Lick The Pavement
Chapter Sixteen: Time Passes....
(Dedicated to Cloud of Blood, whose AMAZING writing kicked me up the arse to do my own)
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//The glass sets up a sound like people laughing
It's going to my brain and it's easing all my pain
I must hear this sound again 'cause time is passing//
Time Is Passing - The Who
//Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go
So make the best of this test and don't ask why
It's not a question but a lesson learned in time
It's something unpredictable
But in the end is right
I hope you had the time of your life//
Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) - Greenday
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Devi didn't like what Kegan went on to tell him, and continued to not like it for ten days after that, ten days during which he was locked in his room and at one point sedated, as the drug cravings drove him to curse, scream and plead with whoever was watching him at that time.
Kegan had explained to him that he had to go through withdrawal, and Devi had been scared, his fear manifesting in a string of cussing. Kegan told him that he'd also been through it, and knew that it would be hard, but that he'd help him as much as he could.
When Kegan extended his arm and pulled his sleeves back, showing the faint track marks, scars of tiny pin-points that also covered the insides of Devi's arm, in rainbow bruising and clotted blood, Devi knew that he wasn't lying about going through it himself, but still didn't want to do it.
He'd tried, he said. He'd tried but it had been too painful, too stressful, he was too weak, he couldn't... he just couldn't...
Kegan ignored him, and still ignored him even after his symptoms started: the cravings, the panic, the restlessness that clawed and ripped through his head, the inability to sleep, the terrible bone-deep itching for the needle, the shuddering shivers, the nerves in his skin so raw that any contact made him wince.
Kegan ignored him but sat with him through the first three days, which were the worst.
After Devi had coldly ignored him, tried to physically attack him, swear at him and eventually gotten down on his knees and begged Kegan to give him just one hit, just one more hit, please, with tears of frustration and agony almost carelessly trailing down his flushed face out of those wild eyes, Logan took over watching the boy while Kegan had a much needed break.
Kegan, shaken and strung out from the abuse he'd been getting, plagued by memories of his own withdrawal and exhausted emotionally and physically, stalked to his room, passing various other people on his way and biting the head off anyone who tried to talk to him.
Once there, he lay down on his bed, face buried in his arms and let everything crash down on him where he was safe and hidden.
He fell asleep with the tears still in his eyes, and woke up with them red, but still felt better than he had done these past few days. He had a shower, was actually present for breakfast, and was eager to get back to watching Devi, who had calmed down after the worst had passed and was now more lucid, although still far from better.
Kegan sat on Devi's bed, staring at him... Devi, in turn, was also seated on the bed, facing Kegan, arms crossed around his drawn up legs, chin resting on his knees and looking at nothing. He'd been like this for the past two days now, and it had developed into some kind of waiting game between the two.
Kegan pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit up, sighing heavily after the first drag. He usually went outside to do this, but at that point, he really couldn't be bothered to move.
"Can I borrow one?"
He looked up, surprised slightly. Devi had a hand held out, shaky but noticeably less so from the first few days, where he'd practically been the human blur. Kegan lit up and handed him a cigarette and the two smoked together in silence, almost companionably. Eventually, Devi spoke.
"I'm sorry."
Kegan snorted. "For what?"
Devi gave him a look. "Fer being a bitch to you these past... however long it's been."
Kegan waved a hand. "Forget it. I know what it's like coming off that drug and I was the same way. Really, don't stress over it."
They were quiet for a while longer, then Kegan chuckled.
"What?" Devi asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You should be apologising to Logan, not me. You almost drove him to suicide... or homicide. Believe me; it was NOT pretty when he came out of here."
Devi bit his lip and looked down. "I..." he stopped. "I don't feel comfortable around him." He said carefully.
"How come?"
Devi looked at Kegan, who looked back at him curiously, expression quizzical. He really didn't want to talk about himself, but he felt that he owed this guy that much, that he'd answer his questions for him.
"The place I grew up was filled with people like him. You know, the angry- at-the-world guys with respect issues. He looks like someone in there as well, this guy... heh... he hated kids, really, loathed them; but I guess he didn't hate them that much to do what he did, hey. But yea... this guy was a sadist. He gave me this," Devi leant towards Kegan and brushed his hair back slightly, showing Kegan the small but deep scar hidden in his hair line above his left eye. "He threw me into a bedpost, knocked me out for a bit."
