Something Unexpected (Open)

[Kari Douglas]

His piercing blue eyes were glued on the clock in the classroom, watching as the second had spun around and around. Time seemed to pass painfully slow, as the teacher rambled on and on about something that Kari wasn't even paying attention to. Minutes passed and then the bell chimed out with its annoying ring. Kari quickly shot up from his desk and moved his way through the crowd.

His mind was for the most part blank, except the thought of the cigarettes he had in his locker, although he couldn't get away with having one until after school so he sighed and shook the idea out of his head.

His head was buzzing around from lack of nicotine and the overall noise of the school around him. He glared down the hall at his locker, watching as it got closer and closer. He grumbled as he tried in vain to push the though of smoking out of his mind, although it just caused him to start to have a headache.

He grunted as a sharp twang of pain went through his head and he closed his eyes.
There was a kind of hissing noise coming down from the other end of the hall. He wondered what it could be be, as the noise seemed to grow louder as he made his way down the hall toward his locker.
His powers were causing a buildup of gas in his locker. Although he had no idea this was happening, as he never used his powers in order to keep them hidden. As such he had no control over them, and lately they had been acting up on their own. He continued walking forward eventually a little ways from the metal box.

Eventually he made his way about five feet from his locker when he stopped, the noise was incredibly loud, as if there was some kind pf gas leak in his locker.
Suddenly there was a loud bang, the gasses that had built up in his locker from his powers caused them to expand outward in a rapid explosion, sending his locker door flying forward and into the wall. Kari ducked quickly and looked around, a crowd of people looking around for what happened. Luckily enough for him no one was looking in his general direction when the locker decided to blow up. He knew it was his powers that had somehow caused the explosion, but he was not about to stick around for people to find out. After all his papers and books were strewn across the floor, and there was a rather large hole in the opposite side of the wall.

Slowly he made his way to his feet and noticed people gathering around looking at the hole in the wall and the unhinged locker, no doubt the noise was going to draw even more attention in the next few moments. So he sidestepped his way backward in to the crowd and slowly started to make his way away from the crowd as quickly as he could without drawing attention to himself.

[dionysus]

Okay, so he'd skipped out of classes back at the mansion and had made his way back to Salem High, his old school. Why, you may ask, would he return to a place where he'd been labeled a freak just months before? Where he was wanted as much as another Polio outbreak? The answer was simple - he needed to see his twin brother. There was something nagging at him, something he couldn't understand nor could he let go, but something was compelling him to see Erik. He had never felt alone before as long as he had Erik near him, but now..

He had been nearly hyperventilating as he gazed at the school, brown eyes scouring the empty hallways for signs of those too-familiar black cornrows. He didn't see them. So, he'd snuck into the school, past the security officers, and slinked through the hallways with the grace and silence of a ninja. At least in his mind he was. Classroom after classroom he peered into, looking for him. His eyebrows knitted together in confusion; Where was his twin brother?

Lips pressed into a thin line, that damned "confused kitten" look on his face, he turned his head, looking back and forth between the hallways. Maybe Erik wasn't there today?

The bell rang, signaling the end of the period. Carefully he pressed his back into the wall and held his breath, then waited for the majority of the students to pass. More specifically, he waited for the football team to go past so he could resume going, hopefully, unnoticed through the hallways. 'Damn it, Erik.. I sneak out of school and you don't have the decency to make yourself findable? I should kick your butt,' he thought to himself, annoyance playing in his eyes.

Honestly, he was probably going to get bathroom cleaning duty for the next month for sneaking out, and the thought of cleaning up bodily fluids did not please him whatsoever. With a sigh of near resignation he finally pushed himself away from the wall and took a few steps forward. And then the explosion came. He swallowed hard and turned his head in the direction in which it came from. At first he didn't notice anyone, but there was someone quickly backing away from the lockers.

He tilted his head to the side and blinked a few times. The way the guy looked... He'd seen that look before, and he knew that feeling. Despite the panic in the crowd, the fear, confusion and shock that radiated from the guy who was quickly trying to make his way through the crowd rang within him clearer than anything he'd felt in a long time. Question is, what was he afraid of?

