Exploring Ghost Town

[Akeem Ten-Amen]

Akeem never was much of a diligent student. School was a mean to an end, a way to achieve some greater goal. Because even someone with a power like his could not convince the whole world he was qualified without the proper diplomas. Though the question remained to know if they’d let him become a lawyer in the end. They knew what he was capable of.

All this to say that he thought today was not worth staying locked up in this stupid school. Then again, the town was no better. It was not really small town with only one tiny shopping mall and a gas station that also served as post office, diner and maybe even strip club on the side but it still was small to him. He was in age to enjoy every pleasure life had to offer. Why couldn’t he enjoy every pleasure life had to offer? As soon as he was done with college, he was out of here. There was no future in Kalispell, Montana. At least, none that he could see. Still, right now, it was better than the school.

And so Akeem was out, trying to find something appealing to do. There had to be at least one thing interesting, right? They were not in a village after all where the only pleasure was to count how many cows there were in the field nearby. He heard there were ranches. He intended to avoid them.

He had been walking for a while now and saw nothing all that interesting. First, he had to take the bus, which was already something awful in itself. He really should get a car. It was not like he didn’t have a license, one he didn’t cheat to get. Plus his father could afford. If he agreed too, which might be the most difficult part here. He sighed, watching a few cars passing by. Yeah, that would be nice. His previous car was taken by his father after he got kicked out and using his power to have another was out of the question.

Akeem grabbed something to eat at one of the restaurants. Something he wouldn’t have to sit there to eat though. He was ready to head back to school. This place was just as boring anyway. But he would eat his lunch first. There was a park nearby, he would eat there. He found a bench and sat there before pulling out his wrap. His father would probably die to see what food he ate. But he was not there so Akeem took a bite without any feeling of remorse.

TAG: Juliette Caraway

[Juliette Caraway]

Jules had recently gotten her new roller skates, and she had been allowed out because her mother had convinced her father that it was a great way for Jules to work out, and that she needed some time away from the ranch, because apparently, that was healthy. Of course, seeing as how rarely Jules was allowed out on her own, she wasn't about to complain. Her mother had drove her downtown and told her she'd pick her up in a few hours. So here she was then, rollerskating for the very first time. Ever.

Now, Jules was far from ditsy. But that didn't necessarily mean she was particularly graceful either. It wasn't like she was the type who would crash into walls and fall all over the place, but the rules suddenly changed the second she got a pair of wheels on her feet.

She had headed for the park. She had quickly put the skates on, and put tied her shoes together. They were not hanging over her shoulder, because she had nowhere else to put them. Not that it mattered. It was just a pair of sneakers. They hardly weighted anything, so she figured it didn't make much of a difference either way. It was also a pair she didn't use much around the ranch, which meant that they were surprisingly clean too.

So here she was. Skating down the small path in the park. Her hair tied up into a low ponytail, a pair of high waist mini-shorts, a singlet that reached to her ribs, showing off her stomach, knee socks and a loose fitted cardigan. And she had little to no control over her movements.

Which meant that the poor sucker sitting on the bench, eating his food in peace was her first victim. The moment she reached the bench, a stick came in the way of her wheels, causing the brunette to trip forward, towards the poor guy, and almost slamming him in the nuts as she tumbled forward. With her hand on his knee and the other rubbing at her face, Jules sat on the ground, knees against the soil and feet spread out to the sides. Groaning, she peered up at the guy between her fingers and attempted at an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that," she muttered. "I uh, first time rollerskating," she added as she pointed at the skates on her feet.

When her mother had told her she needed to meet new people, this wasn't exactly what Jules had had in mind...

[Akeem Ten-Amen]

Akeem noticed the girl roller skating. He noticed she was coming his way. She was a moving dot in his line of sight, slightly off to the side. He did bother to look at her once as she made her way, noticed how she might not be all that good at it as well as what she looked like. Not too bad but of course the distance could be misleading. Either way, he ignored her, thinking she was not close enough of the bench, even as she would make her way to him, to actually hit him. Just in case, he placed his legs under the bench so they would not be in the way. He did not think about branches. That is, until she caught one and slammed on him.

