Music by the Picnic tables (7-15-11) [Open to all]

Coming to a stop upon hearing the sound of Aemilio's footsteps behind him, Tobias soon lowered his harmonica, turning to face Aemilio as he did so. His powers come into play once again, Toby turned his head to the side, as if to suggest he was listening to something. His focus on Aemilio's heartbeat, Toby was initially able to pick up that he was in fact quite angry with his remarks. As he continued to listen though, he noticed that his heart rate began to decrease, suggesting that he was slowly becoming less and less angry.

Listening to him apologise, Tobias, his powers once again coming into effect, listened carefully to what he had to say, in an attempt to pick up on any snark or anger in his voice. Hearing his apology however, Tobias, after a few seconds, let out a sigh, running a hand through his hair as he did so. "Nah I'm sorry man, I'm just not keen on people trying to get a rise out of me, bully experiences from when I was a kid and what not, still not the best at handling situations like that" he said with a chuckle and a friendly smile.

On the one hand Aemilio was glad with Tobias accepting his apology, but on the other hand he was disappointed the brief moment of excitement was over. O well, it was probably for the best... he supposed, best not to pick fights already.

"Then I might as well tell you now," Aemilio replied with a grin, "I can be a terrible jerk - in case you hadn't noticed...!" Despite the nature of his (very true) message, he seemed friendly as well. Backwards as it may sound to some, Aemilio respected Tobias quite a bit for leaving him speechless just now.
"You're alright," he said to Tobias with a smile, "how'd you ever get bullied?"

Raising an eyebrow as Aemilio began to explain that he had a tendancy to be a bit of a jerk, Tobias chucked as he heard him finish. " Ah no worries man, we all have our off days" he said with a friendly smile as he looked around again, looking back to him after a few seconds. " I'm sure we'll get along fine regardless" he said with a friendly smile, giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder upon doing so. Upon hearing him ask as to why he was bullied, Tobias chuckled as he looked down to the ground, looking back to him soon after. " Well man, I was taller than most of the other kids in my class, and apparently, that's enough to cause problems" he said with a smile. "It's how I got this" he added as he motioned to a small but noticeable scar on his mouth.

"I'm glad," Aemilio replied when Tobias said they'd probably get along, not showing how very amused he was at the mentioning of him having an 'off-day'. Make that an off-decade, he thought, but for the sake of self-promotion he didn't speak his mind.

He raised a curious brow at Tobias' comment. "You say that in a strangely cheerful way," he said as he shamelessly studied the scar for a couple of seconds. Then he managed to tare his eyes away from Tobias' face and wondered out loud: "though I'm guessing - just a wild stab in the dark here," he added sarcastically, "you're not in the least happy about it? What's with the smiles?"

Subtle like a blunt axe... don't you love him?

Staying still as he watched Aemilio scan his scar in a less than subtle manner, Tobias chuckled upon hearing him finish, nodding as he did so. " I guess I am strangley cheerful about the whole situation, aren't I ?" he said with a chuckle as he scratched his head, only just realising that he was proabbly coming across as overly cheerful about the whole situation. " Don't get me wrong, it was quite hurtful, but it didn't persist thankfully, in fact it ended on the day I got this old thing" he soon added, motioning to the scar again.

"How it came to stop however... is something I'd rather keep to myself" he said, his smile diminishing a little bit as he did so. It wasn't something he was keen on talking about, but the day he got the scar on his mouth was also the day his powers manifested for the first time, the resulting manifistation causing a lot of trouble for both him and anyone who was in the area at the time. Shaking his head again, Tobias' smile returned as he looked to Aemilio. " I think I can see why you lost interest so quickly dude" he said with a chuckle.

"I see," Aemilio said, sincerely respecting Tobias' privacy for now (which, please note, is a huge deal for him =P) but naturally more curious than ever. He smiled at him comfortingly; "let's talk about something else. Like euhmr...."
He was in the dark there for a moment but just shrugged the moment of silence of and went on with an obvious but therefor logical option: "hobbies? What do you like to do when you're not smiling?" That may have sounded a bit insulting to some but the way he said it showed he meant no harm by it.