So, with his eyebrows knitted together, he pushed his way through the crowd. There was no point in sticking around if he couldn't find his twin, and he sure as hell wasn't interested in being seen by the jerks that had been one of the biggest reasons why he'd been forced to leave the school - nor was he interested in seeing his first and only love. It actually didn't even take long for him to get within a few feet of the guy. So, once they were far enough away from the crowd, he forced himself to catch up and move quickly with him - side by side.

"Are you alright?" he asked, keeping his eyes forward as he walked.

[Kari Douglas]

Kari found himself on the outside of the crowd by now, other people muttering things about what they thought happened. Sure enough someone would find something with his name on it and then rumors would start to spread. Kari grumbled and gritted his teeth as he began to slowly try to walk away. Looking as casual as he could he managed to make it a little ways down the hall before he looked over to the closest door.

But there was something unexpected that happened as he was about to make his escape. He found himself stopped by a man, who seemed to come out of nowhere. Then the guy asked if he was alright and Kari's heart skipped a beat. He wondered if the guy had seen him do it, or if he was actually just there to help. No matter what happened the guy had somehow managed to stay incredibly calm, and to find him of all people to talk too even though there had been a explosion nearby.
"I don't know who you are or what you want but I don't have to talk to you..." Kari's voice was shaky, sweat was starting to form on his brow. Sure he could try to lie his way out of this, but the guy was kind of intimidating.

He took a step back and his hand touched another locker, the door outside in view but so far away. His eyes began to glow blue and a soft trail of frosty smoke drifted out of his mouth. He muttered something under his breath and ran toward the closest door, even though there was a man standing there who had obviously seen what had just happened.

He knew his reputation was shot, he knew everyone would know that he was a mutant now. Even though it had only been one guy who saw him rumors would spread, after all it was high school.

[dionysus]

Draven turned, walking backwards toward the door, and held his hands up. "Easy. I didn't ask if you wanted to talk, I simply just asked if you are okay," he said, his voice calm. Honestly, can't a guy be nice in this school without getting his head bit off? Wait, that would be a no. After all, it was Salem High - a most unforgiving school when it came to those with abilities. He took a deep breath and then smiled at him, hoping that maybe, just maybe, if he could get the guy to calm down the feeling of panic wouldn't spread from him out to the whole school.

Lucky for him, the blast hadn't given him a headache. Then again, his roommate tended to blare death metal at a high volume that could wake the dead. His eyes shifted from the shaken guy to the crowd down the hallway. They'd be coming soon, more than likely. He could already see the jocks turning their heads. Then his heart stopped. Standing there, in the middle of them, was his twin. Identical eyes locked together before Erik turned away.

So, his brother had joined the football team. Wonderful.

Slowly he looked back over to Kari, just in time to see the obviously unwanted display of power. Well, that slightly explained what had happened, though what his gift was Draven couldn't say for sure. All he knew at that very moment was that it wasn't safe there, for himself or for the other guy. He could feel the panic in the guy growing stronger. So, without a word, Draven grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him outside quickly. "We need to get out of here," he said as he pulled him along, "before the jocks start coming. They aren't exactly mutant friendly."

Of course, while Draven had his hand on the guy, he was taking the time to try and push calm vibes over to him with his own ability. If the guy had been the source of the explosion, it would do neither of them any good if he was still worked up like he was. Once close to the car, he pulled open the passenger side door and motioned for him to get in, "Come with me if you want to live." Ok, so that was an extremely cheesy line, but hey, it worked for the current situation. Besides, if it had been a helicopter he'd come in, he'd surely would have used "stop your whining. Get in the choppa!" But, alas.. That one would have to wait until then.