Kegan didn't quite know how to take that. "Sorry." he eventually said. "I can sympathise with you. See this?" He pointed to the thin scar running a line across the left side of his face. "I was beat up by some narrow minded jerks and got this just for liking boys as much as girls. Fortunately, my powers kicked in at that time, and I nicked the guys sight, and managed to get away. It wasn't the first time I was attacked for being bi, and it wasn't the last time either. But at least now I could fight back."
Devi looked at him with interest. "You're bi?"
*Shit.* Kegan thought. "Uh, yea. Why, you gotta problem?"
Devi laughed. "I don't make a practise of being a hypocrite. I'm a fag myself, I'm not exactly gonna get on your back about it."
Kegan smiled. "Cool..."
There was another period of silence, which Kegan broke. "So... did you have a boyfriend? I mean, before the whole 'being captured' thing."
Devi shrugged. "No, not really. I mean, I slept with some guy, but I don't think we really had what you'd call a 'relationship' going on."
"Oh."
"What about you?"
Kegan gritted his teeth. "Yea, I had a boyfriend. Not that I'd call that back-stabbing genist* bastard a boyfriend anymore." He seethed.
"What happened?"
"He's the one who betrayed me to the MSDC. He waited 'til I had fallen asleep, then called them. They actually caught me in my own bed, stark naked. The bastard. Thankfully, the guy who'd come by to take me let me put some jeans on first."
"Oh..." Devi said, a slight smirk on his face. "That's a shame."
Kegan stopped being angry for a second and gave Devi a surprised look, not expecting that comment and unsure of how to take it.
Devi grinned back with a suggestive look on his face. He was an impulsive kind of person, to the point that it could be a fault, and now that he didn't have to depend on having sex with strangers to stay alive, he was free to selectively approach who he wanted because he LIKED them, not because he needed something to eat and a place to stay.
And why wouldn't he be attracted to Kegan?
He had the kind of body that Devi liked, not bulging with muscles or rangy and lean, but just pleasantly muscled enough to make things interesting, but not bizarre. He had piercing aqua blue eyes above highly defined cheekbones set in an attractively chiselled face and topped with platinum blond hair, the green tips giving him a subtle edge, making him look like a scene boy.
Apparently, Kegan caught Devi's interest as much as Devi caught Kegan's, and with Devi's direct statement, Kegan decided to move into the aggressive flirting playing field. He moved his hand across to Devi's and played with the other boy's cold and slender fingers. Devi shivered slightly, and Kegan stared at him heatedly the whole time.
"Well, you know..." Kegan said playfully. "If it's such a problem for you... I can always take them back off again."
Devi pretended to think. "I dunno. That'd make you the only person with no trousers on... I should probably do something to make you feel less like the odd one out..." He leant in closer to Kegan so that their foreheads were almost touching.
"I think you'd probably need to take your trousers off too..." Kegan agreed softly, then leaned forward and kissed Devi gently, a quick caress of a kiss. Devi moved forward again for a longer kiss, one hand running up the outside of Kegan's arm, and that was a signal for them to suddenly explode into action, Kegan slipping his hands up underneath Devi's shirt, Devi moving almost into Kegan's lap, Kegan pulling Devi's shirt up and over his head, breaking the voracious kiss for a few seconds. Devi responded in like, so that the kissing could resume as soon as possible, which it did once both shirts had been flung to the floor.
Devi traced a finger over the bleeding heart tattoo on Kegan's left bicep and giggled. Kegan smiled back at him, then found the bite mark scarred into Devi's shoulder, and paused to give Devi a questioning look. Devi turned his head away in shame, and Kegan responded by smirking and licking over the vicious mark, making Devi shiver and toss his head back. Kegan moved his head down to nibble across Devi's collarbones and came to the Japanese kanji tattooed there. He paused and rubbed his nose against Devi's.
"Does that mean anything in particular?" He asked, in a voice which was short of breath.
