Anomaly ↛ Hank McCoy

- six

  Over the course of a few days, the hallway that kept the guests was filled. There was a tall brooding blonde boy that always had a sour facial expression, a redheaded boy who liked crude humor and had a knack for sarcastic comebacks, and an African American man named Darwin who was very polite and witty. They had all been welcoming (with the exception of the blonde boy, but he wasn't too bad).

Alexa had come to enjoy the company of the redheaded boy, who still hadn't told her his name. Why, she didn't know, but it was fun to guess names in an attempt of a game. He was nearly seventeen, and Alexa almost felt old, but reminded herself that two years of an age difference wasn't that large. And it was obvious that the boy appreciated not being treated as a child.

Their regular table in the mess-hall had also been changed. Many chairs had been brought over to the table so the other mutants could sit with one another. It was slightly too crowded for Alexa's taste, but she didn't complain. She was still able to see the friendly face of Hank McCoy everyday, which in itself was nothing to be disappointed by.

"So," Angel said a few days after her arrival. (Charles had told the rest of the young adults that the redheaded boy was the last one he was going to try and recruit, though he was still very bitter towards one man who they had tried to recruit who had told them off.)

"So what?" the redhead asked, spooning a bit of soup into his mouth and resting his chin on a freckled hand. Angel shot him playful glare, retaliating by flicking a small cherry tomato at his forehead.

"So," she retorted, her sass lacing her words. "I feel as if I barely know any of you."

"Because you don't," barked the blonde boy. Everyone glanced at him in surprise, though Angel quickly recovered from the shock by retaliating. "Exactly! That's why we need a get together. Though just us. Charles is great and all, but he's practically a senior citizen. Soon he's going to be getting discounts at stores."

"Yeah, that sounds fun!" Darwin joined, "Just for us, it'll be fun!"

Raven smiled towards Hank, who had been eating his meal silently next to a quiet Alexa. "Hank, you know best. Are there any rec-rooms here in the building?"

When all the heads turned to the tallest of the bunch, Alexa could feel him stiffen beside her. With his cheeks reddening, he shoved his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Oh- um, yeah. There's a few scattered around the building, but my favorite is near the west side. I'll take you all there."

"Perfect," Angel remarked, tapping her black fingernails excitedly against the table. "So- Sean, if you interrupt me again I'll shove these tomatoes down your throat until you choke."

The redhead - Sean - had opened his mouth to make a comeback but had slowly closed it, mumbling something low and looked down at his soup.

"Anyways, as I was saying, I want to get to know my, well, teammates. Like, what are you all's past? It'll be fun!"

Alexa wanted to vomit up her lukewarm salad.

"What about you, Darwin? What's your story?"

Darwin looked pretty uncomfortable (they all had turned fairly uncomfortable, and even Angel seemed to be regretting the idea), though he opened his mouth to start. "Um... well, I was, uh, born with my powers. My mom didn't really like the idea of having a... freak in the house. I've never met my dad, Mom never brought it up. She kicked me out of the house when I was sixteen. I've been on the run from people who know I'm a mutant, running from them so they don't... well, kill me. Taxi cab driving seemed the like the best offer to keep a low profile, so I took it. And... well, here I am."