[Kari Douglas]

Kari was running from the other man in a desperate attempt to flee from the scene. He didn't want to be around a crowd of people after what he had just caused to happen, and he knew it was obvious that rumors of a mutant were circulating by now. He looked over his shoulder only to see the other man now making a dash toward him, most likely in order to stop him.
Kari had managed to make his way close enough to the door that he was able to reach out and grab the handle. Although something had happened that caused him to stop abruptly. There was a loud yell inside his mind, a overpowering voice that boomed "Stop!" He gasped and tried to take a step back only to catch himself from falling with the door handle.
He pulled backward trying to break free only to have his feet start to slip out from under him. Although he was quickly grabbed by the other guy, he gasped and turned his head to hear the guy say something about the jocks not being mutant friendly. He grumbled and looked up at him.
"I'm not a mu...." He bit his lip and clenched his fists. At this point he was so used to denying it that it came naturally. But at this point it was something like a elephant in the room, there was no denying it.

He sighed and calmed down a little as the other man started taking him outside. He didn't know why he was feeling calm, but it was a a reprieve from the stress of the current situation. He soon found himself stopping though, as he looked at the car in front of him. The other man opened the door and Kari glanced at him.
"seriously?"
He really didn't know why he was trusting the man, although he would rather trust him than the angry mob that was soon forming inside the school.

Kari grumbled and quickly got into the car, sitting down and closing the door behind him.
"So what is this all about? I just want to go home."

[dionysus]

Before answering his question, Draven simply slipped into the driver's seat, started the car and peeled out of the parking lot. Brown eyes flicked to the rearview mirror, looking for signs of the jocks, the student body or the faculty. It wasn't until they were out of sight that Draven let out a breath and took in another. With a deep sigh, he pushed his hair out of his face, the synthetic white dreadlocks bouncing against his face and shoulders as they fell back into position.

"Right now I don't think home is a good idea," he said after driving in silence for a few more minutes. He gave him the faintest of smiles, then looked out the windshield. "I can almost guarantee that there will be either jocks at your door, the school faculty, cops, or all of the above. Trust me, I know all too well what the jocks would do to you if they got their hands on you," he murmured.

He let his gaze remain focused on the windshield, slowing down to a stop at a red light, then looked back over to Kari. "And before you ask, if you even know who I am, this is not some ploy to get a pretty guy in my car and take advantage of him. In the event that you don't, my name is Draven. Like you, I'm a mutant. And, like you've become, I was once the subject of the school's football team's attention." He turned in his seat, watching the red light out of the corner of his eyes, and held his hand out to him. "And, honestly, I think your best bet right now would be to come with me to a place that is far safer than your home."

[Kari Douglas]

Kari buckled himself into the seat and crossed his arms. He was still confused with himself, after all it wasn't like every day he would just go drive off with some random guy.
But then again after what happened this wasn't just every day.
He sat there in silence as the car started and they began to drive away from the school, he grumbled and just stared out the window.

He was annoyed that he had left all of his things, but more than that he had no cigarettes. He ran his fingers through his blond hair and grumbled at the awkward silence between the two.
Although the silence was broken as the other guy began to talk.
Kari sighed and just looked down into his own lap. "I don't care..."
Sure Kari wasn't the best fighter, but then again he wasn't really a fighter in the first place. If the jocks did find his house then he would face that problem when he came to it. Needless to say Kari wasn't very good at planning things out, but then again he really didn't know what he wanted right now. He knew he couldn't go back to school, he knew his parents would find out.

His attention snapped back to the other man when he began speaking again. Kari turned his head and looked at the man, only to hear him say something about getting a pretty guy in his car. Well needless to say this caused Kari's face to turn bright red with embarrassment and he looked away. "My name... is Kari." Sure it was a girlie name for a guy to have, but Kari didn't really care.
But when he heard the other guy say he should go somewhere other than his home Kari looked back up.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?! I cant go to school anymore! I cant go home! You pick me up in your car and expect me to just run away or something?"

As his frustration and stress started to grow his powers started to act up as well. His eyes started to turn a bright blue color again, followed by the icy white smoke drifting out of his mouth. "Where the hell am I supposed to go?!"

