Experiment {Open}

[Taylor]

Adrian looked confused for a moment and only partially about the paper. He hadn’t expected John to actually concede and well... show gratitude. On the other hand, Adrian wasn’t exactly sure it wasn’t sarcasm. He was a little dense when it came to social interactions... he often didn’t pick up sarcasm, usually didn’t get the jokes, and was woefully unaware when it came to flirtations. Still, he coped... though it often led to social faux pas on his part.

When he finnaly relaised that the last paper handed to him he winced... then retaliated as he opened his bag once more. ”I did no such thing as ask for your directions... just because you misinterpreted what I had intended to say doesn’t mean you can talk down to me.” He pulled the now-crumpled instructions from his bag and handed them to John, ”And before you mention it, I could care less that there are several disorganized and chaotic crease marks on your paper... it makes little difference to me.” He jumped down from the counter and almost crossed his arms... then stopped because he thought he would resemble the spoiled child he was already doing such a good job of replicating.

[Alice Tudor]

John smiled, tilting his head to the side slightly. "And it makes no difference to me, either. It actually makes it look like I did the work. Thanks, Adrian." He placed the paper back on the counter, putting his hands into his pockets and watching Adrian rather closely for a moment as he jumped down off the counter. It was cute, how he almost crossed his arms. It made John wonder why he didn't... Was he... trying to copy him? Oh, how cute!

Having a slightly awkward silence once more, John waited before taking his hands from his pockets and holding them out to his sides. He shrugged slightly, keeping his hands out as if trying to show something. "Care to test me? I mean... just so you know I'm not lying or trying to pull your leg or anything."

[Taylor]

Adrian rolled his eyes, ”OK if you’re as bad at chemistry as I think you are... I would have to be ten times worse, my bran can abrely handle biology... let alone chemistry. So me... testing you, to affirm your sincerity would be as pointless as me apparently giving you cpr... since you’re all immortal and all.” The emphasis on immortal made clear his disbelief.

”And where exactly did the term pulling somones leg come from? I mean it’s kinda an out there expression. Pulling somones leg... I mean I’ve heard break a leg.... and that made sense since it’s bad luck to wish someone good luck in the theatre... just like it;s bad luck to say hamlet... no Macbeth, in a theatre... I always get those two mixed up... I tend to do that a lot, mix two things up when they are similar, which is why I suck at chemistry I can never remember the difference between the elements and the isotopes... actually I don’t even know what an Isotope is... I don’t even know where I heard it.” He stopped talking after that, off in his own thoughts as he attempted to recall past memories.

[Alice Tudor]

Jack opened his mouth periodically to say something, but then closed it, all throughout Adrian's speech. That wasn't entirely what he meant, by testing him. He could care less about chemistry, really. Did he even know what an isotope was? Probably... not. He shrugged slightly at the though, holding his hand up. "I ... honestly can't answer any of that. I don't think I have a comeback either."

Turning, John pulled over the stool that he was sitting on earlier. He sat down on it, grabbing the edge of the stool seat and leaning towards Adrian. He wanted to just get the truth across now, and just... well. Get it out in the open. This was seeming to go from good to bad, to good again, and ... frankly it was starting to tire him a bit. He wasn't that young anymore! "Look, kid. I don't mean ... test me on chemistry. I'm not lying to you. I can't understand my ability, and its no fun being brought back to life. It's like.. being hauled over broken glass. I cannot die. Not to mention you're rather cute for your age."

[Taylor]

Adrian took time to process what John was saying, and by the time he was halfway through understanding it he was already talking. He had gotten hung up on the kid part... it was a little too close to runt for him to accept. ”Kid?... Kid... you’re like maybe a year or so older than me, where do you get off calling me kid. What is your problem, I have been nothing, but pleasant to you... and all you can manage to do is insult me!” By the time he registered the end of Johns statement... he probably didn’t take it the way it was intended. ”And... cute? What am I, 5? Really, I could care less about your youthful immortality phase... most kids don’t take it as seriously as you do, but I myself... don’t intend to go through any such nonsense!”

He wasn’t really angry.. just piqued. Even so, the sylph that had carried out the poisoned air drifted back into the room, curious to see what was causing such a disturbance. Adrian waved it off, hoping it would go away before it decided to take an actual interest... in which case there really wouldn’t be much he could do to make it go away. But after that initial motion, he ignored the creature in favour of John “Could you be any more condescending? I mean really, go ahead and try.”