"It's Japanese for 'dirty'." Devi told him.
"Oh really? Well, it'd better not be false advertising..."
Devi laughed as Kegan's hands dived down to undo the fastening of Devi's jeans, and Devi whimpered, shifting his hips up when Kegan evilly ground his hand down between his legs. Kegan pushed Devi backwards, the two boys still attached at the mouth, Kegan finding Devi's lip ring very interesting, and then tugged his jeans down. Devi broke away and arched his back so that Kegan could pull them down, and then off as Devi stretched his legs out.
Kegan now lay down against Devi, blanketing him with his body and devouring his mouth. Devi ran his hands up and across Kegan's strong back, while raising his hips to grind up into Kegan's. Kegan hissed and broke the kiss, licking at Devi's lips, then pushing himself up on his arms above the other boy, looking around the room searchingly.
Devi squirmed under Kegan, running a finger up his chest.
"What are you looking for?" he asked, panting.
"Something... we can...ah-ha..." Kegan replied distractedly, getting off Devi and moving over to a shelf to grab a jar of something like antiseptic cream, then coming back to straddle the smaller boy again. "Lube." he said, grinning and showing Devi the tub.
Devi grinned back and took the tub from Kegan's hands, unscrewing it and holding it out for Kegan with an eyebrow raised.
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((yea, sorry... this IS R rated... but, if you WANT to read them getting it on, my email is in my authors profile, just drop me a line and I'll send it to you))
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Gabriel fell down beside Kegan, breathing hard.
"Well..." Kegan eventually said.
"Yea." Gabe smiled, turning to his side and cuddling against Kegan, entwining their legs and resting a hand on Kegan's chest.
Kegan ran a hand over Devi's hips, feeling some unevenness, then looking down. He rubbed his thumb over one of the tiny crescent-moon scars. "What's this?" he asked curiously.
Devi didn't freeze physically, but something about him seemed to still. He spoke, attempting to sound blasé but something dark still came through in his voice.
"I told you, didn't I, that the place I grew up... the guy at the foster home who didn't like kids, but didn't hate them as much as he was letting on..." He swallowed. "Of course, we'd try to fight him off. I never stopped struggling..."
Kegan pressed a hand into his hair and kissed the top of his head softly, and Gabe was quiet. He lay on Kegan's chest with his eyes closed, and eventually, Kegan's deep, rhythmic breathing sent him to join his lover in sleep.
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Tone lay on her back on the hospital type bed, looking up and away as a metallic instrument waved in her peripheral vision. Jean stood back finally.
"That's all of them."
Tone sat up gingerly and looked into a mirror that Jean floated in front of her. She studied the scar in her face and rubbed a thumb near it gently.
"It looks much better." Jean reassured her with a smile.
While Devi had been getting clean, Tone's face had been healing, and now Jean had taken out the stitches it looked much better. Rae's red streaked head poked round the door, followed by the bluing streaked blondness of Lia, who needed to redye.
"How is she?" Lia grinned, falling over as she overbalanced and grabbing to Rae to save her. Rae, being an inch shorter and having less body mass, and as she was also leaning in, toppled over to land in a mass of legs and arms on top of Lia.
Tone laughed at the giggling, apologising girls on the floor.
"I'm a lot better'n you two by the looks o'things." She chuckled, her Irish lilt still as strong as it had ever been.
Rae sat back on her knees while Lia sat up and then got to her feet, bending to give Rae a hand up.
"Sorry Rae." Lia said, grinning from ear to ear. "Next time I want you on the floor, I'll ask okay?"
Rae blushed, but gave Lia a friendly slap on the arm. Over the months she had grown closer to Lia, but still remained confused by the girl's light, friendly flirting. Was she serious or not? Rae hadn't been brave enough to question. Lia slung the slapped arm over Rae's shoulder then turned to Tone.
"Scott wants us for a training session Tone." She explained. "He said for us to come up with you when you were ready."
Rae, smiling, looked over at Jean and their eyes met. Rae's smile dropped and she actually had to take a step back when she was faced with the venom that was suddenly and inexplicably directed at her.
