InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "KISSY"

O | M | E | N (get_stabby) wrote in x_flashback_x,
@ 2008-12-29 06:28:00

Entry tags:

omen, torrent

Who: Torrent & Omen
When: 1999 - 2005
Where: Xavier's / Multiple Locations
What: backdated tidbits
Status: in progress
Rating: PG-13

TUESDAY, AUGUST 10TH, 1999 - AGES 16 & 18

There were worse things than roommates. Seriously. Like, root canals. Well, one thing was certain: Troy wasn't getting any grief for removing the spare bed from his room because this n00b caught him off guard. Oh no. He would find a bed. And he had. It happened to belong to someone else, however. But that didn't matter. No one could trace it back to him... well, they could, but no one but the owner would bother to. He pushed open the door to his now shared room and peered in at the new kid. "Wiz-ill, I found you a bed, partner. Come help me get the mattress first." God damn it. There was crap all over. And by the looks of his junk, he was an uber!dork. Troy had a feeling there was going to be a Darth Vader helmet hanging from his bull horns above the TV by tomorrow. Jesus, "Let's get a move on, we gotta shanghai this bitch before Frosty gets back."

Will was an only child, so this was first experience with a shared bedroom. He was sure there was going to be some issues, but he would do his best to give the other man his space. By the looks of it, though that wasn't going to be easy. Troy's stuff was spread out across the dorm room and he'd even ditched the second bed that had laid dormant to give himself more space. Not to the mention the less-than-thrilled welcome Will had gotten when he arrived, suitcases in hand. But he didn't hold that against Troy, he wouldn't like it either if some younger kid blew in from the mid-west and took over half his living area. Will did find it strange when Troy had scoffed at the idea of simply asking someone for a new bed and was even more confused when the hydrokine just wandered off. But now it seemed to make sense. "Wait... are we stealing a bed?" Will looked up from the cardboard box packed with his crap. He just got there... Will wasn't quite ready to make enemies or get kicked out. The school in general was a Godsend. Besides, he'd hate to have to tell his Mom he was tossed out for bed-nappin'. "And who's Frosty?"

"Robert Drake, Bobby, Popcicle, Iceman, whatever. He goes by many names. His one true self is a dork, however. And he looks like the suburbs shit him out. Snowboarding posters and all. You don't like snowboarding, do you? I'm an archery fan, myself." All the while, Troy was gesturing for Will to accompany him into the hallway. Once they were out, he headed down to Iceman's room that was shared with Colossus and Pyro. "John and Pete sleep in here too," he explained. "And as for stealing, well, everything is owned by Xavier. We're not taking it from the property or causing any damage. So, I don't see a problem." He winked at his new, shiny roommate and pushed their fellow students' door open. There was Iceman's bed. Made up, tucked and nipped and sparkly. The little turd. "Boston." He shuddered. "Grab that end," the Navajo motioned toward the head as he pulled the foot board so the headboard left the wall. "We'll come back for the frame." He smirked a little as he leaned forward to yank the cutesy blue bedding from the mattress. "I got some striped ones we can put on it." Less tooly.

Okay, guess that answered his questions. At least he'd know who to avoid for a couple days, but as long as no one mentioned they saw 'one of the new kids and Troy walking out of his room with a bed' Will assumed their crime would go unsolved. Of course, wasn't Xavier a telepath? But surely he had more important things to do. Either way, Will had butterflies in his stomach as he helped Troy toss the bedding off the mattress and onto one of the other beds. "This guy's been here a while right... He's not a new guy." Somehow the idea of taking from another n0ob seemed worse than from someone who knew his way around. Lift! Will picked up the foot end of the mattress and started to follow Troy out of the room. Hopefully Bob didn't happen by in the next few minutes.

"He's been here a while." What, a few years at least? "His parents don't know he's a wizard." Snerk. Silly muggles. Troy adjusted his grip so that the mattress was under one arm and the opposite hand held the bottom side up. Will had followed suit. "What about you? What's your deal? My sister's a mutant, too. Neither of our parentals, though. Got an older brother and sister who missed the x-gene-party, too." Once they had the mattress through their own door, Troy maneuvered it so it was upright and against the wall. "Frame time." The kid seemed to catch on quick. But Troy knew he'd have to break him of that pesky conscience.

