A Crate for a Cookie

[Friday Morning]

"My power, like, never turns off. So it's kinda, like, deal with it or just stay curled up in my room being sad. Pretty easy choice for me," which it was, for Friday. Or at least, it was easy enough for her to say as much, but even she knew that what she did took a lot for most people. The world often didn't match up to Friday's bright and sunny version of it; she just tried her best to help lighten it a little more.

"Hey Monica!" Friday chirped as they saw the driver, wiggling a few fingers. She walked toward the seat with Tami, plunking down and scooting over, clearly wanting the window seat and momentarily forgetting politeness in her excitement to get there. The question drew her back to her friend. "What? Oh, yeah, Monica's pretty nice. She's not, like, really into the mutant thing like Walt, but she's still pretty nice."

Friday bobbed her head a few times, swinging her legs. She'd talked the ears off a few of the drivers, so she did know a bit about Monica and Walt and the ones that actually talked back to her. Sometimes they found her "charming," others told her to shut up and head to the back of the bus.

Friday leaned forward now. "Are your kids doing okay, Monica!?" She called. The driver gave her a thumbs up, but clearly needed to focus. Besides, Friday had someone else to talk to: "She has two," she explained to Tami. "One's a fourth grader, the other goes to the local middle school. Neither are mutants but, well, it's kinda early to tell," Friday added another "what can you do" shrug.

[Tami Mullins]

It really was an easy choice for her, wasn’t it? Tami could see it with how cheerful the girl seemed; or at the very least how utterly enthusiastic she was. That fact brought a warm, almost approving smile to Tami’s face. “I wish more people thought as you did.” Tami decided then with a gentle hum. Enough of that though; there bus had arrived so Tami hopped in.

Friday rushed ahead to steal the window seat, but Tami didn’t really mind. Where she sat didn’t matter so much to her as much as the fact that she did have a seat. She slipped in beside Friday and listened to her describe this “Monica” who was driving them. According to Friday she was nice, which got Tami back to her contemplative humming again. Though Monica did answer Friday’s inquiry even if she was clearly trying to focus on driving. That was enough to widen Tami’s smile a little. “She seems nice.” Tami ultimately agreed with a nod before turning back to Friday.

Again with the thoughtful humming. “Manifestations can be very odd.” She commented suddenly. “It makes me wonder about people like us,” she gestured to Friday and then herself, “because we have something that can never be turned off. I wonder if that means it was always there from our beginning, or if it comes with all the rest?” She mused, once again mainly to herself.

[Friday Morning]

Friday just shrugged again as Tami declared her wish for more people to be like her. Friday definitely agreed with the statement; there would be no arguing from her there. She was pretty sure she'd said as much several times over to people, likely even to Tami herself at some point in time. For now though, Friday was content to shrug, to shrug and to focus on being that ray of light and goodness in the general direction of the person driving the bus.

Then it was lean back and focus on the friend again. "Yep!" Friday said, nodding. "There are a lot of nice people, like, around the school,' Friday said, gesturing. "I think it has something to do with a lot of people coming here to be mutants and all. I mean, I don't know for sure, but that makes sense, right?" Friday shrugged again.

As for manifestations: "Well, my power, like, I guess it's always on? They say I might be able to control it better with a lot more practice and stuff. It's just really overwhelming .It's not like, okay, I have this friend and he just... doesn't sleep? Well, I guess Toby is sort of my friend, probably? But anyway, he can't sleep now. But that wasn't something that happened before..."

Friday trailed off, before shrugging. "I don't know, it's not, like, something I think about," she turned to look out the window. "Amazing how this happens to so many of us, huh?"

{post 100, wooo}

[Tami Mullins]

Slowly Tami nodded, registering and mulling over Friday’s words as she did. “It does make sense. We’re all connected in a way.” She voiced with a little shrug of her own. “Our abilities may be different, but at our core we all have the same thread of mutation. As for the normal people here, they’re some of the few that are aware us, correct? Since the school is here and I wouldn’t imagine it moving, I suppose the only people left would be the ones accepting of it.” Others might move, or grow accustom to it. Tami wasn’t really all too sure. “It makes me wonder sometimes what would happen if we were all common knowledge. Though people can be more than a little nervous when presented with something knew.”

All they had to do was look at some history for that one.

Tami hummed once more. “Practice does make perfect.” She granted. “I suppose I’m just naturally curious about a lot of things. Just one tweak, and you can get something completely different. One gets ice, the other teleportation. What decides these, I wonder?” Tami was almost immediately reminded of her conversation with a certain Turkish trainer. They’d briefly discussed such a topic. Though in this case Tami had a strong inkling Friday wouldn’t care nearly as much about it.

“But yes, it is amazing.” Tami agreed with a smile. “Perhaps not much, in the grand scheme of things, but who knows what the future may hold. Maybe the number of mutants might increase over the years."