His first reflex, after jumping, was to hold his hands high to protect his food. He came to regret it as there was a part of his anatomy he should have protected more, as proven by the groaning he let out. She missed his crotch, thank goodness for that, but an impact still occurred between the two of them. This sure made her slightly less appealing to him for the time it took to recover from this and her to sit on the ground in front of him.

He bothered to have a look at her only when she apologized. Alright, she was pretty. He may just forgive her. “It’s alright,” he said but it was slightly strained. She missed most of him but the part she got, she hit it good. A decent human being would worry about her. Akeem might not be decent but he knew what was generally expected so he figured he should ask. “You’re not too badly hurt?” A smirk than showed on his lips, one he tried to actually look more like a sympathetic smile. “Maybe you should sit down for a bit before back again.” He then proceeded on giving her some space on the bench.

[Juliette Caraway]

Looking down, Jules took a moment to look over herself for any wounds, cuts or bruises. Her knees were a little sore, but there was no blood coming onto her knee socks, so she figured she hadn't scraped them. And other than her elbow hurting like all hell, she was fine. She figured the poor guy had gotten the worst of the blow. Hazel eyes peered back up at the guy and she shook her head. "No, I think I'm fine," she replied, her lips puckering slightly. The boy seemed to be in pain, which honestly made Jules feel all kinds of bad. "Anything I can do to-- I mean, there's gotta be someone with ice around here." She turned her head and looked down the empty path behind her... Well, okay. Maybe not.

Shifting slightly, she looked back at the guy as he offered her a seat. Nodding slowly, she remained still as she studied him. He was cute, in a very... Mysterious kind of way. Damn, this guy probably had girls chasing him left and right. Just her luck. Nodding again, she pushed herself up onto the bench, trying to avoid using her feet as much as she could. She'd rather not fall again, after all. She didn't think she wanted to risk slamming into the guy again. She doubted he'd be rather pleased if that happened. It seemed as if he was already having a hard time forgiving it as it was. She'd rather not test her luck.

Once seated, she offered the guy a smile. "Thanks, and really, sorry about..." She gestured at his... Anywho! Grimacing, she turned her gaze back up to the guy, offering him yet another apologetic, and slightly awkward, smile. "That." Well, this was going well.

[Akeem Ten-Amen]

The girl didn’t look injured so there was that. Of course, with the skates on, if she hurt her ankle or foot, he wouldn’t be able to tell. Looking for wounds was a good excuse to check her out. Summer was great. It had girls drop layers of clothes. Technically, it was not summer but it was warm enough for the clothes to fall out anyway. Sure, some people should really not lose any. In fact, they should put more on. It burned his eyes every time he happened to see a woman who thought she could wear leggings when she should really stay the hell away from them. He did not have that problem with her.

He made sure his gaze met hers when he noticed her lifting her head up to look at him. She didn’t have to think of him as a pervert. He nodded his head as she assured him to be fine. Well, assured may be a big word but that was still enough for him to give up caring about this. She then turned her attention on him and his pain. He did love having the attention but having it directed to his crotch, in this way that is, not so much.

He watched her as she sat on the bench, just to prevent her from succeeding where she previously failed. And to keep shielding his food as he didn’t want it to fall on the ground though that was significantly less important. He also offered her his arm to hold onto as she worked her way from the ground to the bench.

The pain would go away and not leave any mark on his body, of that he was sure. For now however, he had to live with it. With a quick bounce, he turned enough so he could look at her without it just being his head turned her way. He looked down to where she gestured. Oh yeah. That. “You missed,” he assured her. “So don’t feel too bad. Unless that was your unconscious intention all along, then please accept your defeat and don’t try again.”He gave her a smile so she might actually see this as a joke. But she really better not try again. “You try dangerous sports often like that?”

