaking!"

"Shaking like putting my leg in some freaky out of control fair ride and turning it on ... " Kyle trailed off, mouth open in mid-word. "No, dude. You know what that was exactly like? It was totally like a ramped up Playstation controller!"

Julio turned his hands over, examining them carefully. He gave a low whistle. "I have no idea what this would be good for. Still, nice to know not everything is destruction on a large scale."

Kyle very much did not say the first thing that came to mind. Because mentioning that he was pretty sure that any girl Julio dated would be totally into that particular aspect of his power was just... not something you said to your brand new roommate before you knew if he even liked girls. Or sex. Or wasn't some kind of wacky religious nut. "Um. Well, it's like a taser, so I guess... whatever tasers are good for?"

"Yes, next time you hold me upside-down, I will taser you." Julio said seriously, he held up his hands to punctuate his statement. "I apologize about your DVDs, but next time, just ask me to pick them up? Okay?"

"It's a... it's a thing." Kyle explained, badly. "I'm working on it. It's.. I have this crazy thing about my stuff. I dunno if it's a mutation thing or just a me thing. Or maybe both. I dunno. But... okay, no upside down flipping. I can do that." He hoped. Because that taser thing? Was not cool. It made his leg feel all wobbly, and he didn't like it at all.

Julio nodded. His new roommate was territorial. He could live with that. "Okay, I will not touch your stuff. Ever again. As long as you do not touch mine." Julio hoped that wouldn't be a problem, Ana had always refused to clean his room, which on a good day did its best impersonation of the aftermath of a hurricane. "Nothing that will result in harm. Because," Julio held up his hands again. "taser."

"And upside down." Kyle retorted. "I don't mess with other people's stuff. It's ... you know, only fair and.. uh.. stuff. I mean, my stuff's my stuff, your stuff's your stuff, and any stuff Forge or Marius or Jay left here's fair game." Not that they -had-, but if they had, it would've been.

"Deal." Julio said, and then rubbed his head. He was feeling the beginnings of a headache. Not a 'OMG I'm going to set something off' headache, more of an 'I am living with an insane person' headache. He bent down and picked up one of the few remaining empty boxes and tossed it into the common room. "I believe I am finished unpacking."

Kyle did -not- ask to make a box fort from the boxes. Even if it took a lot of effort. He really wanted to, but they weren't his. And also, he was pretty sure it wasn't entirely cool. Even if the idea just seemed kind of fun. "Cool. I was thinking of raiding the fridge for frozen pizza." He said. "You want in? It's not like, nukable crap cardboard pizza. It's like, 'someone made it and then froze it' pizza."

Julio shrugged. "Why not?" He kicked the last box out of the room and followed Kyle out of the door. "Also, again, if you really want a box fort, you may use the boxes. I am not using them anymore."