" Thanks for not prying man, usually when I say I wan't to keep it to myself, it results in a steady flow of follow up questions" he said with a chuckle. Noticing Aemilio quickly change the subject to hobbies after a moment of silence, Tobias, after chuckling at hearing Aemilio ask what he didnt do when he was smiling, scratched his chin, as if to suggest he was thinking about the question. After a few seconds, he returned his gaze to Aemilio.

"Not really much to say to be honest, I like to play music to pass the time, hence the harmonica" he said as he scratched his head, hsi powers letting him know that there was no malice in Aemilio's question." I also like puzzle solving and the like....seriously man, the party never stops with me" he chuckled. "What about yourself, what do you do to pass the time ?" he asked, a look of genuine interest on his face as he did so.

"Here's a thought then: next time don't say you don't want to talk about," Aemilio replied with a shrug, grinning to show he wasn't serious, "just say something about purple manatee and I garentee, whoever you're talking will be distracted long enough to run away."

The hobbies Tobias mentioned may not have sounded spectacular but it was a decent enough anwser. The puzzle solving reminded Aemilio of Axel... but fortunatly that was one of the very few sides about his stepbrother he liked.
"Puzzling hey?" he asked with an interested smile, "despite the lack of glamour there is to that... nice! Do you happen to like strategic games too? I've been looking for a good chess opponent for a while now."
What he said wasn't entirely true; he played chess very often but never to a point he had to wake up his brain to win. Surprisingly he - unlike most people - didn't blame it on his own intellect but on the lach of intellect on his opponents.

"Me? Well I like hanging out with people mainly," he finally said, "I like music - though listening to it much better than playing it myself." One might notice he was lying there as he liked playing the piano but just felt uncomfertable doing it in public, hence doesn't like to tell about it all that much.
"Well, pushing people's buttons, obviously," he finally added with a downward grin, "again I apologise. Anyway!" he went on, "do you like anything involving social contact too?" That sounded as a bit of a challange, a little more curiosity and also a hint of hopefulness; he might like hanging out with Tobias some more, it'd be nice to know what and where they'd go then.

Trying to stifle his laughter, a chuckle soon escaped Tobias's lips as he listened to Aemilio go on, the story of the purple manatee causing another laugh to escape his lips. "I'll keep that in mind man, thanks" he said, a friendly smile appearing on his face as he rubbed his eyes a little bit. "I do enjoy the occasional strategic game game, though I much prefer smaller puzzles, like Minus Cubes and Burr puzzles" he said as he scratched his head. Upon hearing Aemilio mention if he was a chess player though, the look on Tobias' face suggested that his interest had been piqued, Toby nodding soon after as a result.

"I am indeed, though it's been a while since I last played, might be a bit rusty" he said with a smile as he continued to look to him. "That being said, I'd be more than happy to play, despite the fact you'd probably take me to the dry cleaners the first few games" he soon added with a chuckle. As he finished, he soon found his attention drawn back to Aemilio, the look on Tobias' face suggesting he was quite interested with what he had to say, Toby laughing upon hearing him, once again, bring up the pushing peoples buttons thing and his apology for doing it to him. "Don't worry about it man, water under the bridge" he said with a smile.

Upon hearing him ask if he liked anything involving social contact, Toby scratched his chin. "Well , I'd be lying if I said I was a frequent patron of night clubs and the like" he said with a chuckle as he looked back to Aemilio. "Truth be told, if I do go out for a drink, I generally prefer somewhere a bit more quiet you know ? The noise and lights of clubs just tends to disorientate me for the most part" he said, hoping Aemilio would understand. "Apart from that, I also like to go to the movies and hang out with friends and what not" he soon added at the end.

"Great," Aemilio replied with a smile, "playing chess against people is so much more fun than against a computer." After a moment of frowning he looked at Tobias with a small grin; "is it me or do I sound just the slightest bit like a chess-nerd?"