[Juliette Caraway]

Taking the arm as it was offered, Jules smiled at the guy. Well, he didn't seem too mad, so she figured this wasn't too bad of a situation to find herself in. It would have been much worse if he'd been mad, especially as Jules was in the wrong. She had practically attacked the guy, so in all fairness, if he'd gotten mad, he had every right to be. And she'd have to take it all too. "Thank you," she offered with a nod. He seemed much nicer than he looked. Guess that just proved that one shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

"Good," she replied with a laugh. "I was a little worried there," she admitted with a shrug to her shoulders. Though, if she had hit him in the groin, she had a feeling his reaction would have been different. Much, much different. His next words had a bubbling laughter press through her lips, and Jules lifted her hand in mock defeat. "Dangit, you're on to me already? Man, I'd hoped my innocence would deter you from thinking such things." Adding a heavy sight to her words, she looked back to the boy, a smirk splayed over her lips. He seemed to have a good sense of humor too.

Good looking and funny? Damn.

"Well..." She looked down at the skates as a hand came up to scratch the back of her neck. "This is a little out of my comfort zone. I'm not very athletic, which you've probably figured out by now." She tossed him a quick glance. After all, she was more the type to crawl through the bushes with a camera rather than trying any extreme sports. She had always been a little too adventurous for her own good, but aside from riding, she didn't do stuff like this a whole lot.

[Akeem Ten-Amen]

His green eyes scanned her once more as she sat down, trying to check more her knees so she would figure it was to make sure on his own that she was not hurt. Maybe some spots were more red than they should but it was nothing she would not recover from. And she seemed to have no problem sitting so her ankles must be fine. If he checked more, and he did, he had it done as quickly as possible before looking back at her face.

He was surprised she’d think he was hitting on her. Was he? Sometimes, even he couldn’t tell. It was just too easy to say it like that, he could not restrain himself. At least he made her laugh? “Believe me, I was not trying to take your innocence or anything. It’s just small talk but if you want me to stay quiet and eat my food before leaving you alone, that’s possible too. Might actually do that if you insist on trying to move on those,” he told her, pointing at her skates. He recovered quickly and didn’t use a tone that would sound as if he was defending himself but he kept a mental note to watch out. She thought he was hitting on her. He better be careful.

“All I figured is that roller skating is not your thing. Maybe you should warn people as you pass near them, just in case,” he said with a shrug. He made sure to keep eye contact now. No looking elsewhere.

[Juliette Caraway]

Oh wait, oh... "Uhm," her head shook as she chuckled. "That's not what I meant. I mean, onto me as in figuring out my evil plan. You know, "unconscious intention" and all." She grimaced slightly at that as she resisted the urge to facepalm. Man, she really should have chosen a better word than "on to". Well, this had the potential of being extremely awkward. Oops. "So no, I don't-- I mean, you don't have to leave. It's alright." God. Why on earth would this guy hit on her anyways? He probably had plenty of girls to pick from wherever he came from. It wasn't as if she thought she was any special. She was pretty bland looking and had the personality of a rock, so.

"Yeah... That's probably smart," she sighed, her hazel eyes dropping back to the skates. "I should wear one of those large billboard signs." She gestured at her body. "One of those really large ones, like those you see people advertising outside of shops using. That way no one would be able to miss the warning, and hopefully manage to step out of the way." She looked back at the boy and smiled.

Though, she had a feeling she'd be even more clumsy if she had to wear some giant sign around her neck all day. She'd probably manage to fall even without the skates. Clearly, she was much better down on her legs as opposed to trying out this wheels thing. Unless she decided to practice. Far away from everyone so she didn't risk hurting someone again. She could always see if there was somewhere around the ranch that she could practice.

[Akeem Ten-Amen]

“Oh.” He could relax, she totally didn’t know. “Well, I don’t know you, so your innocence or lack thereof no matter the kind is unknown to me. But I’d say you are not all that evil. Then again, like I said, I don’t know you,” he replied, trying to chase away whatever awkwardness he might have started between them. He should have thought not everyone had their mind straight in the gutter. He didn’t think he did but obviously he had it more than she did. Or she was terrible at expression herself properly. Maybe if she curled up fake evil ‘stache while saying so?

