02/01 Instance: Melting Off

[Slarti]

Timelined the same day as Lor an' Bogey.

Bobby: Bobby shifted in the tub, nervous sweat sticking his bare skin to the plastic surface. It just annoyed him until a horrible thought occurred. Would sweating change any of his calculations? Calculating how much water he would… produce… had probably been overkill, but dammit, at least the math was something concrete in this. It could tell him what he was worth, give or take.

Bobby: So how much was he worth? About 22 gallons. Without his body’s displacement, the plastic kid's pool could easily hold his volume. He couldn’t afford to lose any more of himself. This’ll work, he told himself.

Laura: Laura skipped along the corridor towards the theatres, looking for her Dad. He said something about having some new scores in so she wanted to take a peek before anyone else... Not that she had to worry about that but still.

Bobby: But what if it doesn’t? Shut up. It was a calculated risk, sure, but he had to do something. Seeing Rogue like that... it just drove home... Yeah. Wrong. He closed his eyes, shifted to ice, and concentrated. Nothing happened. Minutes marched by, and he started tapping his thumb against his knee. McCoy is so full of –

Bobby: Shit! The water splashed into the tub, sloshing over the edges. A puddle spread across the dusty floor, threatening the folded stack of his clothes. His cell phone and necklace weighted a handwritten note to his clothes.

Laura: Entering the backstage passage, she looked around, then hesitated, sniffing the air. Bobby? What the heckindoodle was Bobby doing in the theatre department? She sooo had to find out. The scent led her to a doorway, the big prop storey place. "Bobby?" she called out, poking her head around the unlocked door... puddle? Puddle that smelt like Bobby.

Bobby: Just as before, awareness remained in this form… somehow. He sensed movement as the door swung open and panicked to reverse the process. Holy hell, what now? Kyle gonna use me as his new water bowl? The source of the vibration entered the room. If he concentrated he could see her. Laura!

Bobby: …that wasn’t much better than Kyle.

Laura: She put her hands on her velveteened hips as she looked around the room. Nothing but props and... a pink paddling pool with Bobby smell puddle... Well, too much and wrong colour for that. Were those his clothes?

Laura: Wandering over, she poked them with her foot. Stylin jeans! Uhh....the puddle was sloshing.

Bobby: Bobby didn't want to consider what might happen if Laura stepped in him, but he wasn't sure how to prevent it. Bad idea! Bad idea! For the moment, he forgot about reforming and tried to evaporate the water on the floor.

Laura: "Bobby...? Are you... doing things in here?" Laura couldn't smell Lorna, apart from faint traces on the pile of clothes, so whatever Bobby was doing it was a solo act...

Bobby: Oh, he was doing things all right. Panicking high on that list. The evaporation trick worked, surprisingly. Whew. Should he wait for her to leave? Then he remembered the note. If she saw that, he was fucked.

Laura: "Bobby, stop this!" Laura called out in a slightly whiney voice. God boys were icky! Were those his shorts? Bending down to see closer, she saw a piece of paper. Monologue? She reached for it to see.

Bobby: No, no, no! Bobby concentrated. Everything back, where it belonged. Back how he was before. Before Malice, before Essex.

Laura: "Roberrrrrrt Draaaake! Get your dumb geeky butt out here or I totally swear I'm taking your clothes!" she yelled, paper in hand. She had darn well given him enough chances now!

Bobby: Want things the ways they were before! Oh, hell... She's going to raise the whole fucking house!" Bobby was startled he was yelling aloud in his own voice and immediately looked down, panting. Skin. Whoa, that was faster than I expected...

Laura: "GAHHH!" Laura screamed and dropped what she was holding at the sudden appearence of Bobby from the puddle. "Oh my freakin god you scar- OH MY GOD YOU'RE NAKED!"

Bobby: Still shaking with reaction, Bobby grabbed the nearest thing he saw, but it was a lampshade. Not helpful! Under the lampshade was a potted silk plant however so he snatched, ducked and covered. "Shit, Laura, sorry!"

Laura: Throwing her arm across her face she span around dramatically. "I so didn't need to see that!" she yelped. "Like, get dressed! I swear if Daddy finds us in here with you naked..."

Bobby: He nearly tripped over the edge of the pool, but managed to drop the plant and snag his jeans to yank them on. "No, your dad left, I saw his car go... um..." He zipped his fly, and tried to calm down. "All right, it's safe."

Laura: "Good!" she span back around and took a look at him. "So like, what were you doing?" she asked; he was acting way flustered and he had totally come up out of water...

Bobby: Laura was looking at him like he was an alien lifeform ...you are... and he quickly checked himself, running a hand over his face and hair. He was wet, but everything felt right. "I was... um, fuck... nobody was really supposed to see that." Bobby looked around the room for a mirror, just to make sure he was still him.

