6/11 Instance: Second Sons

[tears~fall~like~glass]

timeline: day or so after New Kids, Old Games and Dandere!


Julian: It was relatively nice outside, so Julian found himself relaxing on the patio, book open in front of him on the table. Though, he made sure to maintain a safe distance from the pool because he was relatively sure if he got anywhere near it, he'd end up falling in. It would be just his luck. Sighing, he shot another look across the grounds and reminded himself that he needed to at least try to focus on his schoolwork.

Walt: Walt trudged outside, coffee can in hand and cheap fishing pole in the other. It was still technically summer so by God he was going to do some fishing even if it killed him. He stopped and backtracked as he walked out the door and across the patio. "Hey, it's Julian, right? We met the other day in the rec room, sorry, Walt Langkowski." He shuffled his pole into his other arm to shake the guy's hand. "Uh, I think we're neighbours in the dorm as well."

Julian: "Oh, um..." Julian pulled his face from his palm and dumbly nodded as he reached for the guy's hand, "Yeah, yeah, Julian Keller. Wasn't much time to get acquainted with, uh, all the, um... girls, but it's nice to meet you." Straightening in his seat, he released his hand after a shake, "You're with Fabian, right?"

Walt: "Uh, yeah. I am," Walt said, unenthusiastically. "You're with Bruce, right? Uhm...so...how's that going?" Probably not that good judging from what Walt heard before he put his earplugs in some nights.

Julian: Julian considered his roommate for a few moments, flipping his textbook shut as he did so, and finally gave a shrug, "I suppose not as badly as you and Fabian from the sound of it?"

Walt: "Err...well, I don't know. Are you being forced out of the room two or three nights a week?" Walt said, shifting his equipment again so that he didn't drop it all on the ground. "Other than that I'd say rooming with him is tolerable." Which, of course, was really just a nice way of saying 'polite dislike.'

Julian: "Not that frequently, no," he answered as he shook his head, giving a bit of a shrug, "We actually don't really talk all that much."

Walt: Walt thought he'd prefer that to the antagonism and snide insinuations he had to deal with on a regular basis. "Hm...well, I guess it's not the worst thing." He looked over at the lake. "Uh, I was just going down to the water to see if there's any fish. Do you want to join me?"

Julian: "Sure," Julian answered with a grin and hurried to get up, managing to catch the chair before it clattered to the ground, his smile becoming more sheepish, "It sounds a lot more exciting than this reading for class."

Walt: "What are you reading?" Walt asked, loping down the lawn towards the water. "Uhm, I'm not sure I'd call fishing exciting. It's more relaxing. If I wanted exciting...well, I don't know what I'd do, but I wouldn't fish."

Julian: "I think I find relaxing to be exciting... especially around here," he commented as he trailed after Walt, leaving his book on the table. Because who was going to steal a textbook? Shaking his head, he insisted, "Nothing all that interesting. It's just the introduction chapter for law with Professor Salvatore."

Walt: "Oh...then why are you taking the course if you don't find it interesting?" Walt said, sitting down on the dock and opening his coffee can, which was teeming with worms. Good to the last drop.

Julian: Carefully sitting down next to him, Julian warily eyed the water and hoped that he didn't end up in the lake by the time this was over as he hesitated slightly on his reply, "Well, um, my mom's a lawyer..."

Walt: "Oh...I get it," Walt said, taking a worm out of and putting it on the hook. "Uh...my dad's a dentist...or, well, he was one. He wanted me or one of my brothers to be one too but..." He shrugged.

Julian: "Yeah, exactly," he replied, shrugging, "My dad's a businessman, as is my brother... So, I guess it's more out of obligation."

Walt: "Hm," Walt said, casting the line into the water. He wasn't going to tell Julian what to do. He, on the other hand, had seen what hating your job did to a person. Like heck he'd ever be a dentist...he'd probably end up killing himself just like everyone said dentists often did.

Walt: "Do you spell your name with an 'a' or an 'e'?" he asked, changing the subject.

Julian: His brow furrowed at the question, and he looked over to him, "An 'a'. Why?"

Walt: Walt shrugged. "I used to know a Julien." He fell silent for awhile, just taking in the quiet. "Do you like this place?"

Julian: "Ah." Julian leaned back onto his elbows as he stared out across the water, taking in the question, considering an answer, and eventually deciding, "Yeah, I think so. What about you?"

