Aidan didn’t even bother to verbally respond, just pointing to the drawer that he currently claimed as his. But so far, this newcomer roommate of his wasn’t bothering him too much. Maybe he’d be lucky and actually be able to get something resembling peace and quiet.
Right, so he definitely wasn't a talker. Lachy nodded, mumbling a quiet 'okay' before he grabbed his clothes, placing them in the spare, empty drawer. For once he was actually kind of… curious about the other male. He wasn't going to strike up a conversation with him, not yet at least but there was something about him that made the introverted boy want to talk.
As Aidan’s mind began to wander, his knee started bouncing. Something that only happened when he was nervous. After a few seconds of focusing, it stopped. He didn’t know what it was about this new guy. Aidan just had this weird feeling regarding Lachy that he couldn’t describe. His brow crinkled, ‘cmon Aidan…think!! What is it?’
Lachy was pulled out of his own thoughts as one of the bells started to ring. Lunch, or the slob they described as lunch. It reminded the small boy of the food his parents had served him at home and that had been horrible. At least here it had a little more taste? He pushed the drawer in, glancing at Aidan before he headed for the door.
Aidan got to his feet, taking time to stretch before following Lachy. He walked pretty slowly, his hands stuck in his pockets. He let his feet drag a bit as he walked. Clearly, he was in no hurry whatsoever. But something in him kinda panicked once Lachy got out of sight.
The crowd of teens and preteens all headed to the dining room, a large square with tables and chairs dotted around and the serving area. Lachy headed over, grabbing a plate of food and walked to a nearby table. It was strange, he couldn't get his mind off Aidan. He didn't know why, he'd never met the kid before and yet there was still something about him that felt… he didn't even know and his eyes wandered around the room trying to find him for a moment.
Aidan continued to panic internally. Thankfully, it didn’t show, his face remaining as devoid of emotion as normal. His eyes darted around the room, but he couldn’t seem to find Lachy. He hated that he was this panicked over losing sight of a complete stranger. He grabbed his food, and that’s when he spotted Lachy. He bit back a sigh of relief and casually made his way over to his table. “Mind if I sit?” He asked quickly
Lachy looked up from where he was picking at his food, not necessarily eating it but just pushing it round the plate, "Not at all, go ahead." He gestured to the empty spot across the table. He didn't want to think about how relieved he was that Aidan had showed up, not knowing why. He didn't just the guy, so why did he feel like that? "I'm um, Lachy, you?"
Aidan quietly sat down, beginning to also push the slop they called food around on his plate. He almost didn’t hear when Lachy spoke, but thankfully he did. He looked up, kind of assessing Lachy before simply responding, “Aidan.”
Lachy nodded, though didn't bother with a worded reply. Not one for talking, and Lachy didn't want to make an enemy of his new roommate, not when it looked like Aidan could snap him in half without any trouble at all. He wondered what the others powers were, if he was as strong as some of the people he'd met or weaker.
Aidan quickly looked back down at his plate once he assumed their conversation (if it could even be called that) was over. He bit at the inside of his cheek in agitation. ‘Jesus Christ, there’s definitely something wrong with me today,’ he thought to himself. He was normally never this interested in anyone. But with Lachy, Aidan wanted to know every single thing about him. ‘You’re fucking disgusting, Aidan.’ He aggressively scooted some of the food around.
Lachy glanced up for a moment, opening his mouth to say something before deciding against it, shutting it and looking down once again. He took a few bites of the food, trying not to grimace at the bland taste and texture but hey, it was food, and he was already too underweight, apparently. The rest of the room was a buzz of quiet activity, the other teens talking with each other with an occasional laugh. Lachy couldn't help the sinking feeling in his chest knowing they were all going to end up with the same fate. And then the doors opened.
Aidan had finally begun to eat the food. While it was shitty as hell, he’d gotten used to it over the months, and barely even gagged when he had to swallow the stuff down. His mind had been buzzing with thoughts of what to say to Lachy to break the tension. However, at the sound of the doors opening, all those thoughts quickly vanished. He looked up, waiting to see what was going to happen today.
There were three men who entered the room. Two were standard looking guards, the other was the man who ran this Facility, Mr Sterling. He was tall, wore a clean blue suit, his brown hair was swept backwards neatly and his blue eyes glared at anyone who looked his way. Unfortunately for the two boys, he walked straight towards them, "Aidan, Lachlan, you're coming with us."