At least this guy had been here a while, that did make him feel better. And hey, added bonus, it looked like theft was an icebreaker (pun). "Yeah, I'm a mud-blood too. My Mom isn't a mutant and as far she knows, neither was my Dad." Will didn't like talking about his father, so he hoped Troy didn't push it. "My Mom is a hippie though, so she was cool with my mutation." Will followed Troy back into the hallway, "Harry Potter fan; that's cool. You don't look it."

Troy paid attention to Will's responses (much to his own surprise) and bit his lower lip when Will mentioned his own mother. "Yeah, she told me to keep an eye on you after I dropped her off last night." He grinned, which erupted in a short laugh, and he raised his chin in acknowledgment, "I'll take that as a compliment." As they turned the corner into the room, Troy stopped dead in his tracks. There stood Colossus. He looked slightly confused (what was new?). "Hey Pete." Troy made for the bones of Bobby's bed.

"Wait, Troy, what are you doing?" The Russian wondered. He had his hands on his hips and his eyebrows raised, expectantly.

"We're takin' Bobby's bed for the new kid." Troy said, with a tiny hint of hesitation in his voice. Might as well give 'em the truth.

"Oh." Pete cleared his throat, hesitated a moment as well, then added, "I'll help." A faint smile was on his lips as he bent to grab the foot board.

Troy moved to the headboard and motioned for Will to join him. "C'mon." He smirked.

"Fuck you." Will said simply with a smile and laugh of his own after the Native's 'yo mama' burn. Maybe this arrangement wasn't going to be so bad. Will's good time ended quickly though, as he noticed the huge bitch that stood in their way. This was Pete... Troy had left that fact out. The guy looked as though he could bench press a car, but to Will's surprise, he soon offered to help. This Bobby guy was either a major hole or pranks like this were commonplace around the mansion. Will banked toward the latter. "Thanks," Will said to Pete, still so startled he forgot to introduce himself.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22TH, 2000 - AGES 17 & 19

"THEY CALL ME MR. GLASS!" Will shouted as he walked with Troy out of the theater lobby and into the chilly late November air. That movie was awesome, maybe this M. Night guy was going places? First The Sixth Sense and now Unbreakable, he was on a roll. "Too bad we had to park so far away," Will said as they made their way through the Friday night movie crowd. It was after nine and it seemed like just as many people were heading in as were leaving. "Hey, we should head over to Denny's. I'm getting hungry." He turned his head but noticed Troy had lagged behind and was pulling something from his pocket. "Of course, can't go three hours without one..." God he hated smoking.

"Gimme a break, hm?" Troy muttered through his cigarette butt. "Vices and virtues, pal." Will was all virtues, though, wasn't he? Little prick. He took a long drag as he picked up his pace to catch up with his roommate. "You like the movie?" The white man was already quoting it, so he assumed so. But, Will liked to gush. So he was giving Omen the opportunity to do so. The car they'd taken still wasn't in sight. "I thought it was fucked up. Cool though. Bruce Willis isn't my favorite dude." Troy was beginning to wonder if M. Night Shyamalan and Bruce Willis were the next Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. Now there was an actor. Didn't hurt that the man was part Native. Several drags later, their car was nearby. Troy opened the driver's side door and flicked the cigarette into a puddle. "Denny's, eh? You keep on me about the cigarettes and I'll give you a Grand Slam." He gave a semi-crazy eyes before starting the engine.

"Yeah, I liked it. Doesn't hurt that it was a comic book movie." Probably the best comic movie since Tim Burton's Batman or Batman Returns. "I know how you feel about Bruce," as Troy had complained about the Die Hard actor before, "But you gotta admit Samuel L. Jackson was worth the price of admission." They finally found the car and Troy made his comments. "Yeah, Denny's... But I'm not sitting in the smoking section. That's bullshit." Will said as he sat in the passenger's seat. "I gotta sit there breathing a bunch of other assholes' smoke while I'm trying to enjoy my damned food. I should just eat out of the fucking ash tray, all the food ends up tasting like ass anyway." Will hated smokers, it was a miracle he could stand a roommate with such a habit. "Bad enough I have to live with it." He knew Troy tried not to smoke in the room but in the winter the 'always cold' Native usually took his morning cigarette indoors.

