1G | VIDEO

[weightoftheworld]

[ there's a pair of thumbs clumsily blocking the camera for a moment, and then a boy's face appears. the kid's barely a teenager, and he looks a little nervous, but he smiles politely for the camera. ]

Looks like it's working. Good. Uhm– [he takes a deep breath, then launches into a clearly-rehearsed speech] –Hi, everyone. My name's Alex Power. Obviously I'm new to this place, but I've already read all those pamphlets they gave us and done some research, so I think I'm mostly caught up on the City and how it works.

[ he smiles wider, though it's a bit forced. ]

It's pretty weird and all, but, my family lives in Manhattan, so I'm kinda used to weird. Superheroes really aren't anything new, ya know? [ he sighs, then catches himself and laughs a bit, awkwardly. ] If my parents were here they'd tell me to try and make the best of it, and that's what I'm going to do. I guess I'm headed to the MAC Building, so...if any of you are living there now, lemme me know if you want to meet up? I don't know anyone here yet.

[ ohgod. being abducted is nothing new, but alex hates being in a weird place without his family. MUST ACT MATURE. ]

Comments

permavid

[kickpushbaby]

[ A scruffy, scrawny street rat, drawn by the siren call of people her own age. SOCIAL ACTIVITEYYYY!!]

At least you know where everything is.

Sup, I'm Jesse Sanchez.

PERMAVID

[weightoftheworld]

[ well hello small ragamuffin-girl in our age group. Alex smiles. ]

Y-Yeah, I tried to memorize as much of the layout as I could. It's like moving to Manhattan all over again.

Nice to meet you, Jesse! Glad to know me and my sister weren't the only kids yanked into this place.

[kickpushbaby]

You got a little bit of an advantage, then.

Oh man, tell me about it. When I first got here, I thought I was gonna be stuck with a bunch of crazy adults, but there's a couple more kids around here. They got a school for us and everything, so maybe a lot more than I know about.

[weightoftheworld]

Oh. 'School'...do you mean the Xavier Institute?

[kickpushbaby]

I guess. I've just heard people call it the institute.

[weightoftheworld]

That's the one. It exists back in my world, too.

I'm not sure if I really want to go there, though.

[kickpushbaby]

How come?

[weightoftheworld]

[ equal parts caution, stubbornness, and irrational fear, but Alex can't really go into it without going into TOP SECRET superhero business. he sheepishly rubs at the back of his neck instead. ]

It's, uh...it's kind of a long story...

[kickpushbaby]

[ NOPE, THAT'S TOO VAGUE, ALEX. ]

It's cool, I got time.

Plus, I've been thinking if I wanna go there when school starts back up. I don't wanna get stuck in a shitty school or something.

[weightoftheworld]

[ oh, shoot. time to test his improv skills. ]

Well...see, back home, Xavier's is a school for mutants. Like, people born with special powers. And...I'm not a mutant? So it'd be weird!

[ GREAT JOB, ALEX. ]

[kickpushbaby]

You get powers when you come here, so you're pretty much a mutant too.

Don't be racist, dude, that's not cool.

[weightoftheworld]

[ FANTASTIC JOB, ALEX. You've just gone from 'AWKWARD LIAR' to 'AWKWARD RACIST'. time to try pitifully to salvage the remains of this conversation. ]

Th-That's not what I meant! I've got nuthin' against mutants! My whole family's good friends with a lot of mutants– [ digging your grave deeper, kid ] –I just, I don't know everyone at the Institute, and I like it better when it's just me and my family...!

[kickpushbaby]

Chill, dude, I was just giving you shit.

[ Sorry, Alex, you have made a difficult acquaintance. ;; ]

[weightoftheworld]

I-- ...Oh. O-Okay.

[ going a little red in the face from embarrassment. whatever she does to him, he probably deserves it ]

[kickpushbaby]

You're a really shitty liar, ya know. If you don't wanna talk about something, you should just say so.

[weightoftheworld]

I'm not lying! [ ... ] D'you always swear so much?

[kickpushbaby]

Nah, just normal amounts.

[weightoftheworld]

S'not very polite. [ grumblegrumble. ]

[kickpushbaby]

[ Pft ]

So? It'd be even less polite if I ran over and punched you in the face.

[weightoftheworld]

Why would you do that?

[kickpushbaby]

That's how rude people say hello on my planet.

[weightoftheworld]

That one may be a universal constant.

[kickpushbaby]

But it's a lot more rude than swearing a little.

[weightoftheworld]

It was more than a 'little.'

[ But he's smirking. ]

[kickpushbaby]

It was a normal amount.

[ Smirk right back atchoo. ]