[Friday Morning]

"Exactly! We're all part of, like, this great big circle of life," Friday said, before her brow furrowed. She was fairly certain that she'd heard that from somewhere before now, but it just matched up too well to Tami's statement not to be said. "It's nice that the town kinda knows all that and all. Kinda makes you wonder if there would even be a town without the school and all," Friday tapped her fingers to the seat in front of her, considering. She supposed there was probably an alternate universe somewhere out there where there were no such things as mutants but there actually was a Kalispell. She couldn't help but wonder if there would still be a college there or a bit school or something.

"I'm sure someday it'll all come out," Friday said. "And we'll help people and it'll be great." All the confidence in the world (and that eternally sunny disposition slathered atop it).

Friday did think the whole idea that just a switch could make someone a mutant or not a mutant or even have a different power was just all kinds of crazy. She just hadn't thought about it to quite the length that Tami had, and the thoughts nearly made her head spin just thinking about it. She mostly stared ta her friend, head tilted slightly as if trying to determine what was even going on there. "Wow, you're really far ahead of me in this stuff! I didn't know you were so smart! I can barely pass math," Friday chuckled and then leaned back. "So weird that we have all this on top of school. I mean, I thought normal high school was going to be bad," she crinkled her nose (and the bunny hoodie again made her look more than a little rabbitish).

[Tami Mullins]

Tami had to giggle at the Lion King reference. Even she knew that one, though Friday looked a little baffled from it. “Maybe. I guess that would depend on which came first; town or school. If the town were here it would’ve likely continued. if the school were here, I’m not entirely certain.” Tami wasn’t some all-knowing guru chick (that may or may not seem like a stoner to some). She could admit when she didn’t know the answer. Besides, that was half the fun; learning the answer, however many there were.

The ever strong confidence in the world was refreshing. Tami couldn’t help but smile a little larger for it. She really, really hoped it would play out as Friday imagined. It would be beyond lovely if a mutant reveal did not end in disaster. They had problems dealing with their own control over their powers without a reminder.

It might’ve sounded sad but Tami was fairly used to that sort of surprised reaction. She still smiled though and shrugged. “It might make us better prepared later in life though.” She pointed out with a hum. “We’ll be used to balancing a lot more on our plates than others would be. Time management is important, after all."

[Friday Morning]

Friday paused to consider. Which had come first? The town or the school? Friday felt like she should know this, but it really wasn't something that she'd delved into research or anything about. So she could only offer up her nearly usual response by now: a shrug and a smile. "The two are kinda tied together now, though I guess Kalispell is big enough. I just wonder how many people are mutants or know about them by now."

Friday tapped the bus seat, again thinking about it. It struck her as being somewhat interesting, at least as a thought project, but not something that she wanted to spend too horribly much time considering. She did another wiggle, working through thoughts and trying to figure out what to respond with next.

"I bet that's so," Friday said, head bobbing. "I think it'll depend some on where we end up. A lot of mutants do seem to hang out in Kalispell though. Wonder why that is... oh, maybe it's the, uh, the whole community thing. That makes sense, right?" Friday looked back to Tami, head tilting and smiling again.

[Tami Mullins]

Tami slowly nodded her head with Friday's answer. It was enough, considering Tami hadn't expected Friday to give the subject as much though. "I suppose it doesn't matter now." She mused with a shrug. "The school and town are essentially merged. I couldn't imagine one without the other now, even if I've only been here a short while. The experience would be far too different." Although she couldn't say what it necessarily wouldbe like in any other case. Still she was surprised the topic had gotten that far at least. Now it was likely dropped as they moved onto the next.

Tami smiled back before her expression turned thoughtful. "Perhaps." She granted with a gentle hum. "When a piece of a puzzle finally fits, why would it want to try another spot? We're all very different, in more ways than our mutations." Again, musing to herself. "So yes, the community, I would imagine." Tami could agree on hat much. "What do you think of it?"

[Friday Morning]

Friday's head bobbed. "Yeah, the two are, like, really tied now. But, like, there's also," she gestured, "other stuff? I bet we've got the highest amount of mutants per human population and all. I bet there's numbers on that somewhere," Friday leaned over, whispering conspiratorially, "I bet most of the people around us are totally mutants," Friday then craned her head up, looking around and taking stock of the people around them. Nobody seemed to be on fire or have horns or any of the other telling signs of mutations. Of course, that didn't mean they weren't: Friday and Tami both looked completely normal, after all.

She settled back in, wiggling down a little. "I like it here," she said. "The people are pretty nice and it's still kinda wild and there's parks and stuff," Friday's head bobbed again. "it's nice," the bus stopped, and Friday twisted to look out the window.

"We've still got a few more stops, but it shouldn't be all that long!" she said, which might have been true, or it might have been Friday being as overly optimistic as ever.