Walt: Walt nodded. "I like it more than I ever thought I would. I thought America was really crowded and stuff but it's still got quiet places. Err...I'm from Alberta," he explained. "Not too much going on there."

Julian: "It's pretty much like home for me," he smiled, rushing to add, "Well, the city is like home. Out here is... It's surprisingly nice, actually - relaxing. ...And, home is mostly Los Angeles."

Walt: "You're from California?" Walt said. "Wow...do you surf or anything?"

Julian: "I am, but I don't," Julian shook his head, "I'm... not extremely coordinated. It'd be like a disaster waiting to happen. But, I at least swim because the beach is pretty cool. Well, when it's not crowded and stuff." After a moment of thought, he looked over to Walt, "So, Canada... Is winter actually really brutal there?"

Walt: "Um, where I'm from it's pretty bad," Walt admitted. "But it's not like that everywhere. On the coasts it's mostly rainy during the winter. We're used to it up there though. I actually like snow, believe it or not."

Walt: "Oh...I've always been interested in trying some sort of surfing out," he admitted. "I had to stick with winter sports growing up though. Not that I'm complaining. I love hockey and skiing."

Julian: "My brother, James, played a lot of sports, but I was never really all that great," Julian said as he glanced out over the water, confessing, "I've been on a few ski trips, but I always hung out and drank hot chocolate in the resorts."

Walt: "I had a brother too," Walt said. "Two. They were a bit older than me. Both were athletic like me, especially my oldest brother, Theo. He was captain of the football team. Uh... did you get along well with your brother?"

Julian: He noted the use of had, but he wasn't entirely sure whether he should ask or not. He didn't really want to be nosy or anything. Sighing, he gave a bit of a shrug, "I've lived with him here for the past year, so we get along well enough. And, I think he finds me tolerable because he'll stand to be seen with me in public."

Walt: "Why would it bother him to be seen with you in public?" Walt said, reeling the line in a little as something nibbled. "Here, want to try? You must've deep sea fished before in California."

Julian: "I am capable of fishing, so sure," Julian grinned over at him. As for his brother, there were a multitude of reasons as to why his family wouldn't want to be seen with him, however the simplest one was, "I'm a mutant."

Walt: "Oh..." Walt said, awkwardly. "Uhm...I guess that makes sense." He hesitated a moment. "I've not seen any of my family for two years now. They disowned me when they found out I was a mutant...they were scared of me." Well, it was a bit more complicated than that but Walt didn't think it was a good idea to admit he'd gone on a rampage through a campsite.

Walt: Not right away anyways.

Julian: That was... far worse than his situation, and it explained the 'had' from a moment ago. He bit down on his lip as he reached to take the fishing pole from Walt, debating what there was to say about that. "I'm sorry," he muttered, deciding the best thing to do was to not make a big deal about it, "My, um... My family... Well, they're rich, and they didn't really want me ruining their reputation by having some sort of episode in public."

Julian: "But, James let me go out with him and do stuff..." he trailed off with a shrug, casting the line out again after baiting it. After worrying his lip for a few moments, he decided it was best to change the subject to something, hopefully, lighter, "So, that game of truth or dare... It could've been worse, yeah?"

Walt: "It's fine. It was awhile ago now," Walt said, happy to move onto a different subject. "Yeah, I didn't take the dare because I was pretty sure they'd tell me to take my clothes off or something equally embarrassing. There's a lot of girls in our year, eh?"

Julian: "That's what I was worried about, but I feel like I got off pretty easy with my question," Julian admitted, nodding, "Seems so, but I guess that's not necessarily a bad thing..."

Walt: Walt shrugged. "I guess not. I'm not especially good at talking to them but they seem alright with me....most of the time." Sometimes girls were weird with him though. But so far that hadn't happened here.

Julian: "I'm not either," he said as he waited for a tug on the line, signaling a bite, "But, uh... I talked to, um, Hisako. For a bit. In the kitchen."

Walt: "The asian girl?" Walt asked, wrinkling his nose a little. "She's...I don't know. I got the impression she wasn't all that nice. But what do I know? The only girls here I interact with a lot are Cecilia and Alison. And I only see the first one because she's my roommate's girlfriend."