[dionysus]

Draven smacked his hand on the steering wheel. "You don't care? You don't care that either they'll beat the crap out of you or that you could potentially cause another explosion? Perhaps one on a much larger scale?" he asked, looking over to Kari. Honestly, what was with kids these days? And, yes, he was quite aware that Kari was more than likely close to his own age. After living in the mansion, one was forced to learn a new perspective on life. Unfortunately it'd forced him to grow up in some ways, but in other ways he remained unchanged.

Finally, though, he seemed to make some progress with him. He gave a small smile to Kari and then grinned a bit, "Nice name. And I mean that." Suddenly he became aware of the honking, realizing that the light had changed to green, and cleared his throat. Once more he sent the car cruising down the road, doing probably a good twenty over the speed limit. He wanted to put as much distance between himself, Kari and the school as possible before the jocks realized who'd helped him get out of the school so fast.

Still, though, he couldn't believe that Erik had become an accepted one of them. He fiddled with the knobs on the radio and let the sounds of Crawling by Linkin Park fill the car at a low volume. "I didn't say run. Simply lay low until you can get a better grip on your abilities. There's a place for people like us, a place safe filled with our own kind." Out of the corner of his eyes he caught the way Kari's eyes were starting to brighten, and the way his breath came out as if it were freezing in the car.

Unsure what exactly Kari was expelling from his body, Draven pushed the buttons for both power windows down and lowered the pieces of glass into the door. Another stop light came and he turned his head to look at Kari again. "You need to relax,

[/color]" he said calmly. "Trust me, I understand. And, please, trust me when I say that perhaps this is for the better. Spend a few days with me at Xavier's school and see for yourself."

Carefully he reached out and slipped his hand into Kari's, giving it a reassuring squeeze before speeding off when the light changed. He could only hope, though, that if he tried hard enough to push the calm feelings he so desperately wanted him to feel that he would calm down enough to not risk blowing up the gasoline in the car. "Take a deep breath. We'll be there in just a few short minutes at this rate. If you don't like it, then I'm sure that the Professor or Storm can help you find a place to go, or a way to go back to Salem High.[/color]"

[/center]

Words: 483
Tag(s): Kari
Notes: None
Credits: Mel!

[Kari Douglas]

Kari coughed several times, sending the fogy gas out in small puffs. Although it could of been anything it was only nitrogen, harmless, but it did make it seem colder.
He knew his powers could cause another explosion, or even worse. But at the moment he really didn't care, he never wanted to use his powers, for the most part he tried to keep them locked away, like a secret. But sometimes his powers seemed to have a mind of their own, acting up and causing strange things to happen.

Kari heard the honking behind the two and he looked up to see a green light, Draven was still focused on him, which caused his blush to deepen a little. "Draven, the light is g-" He was cut off by the fact that the other man had noticed this before he had managed to finish his sentence. Needless to say the car lurched forward and through the light, well over the speed limit.

He watched as the windows lowered and he grumbled, he wondered why exactly this guy was so willing to help him, other than the fact they were both mutants.
And then he felt something he didn't expect at all, the soft warm touch of Draven's hand on his own. Kari's heart skipped a beat and his face turned bright red. Needless to say he had calmed down, but more because he didn't know how to react to this kind of situation.

His eyes turned back to their emerald green, and the smoke ceased. Kari turned his head to look out the window and he bit his lip.
"Ok.... But only a couple days.." The one thing that Kari had fergotten to notice was the fact that he was still holding Draven's hand.

[dionysus]

Okay, so there might have been another ulterior motive to Draven's helping him. To be quite blunt, Draven was sure that if Magneto found out about Kari that he'd be all over him like a fly on sh-- well, you get the picture. There was no telling what Magneto would do with Kari, how far he'd go to ensure that the mutant race became the dominant species on the planet. A small shudder ran through him as the various ideas of what could happen zipped through his mind.

The pictures weren't pretty.

Draven, though, said nothing about the blush that had seemed to be permanent on Kari's cheeks, and he just simply smiled at him reassuringly. "Let me ask you something," he said quietly. "You've been in the school while I haven't. How long has Erik Noire been part of the football team? Was it recently he joined or..?" The question was sure to come up at some point, and it was only when he asked that Draven felt completely and utterly ashamed of himself. Here he was, trying to help Kari, and he had the stones to ask about his twin.

