xp_logs | Julio and Fred (Backdated)

With Fred worried about his friends, Julio takes it upon himself to talk to Fred about normal mansion hijinx and introduce him to Nerdvanna

Since the snafu at the exhibit, Fred had been slightly despondent. Callie wouldn't talk to him, and Jules was still in MedLab, and there was little the large teenager could do about either. As it was, he'd been puttering about the Mansion in a pretty gray mood when Julio had suggested they run some errands in town together.

Fred was fairly quiet as he drove into town with Julio in his truck, pulling off of a cigarette as the radio played quietly. He knew he was being bad company, and tried to strike up some conversation, "So, uh...where we heading in town anyway? It's not like we need groceries back at the Ranch or anything..."

"It's just up here. I was lucky to find this place when I first came here," Julio said, directing Fred on where to go. Normally Julio would have insisted on driving, but since Fred preferred his truck, he didn't argue. He had been waiting for Fred to speak, since he himself knew from generous personal experience that gentle prodding was often quite explicitly not welcome. "I figured, since shit was going down at the mansion, that we gave people a chance to focus on something else. Bad movie night is always a winner, yes?"

Fred's ears almost visibly twitched when Julio said 'Bad Movie Night'. He had always been a huge fan of B-Movies, and it was good to find such a kindred spirit at the Mansion. He had talked with Julio about this topic before, and smiled a bit for the first time since they'd gotten in the car, "I'm always up for a B-Movie fest. Where is this place we're going?" he said as he scanned the sides of the road for any indicator of their destination.

"Turn left here," Julio indicated. "It's on this street, let's find some parking." After parking the vehicle and shoving some quarters in the meter, Julio led Fred down through an alleyway. Salem Center was a typical college town with the stores that one typically expected. Including some that catered to certain special interests.

The store Julio took Fred to was actually in the basement of a bookstore, down a flight of steep and creaky stairs. The ceilings were low, and the shelves were crammed full of dvds, comic books, toys and even videotapes, and the walls were plastered with yellowing movie posters. "Welcome to Astro Zombies," Julio said with a smile. "One of the best cult movie places in the tri-state area. If they don't have, they can get it. --S'up?"he said to the man behind the counter, who gave the pair a cheery wave before ducking behind a curtain in the back. Julio gestured to the clutter. "Some people don't get it, but to me, it is paradise, que no?"

Old Adventure Games on floppy. Nigh-forgotten indie comics. Sweet God, they had a section for Betamax! Fred moved like one would through the gates of Heaven as he scanned the store, eyes wide and jaw slack. As he investigated his new Jerusalem, Fred scooped up one of the tomes from the shelves and held it like it was a national treasure, "Dude...this is a VHS of King of The Rocketmen! The whole serial! I've only seen clips of this thing online..."

Julio's smile was like that of a wise teacher whose student had just shown promise. "This place saved my life when I first came to the mansion. They got me copies of lucha libre matches and movies that weren't released in America. I owe my sanity to this place." He rapped a bookshelf with a knuckle. "It seemed like someplace you would enjoy."

"Stationfall! Boxed in Mint Condition!" Fred looked back at Julio and smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "Dude...I promise I will never make fun of you for calling yourself 'Big Daddy' ever again." He looked over Julio's shoulder and went wide-eyed again, "They have a whole shelf for Cronenburg!?"

"Oh, young padawan, let Julio show you the true glories of Astro Zombies. You haven't seen the back shelf yet," Julio said cheerfully.

Fred followed without argument towards this fabled 'back shelf'. At this point, Julio could ask him to break through a wall and he'd probably do it with a smile on his face and a song in his heart.

"Now this," Julio said, ducking under a dusty bead curtain, "is the good stuff. And no, before you ask, it's not the smut."

Fred's eyes nearly fell out of his head, and he muttered every obscenity and blessing he could think of as he moved through the bead curtain to the...

----

Julio and Fred sat outside, fully recovered from their emotional trip and both very satisfied with their purchases. Fred had put his stuff in the cab of his truck, and was currently smoking a cigarette with a huge, stupid grin on his face.

"Thanks for showing me this place, Julio. You have no idea what you've just done," he said, and chuckled.

Julio leaned against the bed of the truck and grinned. "Oh, I know. I've survived being a mutant for going on three years now. A part of it is training, a part is a big fucking sense of humor, and a part is things like the back shelf. You do what you can to get through the days, and I find that being emo does nothing more than make the days go slow and sometimes might result in a laking. Therefore, my goal is life is to reduce emo levels. It's good for the environment."

Fred nodded and, while he sighed heavily, the smile would not completely die from his face. Truly, the powers of the back shelf were to be respected and feared, "It's just...I went out looking for a job and I come back and Jules is knocked out cold, my girl-, uh, Callie is hysterical and everyone else is running around MedLab. Is..uh...it's always like this at the Mansion, huh?

"Not always," Julio said. "But there was the time with the mass coma and hallucination, the dinosaurs, the roommate who's been kidnapped nine times, New York blowing up... so. Yeah. I hate to tell you this, but you get kinda used to it. Not that it doesn't suck every single time, but... it just gets easier to deal with each time," Julio paused and looked thoughtful. "--Except for any of that magic shit. That shit will always be weird," he unconsciously tugged at a leather cord on his wrist. "But in-between all that, you still gotta do your homework, and hang out with your lady and your friends. It's not the life I would have chosen for myself. But... eh, I think it's a good one, for what it's worth."

Fred rubbed the stubbly moss currently growing on his chin as he soaked in Julio's words. He'd wanted to interject when 'magic' was mentioned, but...for the sake of his sanity, had decided against it. He the other young man had finished, Fred let the silence sit for a moment before continuing, "It...it ain't a bad life, all things equal, is it? It's just...you know, guys our age usually worry about finals or jobs. not swapping powers or landmines or megalomaniacs or...well, magic."

Julio muttered something that sounded like fuck magic under his breath before continuing. "Dude, my sense of normal got busted a long time before I manifested. My Old Man used to run with Nate back in the day. I met him when I was a kid, you know? Nessie too. Anyway," Julio shook his head. "I used to sit around and wonder what my life would have been like had I not manifested and done the things I did, but that lead to emo, and then to laking. Our life is a crazy life, but it's the one we have, and we deal the best we can. Mira-- call me optimistic, but I think Callie and the others will be okay. The mansion is very experienced when it comes to powers problems. One time the staff switched genders, and other than giving me permanent mental scarring, they all switched back within a week."

Fred did his best. He really did. He tried to think of sad things or what was happening with Callie and Jules and-

He could stop himself. He burst out in full body laughter. He guffawed loudly, but managed to regain enough composure to ask, "They...they switched what?"

"Switched genders. All the guys became girls and all the girls became guys. For a week. Dude, it was awful," Julio laughed along with Fred. "I checked out Mr. Haller before I realized that I was checking out Mr. Haller. The best part was that a bunch of them went to prom, in dresses and everything. There's photographs. And video."

Fred tries his best to at least control the volume of his raucous laughter. When he finally manages to get it under control, he's still smiling broadly, "How is it I didn't hear about this?"

"I can't see why someone would not want that spread around," Julio said cheekily. "But you get what I am saying, yes? It will be all right. It usually is."

Fred heaved a massive, happy breath, "Yea...weird, but I guess I do." Fred, after he made sure his new treasured purchases were safely stowed, jerked a thumb away from Julio, "Let's get back to the Ranch. Sooner I can try some of this stuff out, happier I'll be..."