"It's like having a damned woman on my freakin' back," Troy countered. "Little baby bitch." He sighed a little and as they reversed out of their space, he shook his head. "I can't freakin' help it, y'know. I've tried to quit. It's gonna kill me. I know. There's no reason for me to be smoking." It didn't look cool, it didn't taste pleasant and it sure as hell wasn't cheap. But he couldn't stop himself. He got shaky and pissed off when he went too long without one. "But I think you're over-exaggerating." 'Food tastes like ass' was a stretch. Most of the cooks in the back were probably smoking, Troy thought with a smirk. "I don't try to make you do it." He put on his turn signal and they hit the main road.

"Yeah, it is killing you." Will felt the need to exercise that point a bit. "I don't care if I sound like a nagging woman, I'm sick of it." So he didn't try and make Will start, he was still giving him secondhand smoke. Last time Omen checked, that would still give you cancer. "Don't bother going to Denny's if you're going to sit in the smoking section Troy. I'll eat in the kitchen with Gert. She'll make you smoke outside." Will was about ready to put his foot down anyway, he was sick of it. It stunk, was unhealthy, a waste of money, and for what - an addiction? "You wanna quit, I'll fucking help you Troy."

"Yeah," was all he could say. He rolled his eyes as discreetly as possible. Smoking section, smoking section, smoking section. For Christ's sake. Just talking about cigarettes was making him want another one. What was there for Will to do for him - shell out some cash for Nicorette? He steeled himself for whatever Will might have to say as they pulled in to the parking lot of their preferred restaurant. He shut the engine off, undid his belt and slammed the door behind himself in record time. When he was through with his hands wringing through his hair, he rounded back on Will. "You help me, I'll try." There was a little challenge in his tone, but deep down, he knew Omen was right, and he knew he had Troy's best intentions in mind. He headed for the doors, then, and pulled his coat tighter around him. When he reached the hostess, he didn't even give her a chance to ask, "Two for non-smoking." Pause. "Please." His eyes shifted to peer at Will. He wasn't bitter or fed up, he was taking a step. A small step.

Will was watching the road, intently, as Troy was in 'angry driving mode'. But without incident, they arrived and Troy was out of the car before Will could remove his seat belt. Oh, pissed him off this time. Once Will was out, he caught up to Troy just in time to hear his terms. Will nodded and followed his friend into the restaurant. After Troy spoke to the hostess, Will slapped his hand onto the Native's shoulder and draped his arm around his neck. "Brave new world. You're my hero Troy." Omen said with a smirk. But really, Will had every intention of helping Troy quit, even if it killed them both.

And it probably would kill them both. "I just want to give the little guys something to aspire to." Troy remarked as the fairly-good looking hostess showed them where they were sitting. It was a corner booth in the back of the cleaner-smelling section. Good. He wouldn't be tempted. As he sat and checked out the deals on the cunning place mat before him, he couldn't help smiling. Will had pissed him off, and in just a snap had brought him back around again. "You musta been affected by being raised by a single mother." His roommate (and best pal) had mad nagging skillz. His sisters could learn something from Will - and that was saying something. Choosing the non-smoking section was saying something, too. Troy actually gave a crap about what Will thought. Imagine.

FRIDAY, JULY 4TH, 2003 - AGES 19 & 22

Ah, the sub-tropics. The previous year, they'd gone out west to stay a few days with each of their families during the summer. This year, their families could bite the barbecued weenie. In fact, that was one of the items on Troy's own agenda. He was craving a hot dog like crazy. But there were probably very few places to find good barbecue in eastern Tennessee (ones that he trusted, anyway). They were going to see the happiest fireworks on earth this year - the ones at Disney World. Their tickets were only for the weekend (because fuck if a week wasn't hella expensive), but Troy was cool with seeing some crap and getting home. Most of the X-Men only went away on weekends, anyway. From the passenger seat: "You ready for some over-priced festivities?"