A blush crept up onto Draven's cheeks, and, mentally kicking himself all the while, said quickly, "Never mind. It's not important. Forget I even asked." Once more he fell back into silence, falling back to his own thoughts. He, too, seemed to have forgotten that he was still holding onto Kari's hand, but it didn't matter. As long as he held onto his hand, he could try to keep him calm.

Just as he promised, within a few minutes the gates to the mansion loomed ahead. Pushing his knee up against the steering wheel, he reached up and pressed the button on the remote that activated the gates, then drove down the long driveway that lead up to the school. "Welcome to Xavier's Institute of Higher Learning," he said with a small smile, flicking his brown eyes in Kari's direction.

Words: 332
Tag(s): Kari
Notes: None
Credits: Mel!

[Kari Douglas]

Kari sat there quietly in his seat, his hand still locked with Draven's. He kept his gaze out the window as the car zoomed past trees and brush laying around. He just started to daydream as he waited to arrive at wherever the guy was taking him. At this point he didn't really care. He had calmed down from the stressful environment that the two had just made their escape from.

Although after a while the silence was broken though as Draven spoke out. Kari looked over and snapped out of his daydream to hear him ask about one of the kids on the football team.
Kari sighed and scratched the side of his head with his free hand. "Well..." Although he stopped speaking after the other man said something about it not being important. Although even if Kari did answer it wasn't like he could be much help, he never really paid attention to the jocks.

But soon the awkward moment passed as the two drove up to a rather large set of iron gates. He leaned back into his seat when the car began to move through the now open gates and he sighed, wondering exactly what his parents would think. After all disappearing for a couple days wouldn't sit to well with them.

[dionysus]

He gazed at the mansion in his rearview mirror, his thumb idly stroking at the flesh of Kari's hand, lost within his own thoughts. It seemed like it was just yesterday when he was kicked out of his home and brought to Xavier's by another mutant. He had to resist the urge to laugh as he realized he'd basically done the same thing to Kari. The difference was, Draven didn't have anyone at school the day everything happened that understood what was going on. Erik had tried to stop him from fighting, but it hadn't worked.

If their younger sister hadn't been eavesdropping.. If she hadn't blabbed that her big brother was a mutant..

He shook his head, clearing away the thoughts before he could send off the vibe of sadness to Kari. He forced a smile onto his face and finally withdrew his hand from Kari's. "Come on. I'll show you around," he said with faux cheerfulness and opened his car door. Once out, the car door shut, he waited for Kari before motioning toward the large doors. "Through here," he started, "Is the main hallway. It's huge, and the staircase is like.. Wow. Don't try sliding down the banisters, though.. They somehow always manage to catch you just as you're about to climb on."

His hands moved toward the doorknobs and he twisted them, opening the double doors to reveal the main hallway. "To the left we have the kitchen area and to the right are the library and living room. There's also a large pool out back, basketball court, tennis court, garden. You saw the garage area, but I'd be careful. There's a Japanese girl who's very sensitive about people touching her cars. Not that I blame her, really, considering she buys them in a junkyard and rebuilds them to perfection."

[Kari Douglas]

Kari sat there in silence as the car went up the driveway, as Draven caressed his hand. Needless to say for once in quite a long time he actually felt happy. He was relaxed and felt like he didn't have to hide the fact he was a mutant. But then again he knew that feeling of happiness would leave him as soon as he set foot out of the large iron gates the two had already passed though.

He sighed and looked up at the magnificent mansion that was on the property. He smiled softly toward Draven when he let go of his hand. Kari quickly unbuckled himself and opened the door, getting out of the car.
He made sure to listen to Draven's warnings, even though it didn't seem like it was that much of a big deal he waited to see what the place would actually look like.

He quickly hurried after the other man and stood next to him as he opened the large doors. At first sight inside the place it was obvious that Draven wasn't over exaggerating. The place was magnificent, but why a place like this would be for mutants was beyond him. "You really expect me to live here? This place is way to fancy for someone like me..." He chuckled a little and took a few steps inside, looking up toward the ceiling.