[Tami Mullins]

Tami had to mull over that a little. “The highest amount of mutants per human?” She repeated, curious even more so now. It wasn’t like she knew the numbers of how other mutants schools were doing. Truthfully she’d only recently found out much about the other mutant schools this year. Did they also have towns, or were they schools all by their own? Maybe that was something she should ask, but maybe not towards Friday. While Friday whispered conspiratorially, Tami joined her in looking around. “Perhaps.” Was all she offered. “Though we are on one of the buses coming to and from the school itself.”

Whether or not there was even numbers, Tami had to agree with Friday. “As do I.” She confirmed with a wider smile. “It was a little scary when I first got here, but I think that’s always true for new places.” Though her fear, of course, hadn’t lasted long. It never really did with Tami (but that was a given).

Friday glanced out the window, but Tami spent her time observing the other passengers. Scenery was nice, but people watching could be fun too. “That’s good.” Tami hummed, her thoughts drifting off a little while she sat there. It was a common result of her curiosity, and if they really had more time to spare than she had more time to think.

[Friday Morning]

Friday's head bobbed as Tami repeated the bit about the ratio and what have you. It made perfect sense to her, after all, that they would be able to manage to get quite a few and all. The bit about the bus just had her giggling and nodding yet again. "Yep!" she eventually confirmed as well.

"Yeah, like, it's really intimidating at first. The school's so big and, like, the students all have weird powers and stuff's going on with you and it's all just," Friday waved her arms spastically. "But then it turns out that pretty much everyone's nice and we're all going through the same stuff, so it's all totally awesome!" Friday likely would've added a whoop. Her arms definitely moved a little. But she could at least somewhat control herself, and she fought to do so now, keeping her arms close by her side.

Scenery goodness, then: "We're here!" Friday said, before waving for the bus driver to pull over. Friday's motion turned out to be somewhat redundant, given that they were at an official stop and people were starting to come aboard. Friday sprang up and headed forward, squeezing around people as she went, careful not to brush against anything. She paused partway and waved for Tami to follow, so they both could leave the bus at the same time and all.

[Tami Mullins]

Tami nodded along with what Tami was saying. There was definitely something that connected all mutants together, and for Bellefonte the school only helped. Speaking of powers though, Tami felt slightly tempted to focus some of hers in on Friday. She appeared a little fidgety. Then again, Tami had a very strong suspicion that this was simply Friday.

Fortunately they were off soon. Tami wasn’t quite so fast as Friday with popping up and hurrying out. Taking a second to wave to the driver, Tami slipped out soon after Friday escaped. Immediately after that she took a peek around. She almost felt like a tourist, in a way. Even without shopping for Oreo, she was excited to be out and about.

“It’s very pretty.” Tami said to no one in particular. Her focus soon turned back to her more experienced friend. “Like i said, you’ll have to lead the way.” Otherwise they’d be subject to Tami’s fascinated wandering and might only seen the pet store a few hours from now.

[Friday Morning]

"I know! This whole town is pretty!" Friday said. "It's a lot colder than I was used to back home and all, but, like, it's still pretty nice and all, especially out this way," she started walking, falling just short of a strut or a skip or some strange combination of the two. "See, this is where some of the odder businesses have sort of clumped," she pointed. "That's, like, a store dedicated to hiking stuff, I think. And my parents' store isssss...." she strained and pointed, "down there a few stores. The pet store is---"

Friday turned, nearly spinning a few more times. She stopped after a turn, her hair still going and nearly smacking her in the face. Friday frowned, her brow crinkling. "It's, uh, around here somewhere...."

Friday turned one way and then the other. "I should totally know this..."

[Tami Mullins]

Tami couldn’t agree with Friday more. She was actually excited to moving about the town, even if they had a set destination in mind. She ought to come back more often and see how much she could discover of the town and its denizens. However, there was one little detail that was swiftly becoming apparent. Tami glanced over at Friday as the girl was practically spinning in place. It wouldn’t take a genius to see where this was going.

They were lost, weren’t they?

Tami pursed her lips for a moment and glanced around too. of course, she couldn’t add too much since she hardly knew the town herself. That had been Friday’s job. Seeing as she sounded confused, it looked like Tami might get to wander after all. Her smile swiftly returned to her face and she shrugged. “We can walk around a bit. See if it jogs your memory.” She offered before picking a route and already heading off in one direction.

[Friday Morning]

"We're not lost!" Friday said almost immediately, having a strong suspicion that was what Tami was thinking. The girl again pointed a little further down. "My parents' store is totally right over there, so we're definitely not lost," she lowered the arm, pursing her lips and again moving them in a way that helped with the bunny comparison that was pretty well already there thanks to the hoodie. Her eyes scanned the area for a little while longer, determined to figure something out.

"Yeah, we got time, right?" Friday said as Tami offered a suggestion. her head bobbed and she started walking in the general direction of her parents' store. "We can just, sort of walk this way, and, like, if we see it or something comes to mind or something, we can just head to it. And if not, uh, we can ask my parents. Yeah, that'll work."

Yes, the last bit was mostly for Friday. She still kept right on marching forward, putting one foot in front of the other. Soon enough she'd likely start humming too.