"Always," Omen said as he navigated the twists and turns of the eastern Tennessee mountains. "Mountains in Tennesse... The hell." He looked over at Troy for a second expecting a crack about Natives; he'd been chalked full of 'em this trip. Some people would probably consider it stupid to go to Disney World over fourth of July weekend; some people like Will who hated over-crowded theme parks. But it was effin' Disney and the forth of July, who the fuck did it better? No one, that's who. "Hey, find something on the radio, I'd do it but... mountains in Tennessee!" So what if Will knew the Appalachian mountain range ran through the Volunteer State... it didn't mean he'd ever had to drive them before.

"These are nothin', kid." Troy remarked as he adjusted his hat down over his eyes. The sun was still on the rise and it was pissing him off. "You're one hell of a multi-tasker," he teased the telekine. He flipped the stereo on and began the game of hunt and peck. They'd already been through all their CDs. After a few minutes, he landed on a Nickelback song and he grinned, "It's the Logans." Canadian? Check. Gruff, unintelligible words? Check. The Logans. He leaned back in his seat, then lowered it so that his head had disappeared into the back of the car. His socked feet went up onto the dashboard. "Can you believe how many pissers asked us for souvenirs? I'm not buying that over-priced crap. I'll find 'em some crap on eBay when we get back and tell them we had our stuff shipped home."

"I wonder if they know," Will said of the song (as the band did remind him of the cigar smoking Canadian). Will held the car tight to the curve and checked his mirrors. The morning sun was bothering Omen also, but it was his turn to drive and he wasn't about to complain. "I know, fuckers." What did they think, they were loaded? Only a couple of people had actually given them money for anything, freeloaders. Will took another turn and he couldn't help but think how exciting this all was. This was his first road trip 'sans-adults' that wasn't toward home. They were going somewhere on their own, it was like a mini-adventure. Not that he didn't get enough adventure back home, with a Danger Room and jet. But this was different, no holograms, no X-support, just the two of them and the open road. Watch out Mickey. "This is going to be fucking awesome. Glad we thought of it."

"Wouldn't have been my first choice," the Native began, "but the promise of princesses on the loose swayed my decision." His chest rose and fell in a heavy laugh. "Maybe we can get some numbers, eh? Or room keys." They could always hit the bars if the parks were lame. Will was right, though. It was going to be fucking awesome. Troy always had a good time with 'his honky'. He'd claimed Will early on - like a puppy. As time went on, however, he feared they were becoming more and more like equals. His upper hand was slowly fading. But he was taking things in stride. Life with Omen was a daily challenge - and even more fun. They were always butting heads or causing trouble for someone else (much to their dual delight). "What'd you wanna do first? White people like Epcot, right?" he was grinning under his hat.

"Fuck you," this had become a normal response to Troy's sass. "I don't plan on gettin' near Epcot unless it's for fireworks." Sorry Test Track, not this visit. "MGM for fun, Animal Kingdom for scenery, or Magic Kingdom for princesses." Will said with a smirk. "I bet we can do room keys, gonna be a lot of families down there. Like families with eighteen-year-old daughters, or maybe a Princess who's sick of the locals." But really, Will couldn't wait for any of it. The parks, the bars, the fireworks. This was probably going to be the best vacation of his life and that had more than a little to do with his wingman. The Han to his Chewy. The two had become friends so fast Will could hardly remember a time he didn't have Troy next to him. Dude had become as important to him as his right arm. "Look at you, thinkin' you're so damn cool in that hat."