[Alice Tudor]

John's mouth dropped every so slightly, watching Adrian as he went off about him calling Adrian a kid. It was true, though!! He was really 27, but obviously, Adrian wasn't interesting in listening and thought that he was lying about it... or being condescending. He sighed, rubbing his hand through his head and being absolutely flustered at the moment as to what to say. After taking his time to gather his thoughts and try to think what to say, he looked at Adrian with a rather... serious look in his eye. There was no more playing, he was serious.

"Look. I'm 27 or something years old. I'm not counting. Sorry I called you kid. I was not intending to insult you and that was never my plan in the fire place. When I said cute, I was complimenting you on your looks. Not about your age. My immortality is not a phase. I don't know what the hell it is, but I'm done. It was nice meeting you, Adrian. "

With that, he grabbed his chemistry paper and began picking up his mess in the chemistry lab. He was done, today already ended incredibly badly and he was tired of failing for the night. It was time to get back to his dorm room, so he could just... sit back and relax. Hopefully the evening would get better.

[Taylor]

Adrian felt kind of stupid... and rude. Apparently John thought he was cute... in a good way. Johns response kind of took the wind out of his sails. ”Uhh, sorry...” He rubbed the back of his neck, fidgeting more than actually doing anything productive. He figured John could be immortal... and since this was T’zen... he figured that there wasn’t such a thing as too outlandish. So he bit his lip and fidgeted with his bag a bit. He had never had his looks complimented by a guy before...

He stepped forward, towards John, ”I’m sorry, I mean... well even if we are at T’zen immortality is a rarity, I mean I figured it wasn’t something that actually happened in real life. I mean it’s in books... or TV shows, but it’s not like it’s something that is expected to happen in real life... And when I said that stuff about the phase... I just meant... well you hear about how teenagers think they’re immortal and nothing can touch them... but, I’m sorry.” He avoided saying other things that came to mind, first was that John ranked about a 9 on the scale of attraction... the last was probably he’s old... still... he looked really young for 27.

[Alice Tudor]

As he knelt down to put the bunsen burner in the cabinet, he looked to Adrian out of the corner of his eye, sighing slightly in his head. Okay, maybe he went a bit too far with that. It needed to be said though. He wasn't sure what his ability was, and quite frankly, he wanted a cure for it. Everything still hurt. If he snapped his neck, well... the pain would stop then because his neck snapped but... if he was shot it would hurt. Then being brought back... well... it was getting somewhat easier but it still hurt. It wasn't a pleasant thing. Then again, he wasn't very pleasant to Adrian just a second ago.

"Don't worry about it. You're not the only one whose turned me down because of my age. You're also the only one I've really told about my... supposed... immortality. " Standing up straight, having put everything away, he put his hands in his pockets, almost contemplating a bit now about his own ability. Like he was a moment ago. Though he was trying not to show it. "I can understand why ... you would think it was a phase. I'm sorry I kind of snapped at you. No hard feelings, okay?" John held out his hand to shake, smiling. Right. No hard feelings, they would sort of... start over.

[Taylor]

Adrian took Johns hand, shaking it, happy to have at least a little of the confrontation resolved. But internally he was still a little uneasy, mostly at the fact that John thought Adrian had turned him down... which was far from true... at least he thought it was. Maybe he had, he hadn`t meant to. Unfortunately Adrian was far from skilled when it came to anything more than casual friendship... and completely inexperienced on top of that. Then there was the fact that they were both men, Adrian had only recently accepted that he was attracted to other men... which in his godfearing family, was about as sinfull as you could get. That others felt the same... and that John wasn’t as demonic or fiendish as his father had painted anyone who was attracted to their own sex... well it was a bit of a surprise.

”I didn’t turn you down... but I mean... you know I’m a guy right? I mean you’re a guy, at least I thought you were and now if you aren’t I feel like an ass. It’s just... no, you’re name is John, there aren’t any females with the name John, well I suppose there are, but you have a certain masculinity about you... so either you’re a... handsome female or a hot guy... either way you’re totally attractive and not at all old looking, I mean I feel it’s bad to discriminate against people because of their looks, let alone their age... even though I tend to, but I try not to actually let it affect my actions.” He was speaking at a mile a minute, as he tended to when he felt nervous or awkward. He had a gift for putting himself in awkward situations, but he finally paused in his speech, just long enough to be noticeable, before he finished it in a rush. ”Please don’t hit me or slap me, it’s just that I’m really bad at conversation!”

[Alice Tudor]

John had laughed, putting his hands in his pocket. Slap him? Oh no. Adrian was even cuter when he went off into his rambles, it made him laugh and think of how people in this year thought. Apparently, Adrian was having second thoughts about actually liking him. He knew that... though he was brought up to not care about who he loved, others were brought up with a different view. Such as ... to hate loving the opposite sex. He shook his head, shrugging his shoulders.

