Tommy, Vic- Around Lunch Time

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Tommy is out with friends from his classes in the city, acting more like his old self from before his mutation minus the bigotry, when one of his friends drags him to Vic's workplace for lunch. Tommy is worried Vic will rat him out but they come to an agreement



It took a little while to get used to, but Vic was beginning to like the mansion. Sure, it was huge like a castle of...academic proportions, but it had a lot of interesting people. Some scary, some not-so-scary, and others that were just absolutely adorable. Still, even under the best of circumstances, a guy needed a break - which was why he kept working at The Big O. It was particularly slow day, and sat on the stool by the register, a book on the counter, a frown on his face, his head propped up with his left hand. He hated slow days.

It happened that Tommy had a break in his classes in the middle of the day. It wasn't enough that he could go back to the mansion, so he'd made friends with people in his classes and they usually studied or hung out until their next class. While this normally wouldn't seem out of place, if anybody from the mansion saw Tommy during these breaks would wonder who he was. Gone was the closed off boy from the mansion. Instead, he was warm and smiling, confident and cocky, flirting and kidding around with his new friends. This was Tommy as he was back before he'd manifested.

Today, instead of going to the coffee shop on campus, Mac had suggested this bagel place he'd discovered a few streets over. While Tommy had been slightly wary about leaving campus, Mac, Theo and Sydney had reassured everything would be fine and he trusted them. So that's how he came into the shop, open and laughing at some insane joke Mac had just made at Theo's expense, as he held Sydney's hand.

Vic blinked. Was that snarky blond boy from a few weeks ago? He'd seen him every now and then, but hadn't had another full on conversation (if that's what you could call it) with him. He slipped the book off to the side (A Clockwork Orange), and stood up straight. He put on that work-smile he had to, brows raised, and waited for his customers. This? Was goin to be interesting.

The teenagers crowded around the front as they read the menu on the wall. Tommy was pre-occupied, both picking what he wanted and elbowing Mac after an inappropriate joke regarding cheese bagels. When the four had finally decided what they wanted, they moved to the register...and the minute Tommy saw the familiar green face, his face fell.

"Hey there, welcome to the Big O," Vic replied, "can I help you?" Noticing the not-happy expression on Tommy's face (which was...not entirely pleasant for Vic, but he was a professional), he played the, 'oh, we don't know each other card.' It would be his one good deed for the year.

It wasn't anything against Vic personally. Tommy knew leaving campus had been a mistake. There, he could be himself again, something he just didn't feel comfortable being at the mansion. And now, someone from the mansion had seen him. What would people at the mansion think if they knew? In his panic, he zoned out until Sydney squeezed his hand to get his attention to order. "Oh..umm...I think I lost my appetite."

"You are looking a little green in the face," he replied with a small grin. Yes, Vic could have a sense of humor - pot, kettle, all that. "What about the rest of you?" And he was quickly busying himself taking their orders, his face with a full on pensive expression, almost offended. He'd never say anything, though. It's not like he and Tommy were friends. It was clear what kind of friends he wanted. Those that were not-green and didn't cause loss of appetite. It wasn't the first time. He placed the orders down for the customers and asked, "Anything else?"

Despite what Vic, and no doubt other at the mansion would think, it wasn't because of the mutant thing. In fact, that's one of the reasons Tommy had been so worried about anyone finding out. No, it had been about being around people who didn't know about him being in the FOH. At the mansion, he always had that fear that people would still judge him because of that, while with Mac, Theo and Sydney, it was just about how he was. It was the first time in his life that he didn't have to be afraid of the FOH's influence on his life. Of course it was too good to be true.

While Tommy stayed silent, Sydney rolled her eyes at him and order for him. "Give him a plain bagel and soda. I think our test later is giving him a serious case of nerves." She smiled brightly at the guy, wondering why Tommy had such a reaction to him. She knew Tommy was a mutant, she was wearing a necklace he'd made, so it couldn't be that.

"You got it," he replied, gathering the required foodstuffs. Placing it down with the rest, he rang up the rest of it, and charged them. "Thank you for choosing the Big O, I also charged you the student rate." He gave them a warm smile and sat back down.

"Could you guys take this to the table? I'll join you in a sec." The others agreed with Tommy and took the food over to a table by the window as he idled by the register, gloved hands nervously stuff in his pockets. He waited until they were out of earshot before turning to Vic with an imploring look. "Look, I'm uh...sorry about that."

"It's cool," Vic replied, with a shrug. "I'm used to that kind of reaction," he added quietly. "Your friends seem nice, though," he said, as friendly-toned as he could manage.

Tommy's face fell slightly. "No Vic...look, it's not that. It's just..." He glanced over his shoulder at his friends, laughing together at another of Mac's jokes and Theo's reply. "They know I'm a mutant. I'm not hiding that. I'd just rather that no one at the mansion knew how...different I was when I'm not there..."

"That's...kind of moronic," Victor replied, his brows furrowed. "I'm sure you're a big fan of the big Brood act back at the mansion, Batman, but sometimes? It's really okay to just be Bruce Wayne from time to time." Vic tilted his head. "Ever think that maybe it'd be a good thing for them to know?"

"Things at the mansion are different. There's history that I just can't escape." If Vic didn't know about the FOH thing, Tommy didn't really want to tell him. "With these guys...it's like a blank slate and I can be," He couldn't hide a small quirk of a smile, "Bruce Wayne with them without worrying."

"I think part of your mysterious past," Vic replied, "is that you can't let it go because you think no one else will let it go. I'm not saying start with Bruce, I'm saying...maybe start with Clark Kent." Vic was grinning, though.

Tommy couldn't help a chuckle. "I think I'll stay with the Bat. Brooding aside, if we're getting into Superman, well, I think I'd be more Lex Luthor. Believe me."

"We're not talking Smallville here," Vic replied, amused. "My point is, at some point, you have to let go and let them see who you really are. It might change things, you know."

"Sorry, I never was a comic book reader. That's about all I know." But Tommy's expression sobered at that idea. "I don't think I ever will be able to relax that much there. It's...complicated."

"Okay, so, maybe you won't be footloose and fancy free, but you can loosen up a bit. Let people in. That guy, the one that smiles, that's less snarky, and...kind of a hottie? That is someone lots of people at the mansion can get along with. Aspire to be that. Start small, sure. Don't sell yourself short."

"Maybe...But until then, you don't mind do you?" Tommy couldn't hide the desperate hope in his eyes.

"Sure," Victor replied, "you can stay in the closet." Victor tilted his head. "On one condition." He leaned forward slightly. "That, at the very least, you're this guy with me at the mansion." Victor smirked. "Even if it's behind closed doors." Then Vic rolled his eyes.

Tommy couldn't help the small glare at the implications, especially since he'd just asked Sydney to prom with him, but then he relaxed into a smile. "Yeah okay. I guess starting small will help."

"Cool," Vic replied. "For every broody moment that exists in our 'hanging out', I get to find ways to torture you without protest." He smiled, amused, and somewhat devilish for slipping it in there. He also might be kidding. (Then again...he might not?)

That earned him a raised eyebrow and Tommy opened his mouth to comment but Sydney called out to him and wondered if he was going to join them any time soon. He rolled his eyes playfully and gave Vic a look. "Yeah. Right. I guess I'll see you at home." With a small wave of his hand, Tommy went and made his back to his friends in time to stop a mini food fight between Sydney and Mac.