If he were back at home, Aidan would never listen to some corporate looking asshole like Mr. Sterling. But he wasn’t back home, and he knew that any sign of resistance would only be met with pain. As far as he was aware, he hadn’t done anything to be a problem. So he wasn’t too worried about what they’d do to him. So at the very least, he knew it wasn’t going to be immediate death. But he couldn’t help but be nervous, it was obvious by the way his hands were shaking. He stuffed them in his front pockets as he stood, effectively hiding it.
Lachy wrapped his arms around himself, almost as if he was trying to make himself as small as possible as he followed Sterling and the guards. He didn't know why, out of everyone else here, the two of them had been picked but then again, they always picked people randomly to go with them. Usually for some form of testing. The two were taken down the long corridors and into a lab, being guided to one side of the room as Sterling went to the other.
"Now, we just wanted to do a general checkup with the two of you and test out a new formula to hopefully suppress your powers. Aidan, you first, please demonstrate your abilities." He gestured to a fake dummy at the other side of the room.
Aidan let out a small sigh. He hated this, the feeling that he was just some lab rat. It he knew he had to obey or they’d make him. And he’d rather do it somewhat of his own free will. He lifted his hand, unfortunately the shaking hadn’t stopped. What if he failed to meet their expectations, or if he just couldn’t do it? No- he couldn’t afford to think like that. ‘Focus Aidan, focus.’ He took a deep breath before letting loose a controlled stream of fire, letting it hit the dummy for roughly five seconds before he stopped. Not much of the dummy was left behind.
Lachy blinked, trying his best to not back up into the corner. Fire. How far could he go with that? How powerful even was Aidan? Lachy didn't know and frankly didn't want to know. He knew then to definitely not piss him off.
Sterling nodded, writing something down before he gestured for Lachy to walk forwards which he did, "Now, last time you said you could only control the light, has that changed? Can you use the other aspects?" Lachy shook his head, making the older man sigh, "Right well, go ahead."
Lachy focused, taking the light from the over head lights and lamps before it went straight for the dummy, blasting the rest of it into smithereens. He stumbled a little as he took a step back.
Aidan retreated to the other side of the room as Lachy was called. He stretched his hand, wincing slightly. Using the fire always left a tingling feeling in his hands that wouldn’t go away for at least thirty minutes. When the lights went off, Aidan blinked in surprise, looking up in time to see Lachy shoot the light at the dummy. He had underestimated Lachy apparently.
The lights flickered back on a moment later, Lachy shifting on his feet in the middle of the room and biting his lip. Sterling seemed at least a little more pleased as he walked back over, "Right, good. Now, please, take a seat." He gestured to the two medical beds, both with an array of needles next to them, "And take off your shirts."
Aidan felt his anxiety spike again, and he was tempted to fight back, refuse to do what they wanted. But no good would come from it. Still, he tensed up for a second, and he had to force his body to move over to the bed. He sat down before taking his shirt off, instantly feeling very, very uncomfortable
Lachy wanted to say no. He wanted to scream no and just leave the room but it would end up way worse for him. He took the sweater off, wrapping his arms around himself in an attempt to hide his body and scars with little luck as he took a seat. Sterling headed over to Aidan first, picking up one of the needles filled with some sort of blue liquid, "We've designed a serum that hopefully will suppress your powers completely," He stuck the needle into Aidan's arm, "You two are going to be our first trial runs of the serum."
Everything that Sterling said terrified Aidan. They were literally the first people to test this drug. He couldn’t shake the feeling that this was how he was going to die. It wasn’t even just a feeling, his brain was practically screaming it at him. And even if it didn’t kill him..some small part of Aidan liked his powers, they made him feel safe. He didn’t want them to be taken away.
Once it was administered to Aidan, Sterling moved on to Lachy, doing the exact same thing. He tried not to look so tense and scared, though it definitely showed through, "We'd like to keep you in here for a while, just to monitor your vitals and such. We'll be watching through cameras so don't get any ideas." Sterling moved away, heading to the door with the other guards in the room, "Thank you for being complacent." He smiled at the two boys before he disappeared.
At the last part, Aidan had to resist every single urge to scream and yell and just fight. But he couldn’t do that. So now he was stuck with all his nervous habits. The knee bouncing started first. He had to concentrate for a solid thirty seconds to control it. Then it was the hand fidgeting. With every nervous impulse he stopped, another one started. Waiting to see what would happen to him was the worst pain he could imagine right now.