"I'm not going to slap you. Your rambling is... well, adorable and it makes you... you. Usually its me getting slapped, so its nice not to be on the side of... being slapped." Pausing for a moment to remember what was all said in Adrian's ramble, he grinned a bit. "I know you're a guy. I'm a guy too. Nothing is wrong with it. At least, I don't see anything wrong with it. If there... even is anything."

[Taylor]

Glad not to be hit, Adrian took a few moments to process what John had said. The only thing that he had really picked out at first was that John really did think he was cute, apparently in a non-condescending way. Which meant it was something akin to romance, and something very close to flirtation. Which basically served as an easy way to make Adrian blush, he liked compliments.

As he followed the rest of what John was saying, Adrian felt a little awkward, and it showed when he finally chose to speak ”I wouldn’t be opposed to anything-“ He stopped there to rethink what he had said, and the open ended invitation it left, which, was likely to be either intentionally or unintentionally misinterpreted by John. “On second thought, I would be opposed to some things, it’s just that... if there was something, I wouldn’t be opposed to it. Well within the bounds of reason and expectations because some something’s are just not acceptable, I mean I would totally be opposed to lot’s of things, but... well if the something that you were implying is the something I think it was, then I wouldn’t be opposed to it.”

[Alice Tudor]

John watched Adrian somewhat closely as he processed what John had said. He kept his hands in his pockets, waiting patiently, not going to rush Adrian or anything. It wasn't like he was really looking for anyone to be with right now. Besides, in the long run, he'd probably... out live that person. What was the point of being together with someone if he was going to out live them anyway? Besides he... was still looking for Gray... and he didn't want an incident like his family happening again... he wasn't sure he could handle that... But then again he wouldn't ever let something like that happen again. It was now his mission to protect the people on Earth.

When Adrian finally spoke, though, it made a smile come to John's face. He patted Adrian's shoulder, walking over so he was side by side with him, his shoulder almost touching Adrian's. "Don't worry about it. Flirting is different than... I'm sure some things you are opposed to. You're still young, and not in a bad way. We can be friends, that won't hurt anything, right? Think it over, I'll probably be back here tomorrow to finish this lab. I promise next time I won't kill myself either."

[Taylor]

Adrian who had remained looking straightforward for the duration of the conversation, now looked at John. ”Yeah? That would be cool, I mean... I geuss I’ll see you here tomorrow... If I deign to grace you with my presence,” He picked up a mocking tone, already feeling more comfortable. ”But the immortal youth apparently won’t need me to resuscitate him.” As he said that... something occurred to him.

The thought was a little... if not disturbing, then intriguing. ”So, if you weren’t dead, how long exactly were you conscious... before you woke up” His tone was accusatory, feeling somewhat offended... although in truth he was more curious than anything. He raised an eyebrow at John, expecting an answer, now that he didn’t have to worry about making a mistake... he was much more confident.

[Alice Tudor]

John had laughed, walking over to the door of the chemistry lab. Now why on Earth would he tell Adrian how long he was conscious? It was much more fun to keep it a secret, and to tease him a bit longer. "Oh, you know... I was awake when I.. woke up" He winked to Adrian, completely leaving that open ended and stressing woke up because... he in fact... was awake for a while.

"See you tomorrow, Adrian." With that, John walked out of the chemistry lab, leaving the doorway empty.

.... Only thing was it wasn't empty for that long. He was back in the doorway, kind of leaning in. "Wait a second, how did you clear the air in here without... getting hurt yourself?"

[Taylor]

Adrian couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face even as he attempted to be incredibly offended by the implied response. Then again, much of it had to do with the fact that he was a little flattered. Not that CPR was anything like a kiss... but still. So he wasn’t to bothered as John left without giving him a definitive answer. So he just waved and hitched his bag over his shoulder, about to follow.

When John returned His grin widened and he looked to the sylph that had helped him... a few of her friends had gathered there... He gestured to John. The sylphs didn’t need much instruction, his elementals... by nature, were mischievous, they took any opportunity to bring amusement to themselves and often to Adrian. So the four sylphs rushed toward John with glee, essentially just a big gust of air. They hit him in the chest... which was essentially a gentle push, then proceeded to race around him, pulling his clothing in opposite directions, playing with his hair... Adrian walked past before they could subside... although they loved to effect the real world, the energy had to come from somewhere, and often times, that source was him.

So he laughed as the wind played with John, refusing to answer his question... not that the sylphs weren’t giving him a definite answer already.