"Either way," he went on, "well, I do like night clubs but I also see the appeal in places a little more peaceful and quiet indeed. At least there you can have a normal conversation without shouting until you haven't got a voice left... It is rather inconvienent to have a hoarse voice after every good weekend..."
He grinned for just in instant, remembering a monday morning where an extremely hoarse voice made for an interesting oral presentation at school. "That was less than charming..." he muttered to himself, hardly noticing he spoke out loud.

"Anyway," he went on as his mind returned to the present, "I get your point. But my only real problem with going out is that I don't drink... I know that shouldn't matter but sometimes that does get annoying, being the only sober one... and I get annoyed easily by people who drink too much."

"Oh agreed man, nothing compares to matching wits with a human opponent, much better than playing a computer and nah, nothing wrong with a little bit of enthusiasm for the game" he said with a smile as he moved around past Aemilio to the stairs that led back into the mansion, sitting down on them upon approaching them. As he listened to him speak on about how he liked night clubs, Tobias nodded along, listening to what he had to say with a look of interest.

Hearing him mutter something about something being less than charming, Tobias shoot his head, realising it was probably nothing. Hearing him then mention that he wasn't much of a drinker, Tobias chuckled. "Hey man, no shame in that, lots of people don't take a drink." he said as he kept his gaze on him. "Lord knows I'm not one to go out of my way to drink myself into a stupor, the most you'll ever see me with is a Rolling rock or a light beer" he soon added with a chuckle.

"Ah," Aemilio said, honestly smiling at Tobias and his drinking comment, "great. At least you know your boundries..." He rolled his eyes and sighed: "you have no idea how often I've had to ship wasted friends to their beds... The horror," he finished with a tired sigh~ he'd honestly done that far too often in the past, in same cases to extreme irritation.
Speaking of things that bother Aemilio, he wasn't too happy about Tobias' reassurance, saying there was no shame in not drinking; he knew that, he never thought otherwise and he didn't like the idea of Tobias thinking he did.... but fine.


"Anyway, good to meet you," Aemilio said with a smile, noticing they were back at the mansion again, "I'll be going back inside now...?"

"Oh man, I can imagine, sounds like a horror story" Tobias said with a chuckle as he listened to him describe having to help his freinds into their beds after they had too much to drink. "Here's hoping no such things occur at the upcoming party then" he soon added as he looked to Aemilio with a smile. Upon hearing Aemilio say he was going to head back in, Tobias turned around to face the door, his gaze soon returning to Aemilio.

"Well it was nice meeting you too man, let me know if you ever wan't a game of chess, I'd be happy to play" he said with a friendly smile as he returned to his pocket, taking his harmonica out again. "I think I'll be staying out if you don't mind man, would like to take in the day a bit more, as well as play a bit more" he soon added as he moved to the side, allowing Aemilio to move past if he wanted to.

"O yeah, I almost forgot about the party..." Aemilio said, a small grin appearing on his face, "well at least if people get smashed beyong their wits, at least we won't have to drag them far." He looked away to hide his grin as he imagined him just leaving all his KO house mates lie there, which he was most likely to do if that situation presented itself.

"Anyway," he said returning to reality, smiling at Tobias, "yeah, I'll definetly keep you to that, chess it is."

They parted with some pleasent goodbyes and each went their sepperate way.

(( if that was badly written and short, and unspecific... sorry my brain's asleep already^^; ))

"That's true" Tobias said with a chuckle upon hearing Aemilio mention that they wouldnt have to drag the drunk housemates far if they were to get drunk. "Guess we've got to be thankful for the little victories" he soon added with a smile. As he shook his harmonica in a manner that suggested he was cleaning it out, he soon looked back to Aemilio as he watched him head back into the house.

"Looking forward to it man, hopefully I wont be too rusty when we play. I'll see ya later" he said with a smile as he watched Aemilio make his way into the house. As he turned back to the grounds, he looked out at the grounds looking back to his harmonica after a few seconds. Raising it to his mouth, he began to play again, losing himself to the music as he closed his eyes and leaned back.

(( No worries man, happens to the best of us =P. Want to end it here ? ))