Laura: "Uh, well, yeah, I figured that seeing as you were butt naked. Why didn't you lock the door?"

Bobby: "Um, well, yeah, there is that..." Boy, he was just ticking right through the list of students who had seen him butt naked, wasn’t he? "But I just didn't want...in case..." He sighed. Screw it, he might as well tell her. "Remember when you showed me your foot claws?"

Laura: "Yeah..." Okay, so what did him melting and umelting over the props room have to do with her claws? Did he like, wanna be a popsicle as Daddy was prolly a better person to ask...

Bobby: "Okay, well, this is kinda like that. I was trying something with my powers, but I just didn't really want anybody to see it." That was the simpler explanation. "So... could we keep this just between you and me? For a while?"

Laura: Laura just gave him a look, then cleared her throat. "Bobby. That coulda sounded better if I hadn't found you naked... Like, how do I know it's not a weird way of like... whacking off, but you melt off instead..."

Bobby: The laugh came out strangled, so he bent over to grab his necklace and the phone, noticing again she still had the note. Fuck. "Believe me, it's not that. How about you give me that piece of paper back so I can pitch it?"

Laura: Bending over (careful in the little shorts she was wearing as she was still convinced her Dad was gonna walk in) she picked up the note off of her foot and passed it over. "Sure. Like, if you were having fun I won't say..."

Bobby: "Thanks." He crumpled it and stuffed it into his pocket as well, getting frustrated. "God, where do you get this whole whacking off thing anyway?" Had Lorna made a general broadcast to the female population about his issues? Had she heard him in the shower...? Had Rogue? TMI.

Laura: "Dude. You're alone, naked in a room in a paddling pool. What else am I gonna think? I roomed with Terry remember!"

Bobby: This time the laugh was real, though he was still annoyed and wanted her away. "Okay. Fair enough. Yes, it was mutant wanking. My dirty little secret. Shhhhhhh." That might not have been smart.

Laura: Laura rolled her eyes. "Oh please. Now I know you're being redic. But just think how it looked!"

Bobby: "I know, I know." His hair flopped into his eyes at his nod so he evaporated the water. "Look... I know I'm... different now. Tessa told me I was to her, so I have to be to you too with your super senses. I'm trying to figure out why, and I wanted to do it by myself. Okay?"

Laura: "Yeah...You do smell a little different, but the same," she gave him a look. "Like, so like when I was testing my healing powers?"

Bobby: "Yup, Exactly." He smiled a little. "...Wait. I really smell different?" He paused to 'ew' at that. "I was figuring some kind of feral-y sixth sense..."

Laura: "Well. You do and you don't. I dunno. It's like... odd. I can't explain it." She tried to think how to for a moment, but then another thought crossed her mind and she smiled at him deviously. "So...d'you need help?"

Bobby: Did that mean he smelled different to all the ... smelling power ... students? Bobby's own nose wrinkled at that. It certainly wasn't something he was asking Lorna about either.

Bobby: "Yes!" He was happy for the distraction, actually considering her offer. "I think help would be awesome. Secret partners then?"

Laura: "Secret partners!" She held her hand out, shaking on the deal. "So now you're done being naked can we go get ice cream?"

[Edited on 1-2-2008 by Slarti]

[Ferguson]

Oh my God, laughing so so hard.

Oh and

Laura: "Dude. You're alone, naked in a room in a paddling pool. What else am I gonna think? I roomed with Terry remember!"

LMAO! That puts so many stories in my mind of things Laura has walked in on through this school year. "It's exactly what you think, could you hand me the bubble wrap?"

[fourpawsonthefloor]

Had she heard him in the shower...? Had Rogue? TMI.

rogue knows everything.

I'm so enjoying the Bobby development. I feel so bad for him too. Lovely awkwardness - the kind you'd expect to see in puberty, but this is a lot more than tripping and zits and popping wood whenever the wind blows.

[Esynthia]

LMAO that was SO great yall!

[Esynthia]

and btw, Paws is right. she does know everything she's damn good like that.

[NachtcGleiskette]

I like how he thought to pull out a kiddie pool. Good Bobby, don't ruin the props!

FYI why does Xavier's have a kiddie pool??

[wingyding]

LMAO that was a great read, you two.

Maybe he has a kiddie pool for his special alone time with Hankypoo?

[fourpawsonthefloor]

Originally posted by NachtcGleiskette
I like how he thought to pull out a kiddie pool. Good Bobby, don't ruin the props!

FYI why does Xavier's have a kiddie pool??

Jello wrestling.

ooooh. we must do.

[Esynthia]

Originally posted by fourpawsonthefloor

Originally posted by NachtcGleiskette
I like how he thought to pull out a kiddie pool. Good Bobby, don't ruin the props!

FYI why does Xavier's have a kiddie pool??

Jello wrestling.

ooooh. we must do.

Yus. MUST.