[Up on the roof, Wednesday evening (for saltandammo)]

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

494 stared off across Fandom Town and wondered if the draw to high places had to do with the cat genes in him. It was a nice view here anyway, and quiet, which was what he kind of wanted for the moment.

But anytime someone wanted to be quiet and alone at FH? Someone was likely to interrupt.

[ooc: Locked to saltandammo, but open to your roof-sitting needs when they're outta there.]

Comments

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

Dean was restless. Unable to settle, he decided to go exploring. He was intending to head down and maybe check out the rest of the campus, but when he reached the stairs, he made a snap decision, changed his mind, and headed up instead of down.

Blair had mentioned the roof that morning and it sounded like the kind of place that would match his mood.

He reached the top and stepped out into the night air.

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

Even as distracted as he was, 494 wasn't about to let down his guard completely, especially outside and exposed. He tensed at the sound of the door opening, turning around-- and then grinned widely when he saw a familiar face. "Hey, Dean." Inwardly he growled a little about the sudden company, but it was a public place.

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

Great. Of all the people on campus, it would have to be his double he'd run into.

But he wasn't about to retreat just because some guy with his face was here before him. So he pasted on a big grin and walked over to join him. "Hey Scooter."

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

494 was a past master at bluffing, so he managed not to frown at Dean despite the greeting. "Aww, a pet name? I'm flattered, really, but I don't think we know each other well enough yet." And, man, Scooter?

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

Dean shrugged. "Have to call you something. Don't like it? Get a name."

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

"Hey, if you suddenly had to pick a name after never having one, would you just take the first one that came along?" He turned back to the edge of the roof, hands in the pockets of his jacket. Not exactly inviting, but he hadn't told Dean to leave him alone yet either.

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

Dean walked over to join him, starting to automatically put his hands in his jacket pockets but stopped and let them dangle at his side instead. Standing the exact same way as his double was one step too many up the weird ladder.

"Yeah, I can see where that could be a tough decision," he admitted. He couldn't really imagine not having a name in the first place; it was just as tough trying to imagine picking one out if he didn't. "You been giving it some thought then?"

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

"Some," he said, glancing at Dean as the other came closer. "It doesn't really bother me. It'd probably just be easier with a name and not a number. If I have one though, I want a good one." The grin was gone now, his expression more thoughtful, though it didn't really look like a face he used very often.

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

"I can understand that. If you're choosing your own name you don't want to end with something like Snaggletooth." Dean glanced sideways at the other guy. "You come up with any possibilities?"

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

He lifted one shoulder, non-commital. "I figure I'll know it when I hear it. Though I guess I'd better work quick, or someone's going to think I really am 'Scooter'." 494 glanced at Dean again, lips pursed slightly as if he had something else to say but maybe didn't think it was wise.

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

Dean shrugged. "A nickname's better than no name. I suppose I could call you 'handsome devil who looks like me' but that takes even longer to say than X5-494." The expression on the other's face made him frown. "What?"

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

494 was about to shake his head, then decided to paste on another grin instead. "I know 'Dean' is apparently a good fit," he said slyly.

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

That made Dean grin. "Yeah, as if it's not confusing enough already with us looking alike."

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

"What, you don't think it'd be fun to have an evil twin?" The grin widened - there were a lot of possibilities in that...

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

"Does that mean I'd have to be the good twin?" Dean asked, then mulled over the idea. "Although," he continued slowly, "sometimes it would be a good thing to have an ironclad alibi."

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

"I'm not cutting my hair to match yours," 494 warned, eyeing Dean speculatively. "Mine's definitely better."

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

Dean snorted. "Maybe in some freaky assed universe where they don't even give out names it is, but everywhere else, I definitely come out on top."

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

He snorted back. "If you want to cling to your delusions, far be it from me to stop you," 494 said. "Still doesn't make it true."

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

"Whatever, dude. Anyway, doesn't matter if you cut your hair or not; the alibi thing probably wouldn't work here. They already know that there's two of us."

