{MIW} Footballers and Other Manly Things

[Nico Martell]

Nico wanted absolutely nothing to do with this whole "Move-In Week" crap. This should've been easy enough: he didn't belong to any clubs and he didn't play any sports. Why would he? So instead he'd been chilling out in his room, except, well, that was precisely where everyone was. So Nico pretty much had the choice of just trying to blend in with the crowd or be some sort of unique daisy.

Hence, outside.

Nico watched people moving around and working, not at all interested in actually going forth and volunteering in any form or fashion. Much more interesting to watch with a smug expression as various groups did so wearing their cute little uniforms. Like, seriously, what was the point of that? Especially for someone like the footballers who---

Wait a second: one of those footballers looked damn familiar. Nico squinted, actually stepping forward slightly. He'd apparently drawn enough attention (probably from the mocking smile he'd had a few moments ago) to get a few other of the teammates noticing. Soon they were nudging and pointing their friend toward Nico. The Hispanic was already bracing for the inevitable queer tauntings that were sure to come his way. Didn't make him stop looking, trying to recall why this guy looked familiar, and where exactly he would've ran into someone who would willingly do this to themselves.

Taylor McCarthy

[Taylor McCarthy]

Taylor had no idea why he was there, in his clean black and gold jersey that marked him as a member of the Bellefonte football team, lugging boxes around for random people he didn't really care about. Taylor had no school spirit and, despite his generally agreeable attitude, really cared very little about his fellow students. Unless they were temporary drinking buddies Taylor found it incredibly difficult to relate to most of the people around him. This extended to the other members of the football team that were carrying on like he gave a damn. Or even knew their names without looking at the letters stitched into the backs of their jerseys.

Someone did catch his attention, though. Granted this person had been pointed out by one of the other jocks, much to Taylor's chagrin. With an annoyed glare toward the lummox who was slapping him, Taylor shrugged the hand off his shoulder and grumbled something that made the other boys give pause before flippantly dismissing him and shuffle off.

"Hey." Taylor said as he started toward Nico. His posture was calm, relaxed. Taylor wasn't looking for a fight and, hell, he already had it in mind that whoever this guy was that won Lucy's auction was probably better to hang around than the half-brained ogres and preppy jocks that made up most of the football team. "I know you." He actually didn't. "You're, uh..." Hopefully the other guy would fill in the blank himself.

[Nico Martell]

Yep, there were the queer tauntings. Right on cue. Nico felt like flipping them off, or maybe finding the nearest female and giving her a good hard kiss, or even calling up Selina to really give them a show. But, as he so often did, Nico just opted to step aside from his usual urges, instead just keeping silent, especially as the one he recognized approached.

Nico tensed, readying himself for a fight, fully expecting one. He was already trying to prepare himself for phasing, figuring that would be the best move. Even with powers around here, people generally threw fists first. But Nico could definitely notice a relaxed posture when he saw one, and he let go of some of his tension in kind. After all, he had been the one staring, and he did recognize the guy from somewhere.

"Nico," he offered, adding a slight nod. "And you're...?" because maybe a name would help Nico place where he'd seen the guy before. He seemed to be thinking about some kind of fight or a stage or...?

[Taylor McCarthy]

"Taylor." He offered his name freely while giving a faint nod. He didn't know what to make if this Nico, though the fact that it looked as though neither of them were all that impressed with the morons shouting at the guy not wearing a jersey (or the jerseys themselves for that matter), gave Taylor the impression there probably wouldn't be any trouble unless he started it.

"You're a friend of Lucy's, yeah?". Taylor looked over Nico with a wary eye. He had to if Nick had any sort of connection with the girl in question. Taylor didn't mean to be the petty, jealous type. He just was. He'd give Nico the benefit of the doubt for Lucy's sake. But that didn't mean he wasn't skeptical and just a shade butt hurt over how the date auction had ended.

[Nico Martell]

Taylor. Well, at least they did the polite name exchanging thing. The name was---ah, wait, now Nico knew where to place the guy. He got it even before Taylor continued, remembering some of the conversations he'd had with, sure enough, Lucy James. He had to start half-smiling as he heard Taylor's question. This had to have been one of the guys who'd been ready to brawl, and obviously not one of the twins (who Nico probably would've recognized more regularly, having bumped into them before).

He nodded at the question. "Yeah, pretty much. We did go out once," he shrugged. "But you already knew that," he had to raise his brows at that. Yeah, Nico wasn't attracted to Lucy, not seeing the girl as anything but a friend, and not even a friend he'd like to add "with benefits" too. Given Taylor's reaction at the auction, however, Nico couldn't help but poke slightly. He'd probably have to stop and roll over at some point, not wanting to create too many waves. Hell, he shouldn't have even said it to begin with: he blamed all the time he spent with bad influences.

Lucy James just happened to be one of the chiefest of those.