Kyle and Manuel, the roommate offer

[x-wildchild.livejournal.com]

Backdated to a month ago - Manuel explains his request to Kyle, and why he needs a suitemate, and why Kyle's the ideal choice. Kyle, being Kyle, is fairly agreeable to the whole idea as long as Manuel can put up with the cat.



Borrowing hadn't been a problem for very long though as Manuel sat in the suburban family sedan, the plain fact remained that he could simply not drive or maintain _any_ style by behind the wheel of what was not his. A sense of pride had been robbed of him with the cane and along that, any sense of freedom. Taking the bus was simply not acceptable and he would have to look into purchasing something that didn't classify as a substandard vehicle.

He sat at the curb and drummed his fingers on his knee, catching sight of Kyle in his rear view mirror.

Even with a hoodie on, and the hood pulled up, and a pair of battered hole-y sneakers, Kyle was still recognizable, just in the way he moved. He'd caught sight of the single car and recognized it easily - it was one of the 'boring' cars in the general loaner pool, Kyle had used it to pick his parents up from the airport the last time they'd visited. He identified the driver as Manuel only a few moments later, and picked up his pace - New York winters were nothing like Montana winters, but warm heated dry car was worlds better than cold, rainy outside.

"Dude, I think that's the first time I've ever taken an exam and -not- needed the extra time." He'd given Manuel the 'approximate' time the exam was supposed to end, and for once, had been right on the nose. But of all his classes, World Lit was the 'cake' one for the semester, and most of the exam had been stuff he'd covered once in high school. "Thanks for the pickup. This weather sucks eggs."

"You are very welcome," Manuel said, shifting and checking for traffic before he pulled out. "If you require someone to pick you up, I can continue to do so. After the holidays, I will not be driving this... thing," he said with disdain. He hadn't spent any money since he had woken, only little bits here and there. The purchase of an expensive car lingered in his mind as a necessity of importance. Just as changing his wardrobe seemed important in his stature, so was what you drove and who you drove with. Kyle could be the exception. "Clearly my age goes up behind the wheel of a four door vehicle and it is far too inviting a family mindframe. One I am not comfortable with. "

"I am -pretty- sure that you're the last guy anyone would ever see with a "Baby on Board" sticker and one of those like, all-terrain mega strollers I see in the mall sometimes." Kyle had a firm believe that those things were a menace, but that was more because he tended to go barefoot and had his foot run over by a distracted parent with an upset toddler. "So, what's the what? I mean, I am -pretty- sure this isn't your attempt to start Manuel's Cab Service..." Another thing Kyle just couldn't picture Manuel doing - a boardroom, a stock trading floor, some legal office, that he could picture. Places where guys wore suits and made stupid amounts of money.

"No it is not," he confirmed, turning left in an intersection. "When we were speaking through the journals the other day, something was brought to my attention. Your feelings about situations and generally people overall do not linger. And I have been pressured to find a suitable roommate, yet none come to mind that could tolerate the emotional stir that I create." He glanced in Kyle's direction briefly before cruising to a stop behind three cars to a red light. "Except you."

Kyle took the time between the car stopping and the light changing green to think over what Manuel had said. The empath needed a roommate, probably for reasons of Therapy, if Kyle was guessing right, and apparently he was choice Number One because he... wasn't a butthead about his emotions. Or something like that. "I have a cat." He said. "He's sort of demanding about attention. Which means, uh, he'll probably decide you're his best friend and sit on your head."

Manuel thought about this though he was reluctant about the idea of having a cat in the suite anyways. "I do not really enjoy animals anymore," he said. "However, I can accommodate for yours, so long as it stays out of my room." Cute and cuddly were not something he wanted around him right now and Manuel had not warmed up to animals since the horrible death of his own.

"You might have to keep a watergun handy for a week or two, but he's pretty good about learning to stay out of places he's not allowed." Kyle explained. "Once he knows he's not allowed. He's just probably gonna try to make friends with you if you're out in the living room or whatever." He'd pretty much accepted the idea of Manuel-as-suitemate. "Other than that, I don't see any reason to say no, I mean, I don't think I have any weird habits that everybody doesn't already know about."

"Cats maintain their own space better than dogs do. I do not believe there will be a problem between us, though I have yet to meet him officially." The corner of his mouth upturned and he briefly gazed at Kyle before turning his attention back to the traffic crawling in front of him. "I have no weird habits, as you like to put it, though our room will be shielded against others empathically. I will be honest Kyle, my powers are not what they were. I cannot control them, therefore I project as much as I receive. As long as you can handle regurgitating of emotions, we will be fine as roommates. Though I do think that after Christmas would be more appropriate to move in."

"Dude, it's kinda obvious you've got control issues. It's not hard to figure out." Kyle waved a hand as if to dismiss the idea that it might be a problem. "If I'm easier to deal with than anyone else because of, you know, whatever's going on in my head, and it makes things easier for you, sure." He was not entirely comfortable with having a solo suite anyway. It felt too big, and too quiet most of the time. Which was why he did a lot of things outside of it. "What's that mean, regurgitating emotions, like, you'd get what other people feel and then spread it around? Or you get what I feel and bounce it back stonger? Or both?" Kyle was often very glad he had a nice simple physical mutation. At least he could explain his in a single sentence.

"Essentially both. I seem to be bouncing back an amplified version of whatever emotion I receive. I've been paying a great deal of attention to my powers since April and there seems to be a problem I cannot figure out. That is the simple version." If he explained it anymore than what he had, he'd be afraid it wouldn't make sense.

"Dude, you're an empathic version of one of those things they put in the tunnels so you can still talk on your cell phone and get the radio." Kyle's understanding of cell signal amplifiers and psionic mutations being on the same approximate level, this comparison made total sense to him. "So, the fact that I leave the mansion entirely and go find a tree when I'm in a crap mood is a good thing, right? I mean, it's already pretty much a habit so if I'm getting your like, empathy pox, or whatever it is, bouncy emotion thing, I just go do my 'calm myself the hell down' and that should pretty much cover it?"

"Yes, I believe so." Manuel agreed. "Which room is better though? Mine or yours? I would be willing to move my stuff though Xavier has put a shield around my room, so I can sleep at night. I hope this will not hinder your dreams if you are sleeping in the same suite as myself." It was such an odd request from him. Kyle was not anything like Manuel but the logic of it to him made sense. He was very surprised Kyle agreed at all and it showed in his tone and his willingness to move rooms if Kyle wanted to stayin the one he was in.

"Yours then. Mine's pretty much the regular boring suite and all that. And nah, I sleep like a log and when I do have weird sleeping issues, I go outside and sleep in a tree." Which didn't happen in winter often, but if it was warm, Kyle did his best to sleep outside as much as possible. He slept better where he could smell trees and hear birds. "And I snore but Forge made a white noise thinger like -way- back that means nobody hears it unless they're like right next to me."

Manuel nodded in agreement. It would be easier on him if Kyle were to come into Manuel's suite. He wouddn't have to turn to the higher powers to ask permission to switch rooms and he was sure it would cause all kinds of headaches, the sorts that he would not be looking forward to. "Smart of Forge," he agreed. "i do believe sometime in the New Year then? To start off in positive, new beginings."

"Works for me."