"It's a fact." Ain't no thinkin' about it. "I look sharp, mo'fo'." There wasn't a lot to do but ponder over what Will had said. Troy had been to Disney a few times with his family when he was younger, but things had changed. He hadn't been to Animal Kingdom, for example. "Animal Kingdom looks like an over-rated zoo to me. I love the ghetto one you have in St. Louis, man. I'd take that any day. They just need a safari ride and they'd be solid." He smirked and moved to sit up again. Troy hand went to his hat and he removed it, then placed it atop Will's head. "You look like the dude from Jurassic Park. Hot." He chuckled and brought his feet down from the dashboard. No hat = visor down. He looked into the mirror once the sun had been blocked and saw that his hair was less than pretty. Meh. It was just Will. ... His hands began fussing through it, despite how his brain reasoned.

"Yeah, yeah, you look sharp, Jack." Will gave Troy his props, if not a bit begrudgingly. He was his Han Solo after all, good-looking space cowboy. "Animal Kingdom was awesome the one time I saw it. In 2002, right after it opened... when Zap dragged a bunch of us down there because she had to see the new park." He couldn't remember at the moment why Troy didn't attend, maybe he was visiting Oklahoma. It didn't matter, this trip was going to be a whole lot better, mostly because Torrent was going to be there. "Clever girl." Will put on his best Australian accent after Troy placed the hat on his head. "Oh, now I look like I belong in Tennessee. We better not break down, some good ol' boys might like a couple of pretty men like us too much." He said as he adjusted the hat on his head.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 20TH, 2005 - AGES 21 & 23

Huff! Huff! Move! Will's feet and legs were working overtime as he climbed the steep terrain. Out of breath, soaking wet from sweat, and bruised all over, Omen pushed ahead into the topical landscape. The Danger Room did one hell of a job simulating a fucking rain forest - that was for sure, right down to the damn insects. Not too far away from him, Troy ran parallel to Omen, but this time they weren't there to help each other. They were in direct competition, and Will couldn't help but feel the humid environment gave the hydrokine an advantage. But that didn't matter; it would just make the gloating all the sweeter. Will knocked a branch away from his face and a wave of anxiety rolled over him. He braced himself for an attack and one came. A group of green camouflage-clad soldiers rushed him from his right and he forced the first few away with a wave of his hand. He then jumped over a forth and sent the fifth barreling toward Troy. Hey, they were slowing him down, Troy could join in.

That little bitch! Troy wasn't exactly concentrating on what Will was dealing with. He had plenty to take care of on his own. For example, there was a puma on his heels. A flippin' puma. He raised up from the ground (working with the landscape) and allowed the cat to run right between his (watery) legs. That was about when he heard the bastard screaming that Omen had sent him. Lovely present. He fell back to the earth and dropped to his hands and knees. Within a few moments he pulled himself up, heaving for air, and he heard the cat tear in to the discarded soldier. Yikes. Will, however was doing just fine. He was clear of most obstacles and was racing ahead. Bullshit. Troy pulled out a weapon that was only used one people that he really didn't like. But he wasn't up to losing to Omen today. Not now... they'd both worked themselves into heaving, soggy piles of soreness. His hand raised and he made a squeezing gesture, focusing an attack on Will's throat. Waterchoke! He smirked and moved on, heading over the top of the hill they'd been scaling and sliding down the other side.

'Ha ha!' Will laughed to himself (he was too out of breath to do it out loud) as Troy fell behind. 'Almost there, so close,' Omen thought forcing the last bit of energy out of his legs and into the ground. Before he could reach the summit however, he felt an altogether new feeling arise in his throat. It felt like he had swallowed a whole glass of water and it had run down his windpipe instead of his esophagus. Breathing quickly became out of question and Omen fell forward onto his knees and then his arms gave and his face planted into the warm, wet soil. God damn it, Troy. Will focused on coughing the liquid out of his lungs, but a few more masked soldiers had decided to make an appearance. They jumped him, causing him to suck more of the water in the wrong direction. Not good.