Kari stood there in awe for a few moments, just admiring the look of the place, though he really didn't care what Draven had to say about some lady and her cars, after all he couldn't even drive.

[dionysus]

Draven simply grinned at Kari, "you'd be surprised.. It's not really fancy so much as it is comfortable and safe.

[/color]" Lazily he slung an arm around Kari's shoulders and steered him in the direction of the living room. "The Professor, Charles Xavier, is one of us. As are the teachers, as are the students. Each one of us has a different ability, though there are a few that were designed at birth to be mutants. I think they're called the Genetic Mutants.[/color]"

Inwardly he was laughing, the look on Kari's face closely resembled his own when he came to the mansion. "All in all... Think of it as a private boarding school. The teachers are pretty cool, though most of us think Scott's a tool. Ororo's amazing, as is Psylocke and the Professor, and Kurt. And Maria," he rambled on as he lead him through the doorway to the large living area. "Plus they provide some state of the art entertainment.[/color]"

Lifting his hand, he motioned toward the large flatscreen HD TV, blu-ray player, gaming systems out the wazoo. "Once a week we have a movie night, the other students have gaming marathons on weekends." Yes, he was rambling, and, yes, he was trying to sell the school off on Kari. Honestly, he didn't want to see what happened to him happen to Kari. No family, no friends, expelled from school just because of what he can do (granted there was some fighting involved with Draven's expulsion).

When he felt that Kari had seen the living room enough, he steered him back through the doorway and headed to the large staircase. "Kitchen wise, they keep us pretty well stocked up on junk food and the other foods we like." Gently he tugged Kari in the direction of the boys dormitories and kicked open the door to his own room, shrugging off his jacket in the process. "Plus the rooms are huge, easily fitting two to three people unless there's a reason why someone should stay solo.[/color]"

He tossed his jacket over onto his bed and dropped onto the mattress, long legs stretched out and arms crossed under his head. For the moment he gave Kari a few minutes to soak up all that he'd said, then pointed to the empty bed across from his, "If you choose to stay, you can bunk with me. Any questions or thoughts so far?"

[/center]

Words: 394
Tag(s): Kari
Notes: None
Credits: Mel!

[Kari Douglas]

((Sorry, with friends all weekend. xp))

Kari continued to wander about left and right as he admired the size of the place. Although he found himself rather surprised when Draven put his arm around him. He jumped slightly and a soft red blush re-appeared. He didn't say anything about it, but he did pull himself a little closer to the other man.
As the two walked Draven started explaining how everyone in the entire mansion was a mutant. At first Kari was hesitant to believe him, but then again it was the point of Draven bringing him here.

Kari continued to walk, but he wasn't really paying attention as thoughts started racing through his mind. He cracked a smile and felt his heart skip a beat when he realized finally what everything about this place meant. "So...Everyone is a mutant here.. So I don't have to hide it anymore?" Of course he was talking about his abilities, which for once he was actually not actively caring about at the moment.

The two continued to walk as Draven showed him a room with a giant TV, that had gaming systems and controllers strewn about. He smiled slightly, although it was apparent he had no real interest in the games.
But soon the two were off again as the other man quickly made his way up the staircase. Kari quickly raced up after him, only to be pulled toward a series of doors in a long hallway.

Kari watched the other man open the door to one of the rooms and walk inside, of course he quickly followed after to see what else he was trying to show him. Although he found it rather surprising when he noticed it was a dormitory. He watched Draven take off his jacket and plummet onto his bed. Although then he heard something that made him feel like he was going to explode. Kari walked over to the other bed and sat down. "Ill stay... Only if I can bunk here.." His heart was racing as he realized what he had just agreed too.
Not only was he leaving behind his parents, he was also leaving his crappy school, and the thought of his powers going off in public every day.

Not only that, but he had also agreed to sleep in the same room as the man who brought him here, and it didn't help that Draven had to be cute.
Kari fell backward, landing spread eagle on what was to be 'his new bed' But for the moment it was vacant.