For a moment, he did try to picture her with those big signs she mentioned. “Would warn them but I don’t think it would do any good to your balance. Unless it sorts of makes you stand straighter,” he let out after a moment of reflection that mostly consisted of the image of her with that sign and people watching as she nearly killed them despite it. Maybe she should have practiced before actually doing it in front of people.

“So you’re not used to skates and you chose to do it alone?” Clearly that could not be a good decision. Someone around, to help her stand straight and keep her balance, he figured that was a minimum. Not like he was any expert in this. He was not a great sportsman either, at least not on roller skates.

[Juliette Caraway]

Chuckling softly, Jules shook her head. "Don't worry," she assured him. "I mean no harm." After all, she didn't even know this guy. Why on earth would she do anything to harm him? That was hardly something Jules thought she was capable of. She didn't even think she would be able to do something to him even if he had done something to deserve it. She wasn't all that vindictive, and she sincerely believed that you got nowhere by using force or revenge. It simply wasn't the right way to solve anything.

"Yeah, I was thinking about the same thing. But at the very least people would be aware, right?" She smiled slightly at that. Though, it was a horrible idea. She knew that much, thankfully. She didn't think she'd go skating much after this failure. At the very least not without some serious practice. "No need to worry though. I think this will be my first, and last time skating." She smiled a little at that before pursing her lips. It wasn't nearly as much fun as she'd-- or rather, mother had thought it would be. She had no problems with putting it on the shelf.

Looking down at her hands, Jules nodded slightly. "Yeah," she said, biting her lower lip. This hardly seemed like the time, nor place to start going on and on about how her father seemed to think she was Rapunzel and kept her locked up in the tower. It wasn't that she was ashamed of it - her dad had his reasons, but it wasn't exactly the kind of thing you brought up the first time you met someone. And besides, this guy was already going to run away screaming eventually. She didn't need to push him through the door. "It was uhm, my mom's idea." At least, that wasn't a lie.

[Akeem Ten-Amen]

Akeem never though one second that this girl could be dangerous. Well, she was dangerous. To your genitals, obviously, when she was on her skates. But evil? No. She certainly was nothing he could handle, for that he was sure. Well, as long as she left his private parts intact. The gaze he gave her tried to be skeptical at her words but the smile he had on as well proved he believed her and anything his eyes may say was totally just for jest.

“Screaming it might be safer though. Otherwise they’ll just get hit by a sign telling them they might get hit,” he replied. He was not being all that serious about it. She couldn’t really think it was a good idea to have a sign warning everyone of the potential danger of staying near her while she learned to roller skate.

Akeem didn’t care whether she chose to continue skating after this or not. He should even be thankful she chose not to put people’s life in danger anymore but in the end, it mattered little to him. He doubted he would be in town much for it to really affect his life any further. So pushing her to stop or continue was of no matter to him. “One bug in your windshield and you’re giving up already? Mind you, it’s your choice. Personally, I’ve never been all that attracted to the idea of skating. I’d probably be as bad as you are,” he admitted. He shrugged, as it obviously was something he did not care about. He didn’t have to like everything, especially not something that came to him like this.

He seemed to have shamed her or something and Akeem stared at her, not really understanding how that happened or affected by it. She claimed it to be her mother’s idea. “Oh, I see. Something like ‘go play in the park with those while I go shopping and doing my thing, I’ll pick you up once I’m done’?”

[Juliette Caraway]

Chuckling softly, Jules' head bopped up and down as she nodded. A hand came up to brush her hair behind her ear and she offered the boy a court smile. "Yeah, I suppose you're right," she admitted, nodding. Though, she surely wouldn't do something as stupid as skating in public again. She'd already come close to seriously hurting this guy. Who knew what else she'd get herself into later on? No, it seemed much safer to simply put the skates on the shelf and focus on something she could actually do, like taking photos.

