breakfast sept 10

[Patrick Fitzroy]

Walking into the central dining hall, something about Fitzroy seems different. His posture has improved, his glasses are missing, but his gaze is sharp and focused. In short, Fitzroy seems to have lost all his hesitation and nervousness. He orders his breakfast, a simple plate of bacon and eggs, and makes his way to a table.

[Will Stanton]

Will walks in, and orders steak and eggs.

Seeing Patrick at a table, he hesitates for a moment, but decides to pull up a chair next to him, anyway.

"Mind if I sit here?"

[Patrick Fitzroy]

Fitzroy smiled and motioned for him to sit down.
"Please Will, join me.". His voice rings clear and true, no sign of the ever-present stutter from before.

[Will Stanton]

"Well, you sound like your in better spirits today. Enjoying campus so far?"

[Patrick Fitzroy]

"To be honest, Will, no. So I left. I hadn't planned to come back. I had a very enlightening conversation and realized I may be my own worst enemy. I think things will be better now."

[Will Stanton]

"...huh. Well, I'm glad you got it straightened out, at the very least. Just keep your head in it; the guys around here are all pretty nice, once you get to know them."

Chewing on his steak, he rethought that.

"Albeit rather weird, in some cases..."

[Patrick Fitzroy]

Fitzroy laughed.
"That's what I realized. My whole life I felt like a freak. When I got here I expected to feel the same way. But I realized, everyone here probably went through something similar. I got over myself. I stopped worrying about what everyone else thought, aand for the first time I can remember, I relaxed. I can do some pretty awesome things, and far from being a freak, I'm special."
Fitzroy smiled.
"Will jow would you like to be my friend?"

[Will Stanton]

Smiling back, Will said "Sure. Just call me before you jump through my phone, OK?"

[Patrick Fitzroy]

Will's phone buzzed.
TEXT MESSAGES OK?

[Will Stanton]

Will chuckled when he was the message. "Yes, I suppose that'll work, too. That's one impressive power you have, there."

[Patrick Fitzroy]

"You know Will, thanks. What about you. What's your ability?"

[Will Stanton]

"Me? Nothing too out of the ordinary. I'm a shapeshifter," he says as he quickly cycles his hair through a variety of colors, shapes, and styles. "Decent control over me molecular structure, shape, and form. Good for parties."

[Patrick Fitzroy]

"Fantastic!! Can you copy me?"

[Will Stanton]

"Not quite. I can do people sure, but to that level of exactness..."

Will pauses as he looks for a metaphor.

"I suppose it would be like saying "can you paint the Mona Lisa"? With practice and time, you could get pretty close, but there'll always be slight differences. Likewise, the more I tried copying you, the closer I would get, but right now..."

Will closes his eyes and shifts. It's a decent attempt, actually; the only real differences are some underlying bone structure and things like that--hard to tell at a glance. He could definitely pass as being related to Patrick, though a closer examination would quickly reveal the truth.

[Patrick Fitzroy]

"Wow, that's spooky. I'm beside myself. Ha ha. Will, with a power like yours, practically anything is possible in human relations I guess. And with my ability to control machines and systems... Wow, imagine what we could do... See, working with others is something I never really considered before. I'm beginning to see how the X-teams could be very effective. Hmm..."

[Will Stanton]

"Yeah, team-work is great. Were you around when Mutant Town got attacked?"

[Patrick Fitzroy]

Fitzroy shook his head.
"No, missed it by a day or two. Hope I don't miss the next bit of fun though. You?"

[Will Stanton]

"Oh, it was amazing. Stopped a bomb threat. But that's where all the teamwork came in; people flying, taking control of minds, ripping the roofs off of things, driving the van. Fantastic."

[Patrick Fitzroy]

Fitzroy pounded his fist into his hand. "Next time count me in! I've lived in my shell too long. How's Sara doing?"
The thought starts him thinking about all the time he's wasted, and a look of regret falls briefly across his face.

[Will Stanton]

"Oh, Sara. She's...she's doing fantastic." Will gets a far-away-look in his eyes and a goofy grin crosses his face, preventing him from catching Patrick's reaction. After a couple seconds, he shakes his head and snaps back to normal. "I mean, uh, yeah, she's good.

Next time,I'm sure you'll be in. Did you ever sign up for the X-Squads?"

[Patrick Fitzroy]

"Well, I've been remarkably self absorbed, what with all my wallowing and whatnot. I marked it down as a minor, but was I supposed to sign up somewhere else?"

[Will Stanton]

"Yeah, there's a booth out in lobby in [url="http://rpsandbox.com/XILondon/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=171&hilit=sign&start=0"]the lobby[/url]. I'm sure there's more forms out there."

[Patrick Fitzroy]

"Thanks. I'll be sure to check it out. Do I get a cool uniform and a fancy super-name and... Hey, I know. I could be Mainframe...or does that sound too G.I.Joe?

[Will Stanton]

"...

With some of the choices for code names around here, I don't think you have to worry."

[Patrick Fitzroy]

"What about you? Are you Changeling? Or Copycat? Or Echo?"

[Will Stanton]

"I think those have actually all been taken. I'm actually calling myself Gwion for now; he's an obscure character from Welsh mythology and...y'know, forget it."

[Patrick Fitzroy]

"Gwain, cool. What's the story, sounds interesting."

[Will Stanton]

"OK, basically, Gwion was this servant boy who accidentally ended up drinking a wisdom potion intended for this enchantress' son. With his newfound knowledge, he realized "oh no, now this enchantress is going to totally kill me", so he tried to run away, transforming himself into different things as he went--a hare, a fish, a bird, so on. Unfortunately, the enchantress kept up with him--a greyhound, an otter, a hawk, etcetera. Eventually tired out, Gwion turned himself into a single kernal of corn, to try to hide. Unfortunately, the sorceress turned herself into a hen and ate him."

Will paused for a moment. "Which, now that I think about it, would be a real disincentive to chose the name if that's where the story ended."

Shrugging, he adds "But, fortunately, Gwion's story doesn't end there, as the enchantress becomes pregnant with Gwion, somehow, and decided to kill the child, but he was so awesomely beautiful that she couldn't. She threw him in a bag into the river, instead. He was saved by some fishermen, where he became one of the best bards of all time."

"That last part is true, by the way. Probably not so much the first part, but, hey, when you're a bard, you get to write your own backstory."

[Patrick Fitzroy]

"So, shapeshifting bard, huh? Neat. You also a musician?"

[Will Stanton]

"In a manner of speaking. I'm majoring in theatre; one of the reasons I'm here is because it's close to West End and all that. Not so great with an instrument, though."

[Patrick Fitzroy]

"Me either, but I can orchistrate traffic." Fitzroy grins.

[Will Stanton]

"There we go. You must be some kind of computer science major, yes?"

[Patrick Fitzroy]

"Guilty as charged. Double major in engineering. I wanted to go into animal husbandry, but there's no course here for that. Ha ha"

[Will Stanton]

What a bizarre joke

"Heh, yeah. Well, I imagine with your talents, your major should be a breeze."

[Patrick Fitzroy]

"Anyway, think I'll see you later, ok? Gotta go find those forms you mentioned."

[Will Stanton]

"Sure thing. See you around."

[Patrick Fitzroy]

Fitzroy waves as he takes his tray to the garbage and leaves.