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

The corner of 494's mouth twitched into a smirk. "Technically, there's three of us."

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

Dean blinked. "Huh?"

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

He nodded. "Yeah. X5-493? Another us. Well, actually, my twin, since we're from the same tube, but hopefully he won't be showing up." 494 paused, a dark look flickering in his eyes a moment. "He'd better not, anyway."

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

Dean flashed back on the conversation he'd had with Cedric that morning and the half joking/half fearful comments he'd made about wondering if there were more. "Please tell me that there's not 492 more versions of me where you and your... twin come from."

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

494 shook his head. "Just us, I'm pretty sure. If they managed any more of us from the DNA samples, they didn't survive." He gave Dean a vaguely amused glance. "We were made in a government facility, somewhere in Wyoming, if that clears things up for you."

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

"It doesn't, but thanks." Dean felt himself relax a little at the knowledge that there weren't hordes of Dean lookalikes with no names running around out there somewhere. That would've been too much.

He glanced at 494. Hell, one was too much.

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

494 caught the glance and arched an eyebrow quizzically. "It kind of bothers you a lot, doesn't it?" He was good with the body language thing, and even if he was still a bit confused on the whole lookalike-but-not-clone deal, sharing a face with someone wasn't really new to him.

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

"It kinda does, yeah." He tried to find the words to explain it -- to himself as much as his double, but all he could come up with was, "You should have a name."

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

"If you have any suggestions that aren't 'Scooter', I'm listening," 494 retorted, hunching his shoulders slightly inside his jacket.

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

It was a request that Dean took seriously. He ran through a hundred names in his head it seemed as he tried to think of one that he could feel good offering.

When the idea came to him, he was surprised really that it had taken so long.

"John," he said.

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

494 frowned slightly; he'd been called a john before, and doubtless there were a couple warrants out for "John Doe" with his description on them, but as a name he wasn't quite convinced. "Why?"

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

Dean looked out over the roof's edge and shrugged. "It's my dad's name. Figured... you look like a Winchester, maybe you should have a Winchester name."

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

There wasn't much he could think to say to that except, "Thanks." If it came out a little less sardonic than he intended, well, it was a weird night in a weird place. "If nothing else comes up by the end of the week? I might just use it."

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

Dean nodded. Trying to get out of these weird emotional waters, he asked, "So in the meantime I just call you Scooter?"

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

"There's a girl I met in the gym today who's decided to call me 'Four'," he said, shooting an exasperated look at his double. "And as much as I am completely unattached to my designation, that's loads better than 'Scooter'."

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

"Four's still a number," Dean pointed out helpfully. "Just a smaller one. If you don't like Scooter, how about Sparky?"

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

"Do I look like a dog? If you're going for something like that, at least get the species right," he said, rolling his eyes theatrically.

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

"Peaches?"

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

494 eyed Dean as though trying to decide how he might make his plummeting death from the roof look like an accident

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

"Clone-boy?" Dean grinned; this was as much fun as bugging Sammy.

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

That one he shrugged at, finally. "You're the insecure one, man. If my lack of name makes you uncomfortable, I understand if you feel the need to label me." There might have been a grin as he looked back out over the town, but you'd have to have been looking close.

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

"Hey, I was comfortable back at Scooter."

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

The grin returned. "If you want to call me Scooter, I could just start calling you 'Dad'."

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

Dean sputtered, taken by surprise by that comment. Then he grinned, having to acknowledge that was a damn fine comeback. "That mean you going to start calling my brother 'Uncle Sammy'?"

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

"Will it annoy the hell out of him?" 494 was maybe curious about the sibling thing, though only insofar as it meant teasing a geeky kid who already thought he was an ass anyway.

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, probably," Dean said, imagining the likely reaction Sammy would have. "There'll be glaring," he predicted. "Possibly some gaping. Then moving on to namecalling."

[x5-alec.livejournal.com]

"Sounds like a plan, Dad," 494 said, grinning.

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

Dean winced a little, but hey, he'd been called worse. Or so he reminded himself. "Knock yourself out, Scooter."