"Well... Only one way to find out," she said, smiling. After all, they did rent out skates around here somewhere, so if the guy wanted to try... Of course he didn't. That was silly. He seemed like the guy who didn't waste any moment thinking about doing something, and instead, actually did it. They were polar opposites, that much was obvious. Whereas she was the kind of girl hardly anyone ever noticed, he seemed to be the cool and popular kind that everyone wanted to be around. Great, and here she was, trying to be cool and failing completely. Lucky her, right?

She nodded at his words and pursed her lips. "Something like that, yeah." Of course, it was a little more complicated than that, such as her mother wanting her to be a little more social, while using her being around town as an excuse, in order not to piss of Jules' dad. Now, Jules sincerely doubted that this guy would care either way. And telling random people your dad was overbearing, paranoid and overprotective probably wasn't the best thing to do. "What about you? What are you doing in town? Save for eating, I mean."

[Akeem Ten-Amen]

“Don’t be defeated just yet. You might get better if you practice,” Akeem told her but he was already looking away like this conversation bored him. It sure was not all that interesting to talk of roller skating. The girl he was talking of this with might be more interesting than the subject but if he didn’t want his tone to show just how indifferent he was about all of this it might be nice to talk of something. She tried to tempt him into doing some, maybe even with her although he was ready to believe she’d let him rent some skates only to be on her way. No, he was not interested into trying that.

Akeem didn’t know how popular he was but he sure was ready to claim he was amongst the cool kids if she ever asked. No way was he with the others, those you make fun of or worse, those you don’t notice at all. He was one you remember. One you didn’t wake up one day asking yourself who was that guy again. As for her... well that didn’t really matter now, did it? Obviously she was not amongst the cool and popular ones or he would have known her already or been told about her. He didn’t think for one moment she might not be going to Bellefonte.

He shrugged as she questioned why he was here. “Just exploring the town a little. I’m not really from here so I don’t really know the place well.”

[Juliette Caraway]

She nodded at that, though, she didn't see much of a reason to try. It wasn't like this was one of those things she had to do. It was an experiment that had, obviously, failed. Sure, she could always practice and get better, but what was the point if she didn't particularly enjoy doing it? Wasn't that the same thing as wasting her time?

"Ah," she said, smiling slightly as she leaned forward to start the process of removing her skates and putting on her own shoes. Pulling them from where they were hanging on her shoulder, she put them down on the ground. "This town gets a lot of new people," she commented, shifting her green-hazel eyes to look at the guy. She wondered if he was new because he attended the academy up the hill, or if he was just new. She couldn't outright ask him, of course. Even she'd gathered that mutants were supposed to be somewhat hush, hush, and she'd rather not anger anyone or cause any problems.

Pulling on her converse shoes, Jules put the skates on the bench next to her and stretched her long legs. Much better. She turned towards the boy and grinned. "There, now I'm no danger to anyone." She wondered why this guy even bothered talking to her. After all, she was hardly a very interesting individual. Then again, maybe he was only here because he had yet to finish his food. That made a lot of sense, she supposed.

[Akeem Ten-Amen]

If she claimed this was just an experiment, it might still not mean anything to him but he would understand why she chose not to try it again. Some people would say the most important was that she tried. Maybe it was true, maybe it really was the most important. Akeem had no problem in trying things but he also had no problem in turning things down. After all, he didn’t need to put his hand in a fire to know he would not like it.

“Oh, I was here before. I came back. I just never really took the time to look around,” he replied to her. He didn’t think this could be weird that someone lived here for a while and yet didn’t know the town much. He rarely stopped to think about that sort of thing. He might even have no problem talking about mutants with this girl should the conversation go there. He wouldn’t bring it there on his own though. He was not dumb enough to think everyone here was a mutant. At Bellefonte, sure, but he was in town now and they could not all be mutants. First because no doubt some mutants fell for non-powered people. But the main reason was because if this town was really full of them, he bet the army would have come over by now to either contain them all here or eliminate them all. They apparently proved they were not against killing their people. All this to say he would not bring it out on his own. But he also wouldn’t mind talking of it.

“Unless you are as dangerous on foot as you are on skates,” he said with a smirk, teasing the girl. She nearly crushed his nuts, even though she missed, he might be still a little resentful.