The gurgling sounds were fine until Troy didn't see Will coming up behind him any longer. He wasn't coming down the hill... Fuck. By his headset, it was easy to tell that Omen wasn't going to win - or maybe even finish. Troy hadn't realized he'd done such an efficient job. He reluctantly skidded to a stop after a brief moment of deliberation (and at the risk of being bitched at by those in the control room) and moved at a dead run back of the hill. He took it faster than he'd gone it the first time. When he reached the top, he realized he'd made a mistake. His heart seemed to stop. The men who were atop Will began to shriek and fall back, writing on the ground around him. Troy quickly took the fastest route back to the bottom (where Will had tumbled to) and when he arrived, their opponents were jerkied. Will, however, looked rather moist. Torrent fell to his knees and skidded the few feet it took him to reach his friend. Will's chest was heaving and his blue eyes were, well, frantic. "Shit," there went his heart again. Troy peeled the headset from his ear and face and did the same to Will before bending forward. Slowly, the simulation around them began to shut down. The (artificial) rain began to stop. He began pressing on Will's chest in the much-practiced CPR pose, fingers locked. When he couldn't get the airway unblocked that way, Troy leaned forward, closed Omen's nose and blew a breath of air into his mouth. "I got ya," he murmured as he went back to pushing on his slippery chest. "C'mon." Deep down, he focused on what he'd done and attempted to coax the excess liquid out. Don't let me have fucked this up. He couldn't lose Will - especially not by his own hand.

Will had done his best to fight off the attackers but without the ability to breathe, that task seemed too great. Surely they would shut down the Danger Room, they weren't going to let him die. Panic ran through Omen's brain as it finally began to shut down. The jungle went blurry and then faded to black. The last thing on his mind had been Troy, was he coming for him? Did he even know Will was in trouble?

It all came back in one violent movement, the water in Omen's lungs came erupting up his windpipe and out of mouth. His face turned to side as he felt Troy on top of him. He had no reason to think the body before him was the hydrokine but he just knew. The damp ground had been replaced with a cold metal one and Will had never seen such a beautiful thing. He coughed out the last of the liquid and breathed in a glorious breath again. Now he just felt like dying, instead of actually doing it.

Normally, Troy might have made a comment such as 'Damn, you went down like a punk', but he was just thankful. Purely thankful. He moved himself back so that Will had room to move his body and to get control of himself. God. He couldn't remember moving so fast in recent history - not even when there'd been a puma after his ass. He rested his hands on his own knees and began to catch his breath. He made a gesture in the general area of the control room that Will was okay, then scooped for his headset that had been thrown off. "He's fine." He assured, breathlessly. His eyes then locked with Omen's and he shook his head. "I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner," he confessed, solemnly. The lock his eyes had on Will's faltered when he felt his heart needlessly skip another beat. He tasted Dr. Pepper on his lips. His eyes closed and he shook the thought, "We'll say you won, hm?" his hand slipped from his knee and grasped Will's in an upside-down handshake, but he held him there instead of letting go straight away.

Will let out a laugh after he'd caught his breath enough to do so. "You got here just in time..." A few more deep breaths, "and I'll say you won, 'cause ya did." They were supposed to be ready for anything, that's what the Danger Room was for. Troy wasn't the only hydrokine out there, only a matter of time before they might have to take one down. Hopefully it wouldn't be in the jungle, in the rain, and on a mountain. Troy's hand grasped Will's but he had no intention of moving yet. Though, it was a comfort to hold the other man's hand as he laid on the cold surface and regained his faculties. "Okay, help me up." Will said making no movement toward leaving the floor. "Wait... Okay, help me up." This time Will pulled himself into a sitting position and brought his gloved hand to Troy cheek. "Thanks for bringing me back Troy."

Troy breathed out slowly through his nose as Will recovered and spoke. He watched him. A flicker of a smile showed on his face when Will half-heartedly tried to right himself. The smile brightened the quickly vanished when a hand touched his cheek. Fourth skip. Jesus. He took his free hand to his face and removed Will's (while still holding on to it), then positioned them both to heave Will off the floor. "Thanks for stickin' around." He winked. Why? He wasn't sure. He wanted to hug Will. A celebratory hug. Yes. He wouldn't use any of the tricks up his sleeves on Will again - no matter what. He couldn't lose him. Troy licked his lips. Dr. Pepper. It tasted nice. Will had had one with lunch. Gah! "Watch your ass next time." He finally added, gruffly, before making for the door. He swiped at his mouth with the back of his leather sleeve. Shit.