Julian: "...I think I spend my time with quite a few girls, which means I've probably made a huge idiot of myself," Julian decided not to think about this fact overly much and simply nodded, "Yeah, her. She's... nicer than I originally thought." Suddenly a bit nervous, he blew out a breath as he confessed, passing the fishing pole back after failing to catch anything, "She kissed me... Like, on the cheek... So, maybe I'm just biased?"

Walt: "I don't know," Walt admitted, frowning a little at the water. "If you think she's good looking or something, yeah, maybe."

Walt: He sighed as he finally reeled the line in and there was nothing on the hook. "I really hope nobody tries to set me up or anything. I got off easy with that question too but if it leads to me going out on some awkward date I'm not going to be happy."

Julian: "It's not like any of the girls here are bad looking," Julian pointed out, nose wrinkling as he considered the prospect of being set up, "I hadn't even considered that..."

Walt: "No, they're not. But that's not the point. If I'm going to date someone I'd like it to be on my terms. Being hot only goes so far...if I can't talk to them things get awkward really quickly," Walt said, casting his line again. "I sound like such a girl..."

Julian: After a moment of consideration, he slowly nodded, admitting, "I think we both do..."

Walt: "Well...at least we're not complete jerks, right?" Walt said. "Not that any girl will actually care but it's the principle that counts." At least that's what he told himself.

Julian: That was pretty much what he liked to tell himself as well, so he simply agreed, likely less than enthusiastically, "Yep. Woo for us."

Walt: "My brother, ahem, my brother Julien used to have a lot of girls following him around. He was sort of a bad guy. not that he was mean or anything, he was just...rebellious. Girls love that. They say they want a nice guy but they don't. At least I don't think they do," Walt said. "If they did I'd have had lots of girlfriends."

Julian: "James has always been popular, and I'm... Well, I'm just the little brother. Even to girls because I'm the nice guy," Julian sighed, "So, yeah... I know what you mean..."

Walt: "If you have an older brother he's almost inevitably more popular than you and better at getting girls," Walt said sagely. "If you have more than one it's even worse because then the rule is doubled."

Walt: "At least that's what I think," Walt said, his lips curving slightly.

Julian: Shooting the other guy a grin of his own, he simply commented, "Then, I'm glad I only have one brother."

Walt: "Well...it's not all bad," Walt said, feeling much happier than when the day started. "At least I don't have any sisters."

Julian: Laughing, Julian simply nodded in agreement, feeling fairly content to sit in silence with a grin on his face. He liked to think he'd just made a friend, which totally beat doing law homework.

Walt: Walt liked to think he'd made a friend, perhaps one with an unfortunate name, but it was a friend. Now he had three and that was quite bit. More than he'd had in a long time, really. "I don't think they're biting today."

Julian: "Maybe if we move to another spot?" he suggested as he sat up.

Walt: "Sounds like a good idea," Walt said, picking up his coffee can. "Might be more just lounging somewhere else."

Julian: "Just what I was thinking," Julian said, beginning to get to his feet. As he went to stand, he went off-balance and pitched forward right off the end of the dock and into the water, glad he could swim as he sputtered at the surface. Well, now they'd definitely need to find a new spot because the fish certainly weren't going to hang around here.

Walt: Walt winced as Julian broke the water face first. "Uhm...are you alright?" he said, chuckling a bit wheezily as he bend down and offered a hand to the other guy.

Julian: "Luckily, my pride is used to being wounded, so I think I'll live," Julian answered dryly as he gladly accepted the hand up, grateful for the help back onto the dock.

Walt: "You don't need to wear a lifejacket on the dock or anything, right?" Walt said, a little smart aleckness coming through again.

Julian: Wiping his face off, he snorted and shot back, "Guess you'll have to bring one next time, just in case."

Walt: Walt smiled properly now. "If it means I don't have to do CPR I'll be bringing one along."

Julian: "That'd be more action than we're both getting," Julian lamented with a small smirk, not quite able to keep himself from snickering, "Let's just move on to the next spot, so I can lounge around while I dry off and avoid saying anything else like that."

Walt: "Err...yeah, that sounds like a plan." Awkward. In a way though Walt was somewhat relieved. At least he wasn't the most awkward in the school now...and thinking that made him feel bad. "Come on, if we catch something maybe we can barbecue it. "