*What did I DO?* She thought, panicked, and Jean picked up on it, realising that she was sending hate-filled glares Rae's way. She turned her eyes down, suppressing the jealousy inside her, then looked back up with a soft smile.
Rae wasn't taken in for a second. Having seen the poison in Jean's eyes, she couldn't look at her smile without seeing it linger in her expression, and Jean just looked to her like a wolf before the attack on the flock.
"Rae?" Rae jumped and turned to Lia with a startled face. Lia gave her a concerned look. "Are you okay? You look a bit... off."
Rae attempted a smile. "No, no, I'm fine." She gave Jean a brief glance, then tugged Lia's arm. "Shall we go?"
Lia looked between the tall redhead and the shorter Asian girl, and was unconvinced. "Okay then. C'mon Tone." she chirped, back to her bouncy self. She pulled Rae out of the room.
Tone turned to jean before she left. "Thanks." She said, before jogging to catch up with the other girls.
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Jean watched the three leave, then turned to look out of the window. Scott was holding a training session in the garden today, and she watched, after a few minutes, as Tone, Lia and Rae wandered, chatting and giggling, out to meet the former X-men leader, joining Bryn, Lukka and Brian, who were already out there.
She eavesdropped gently on their uppermost thoughts, just skimming the top layer.
Bryn was apparently thinking in Italian, so Jean had no idea what he was thinking, although the tone of his thoughts seemed vaguely puzzled, in an exploratory way more than anything else.
Brian's thoughts were tinged darkly, as they always were, and he was anxious about the close social situation. He hadn't interacted much with the other students over the past few months, as he was painfully shy, but also afraid that he might do something to hurt one of them. He seemed to always be watching over his own shoulder, which gave Jean something of a headache at times. However, his mind seemed to lighten when he thought about the Irish girl, which led Jean to believe that Brian had some kind of affection for her.
Taking a quick look into Tone's thoughts, she was pleased to find that the feeling was reciprocated. She found his withdrawn personality intriguing in that she could sense that there was something under it all, but she was entranced by his blue eyes. She kept giving him glances when she thought he wasn't looking to have another look at them. Jean was amused when their gaze met and held, nothing going through their heads until they came to their senses and pretended to be distracted by something else, reddening, while the same thoughts went through their minds.
*Oh NO, I was SEEN!*
Lukka was thinking some extremely predatory thoughts about... Bryn. It seemed that he had something about long hair in the same way that Tone had something about blue eyes, and he was letting his thoughts run rampant. When he started wondering about the... mechanics of their relationship, Jean pulled out of his mind, blushing slightly. She quietly wished him good luck, and Lukka lifted his head suddenly.
*I could've SWORN I heard something just then...*
She turned, mentally smiling, to Lia, by far her favourite. She didn't hear anything from her at all, her blocks were so good. It was like taking a cool bath on a hot and sticky day, refreshing and liberating in some way. For a while, there was comparative silence in Jean's head, without the minimal amount of bleedthrough that she had, something she had started experiencing a little bit more ever since the massacre.
She turned, lastly, her thoughts to Rae, listening with disdain to her pathetic joking and ramblings. The girl was as unorganised and chaotic in her head as Jean was finding her in any other situation. She had a little dig deeper into the girl's thoughts.
*... I don't know... it could just be me. I mean, she IS pretty friendly with the other guys as well... maybe it's just wishful thinking that's making me think she's flirting with me...*
Jean sent a cutting thought spitefully her way.
*Yes, why would she want me...? I'm obviously no match for her, I should just BACK OFF!*
Rae shook her head, startled by the vehemence of that thought. Lia noticed her putting a hand to her head.
"Are you alright Rae?"
Rae smiled a little. "Yea, I'm okay... it's probably just my brain rebounding off the other side of my skull after that fall. Musta taken this long to reach the other side." She joked.
Lia frowned and gave Rae a quick hug. "Stop that, you're smart and you know it. Now come one. Scott wants us to pair up and you're gonna be MY partner." She said defiantly, linking their arms.
Rae laughed and Jean scowled, moving back from the window. She didn't want to witness this sickening sight anymore.
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"Okay people, listen up!" Scott announced, quieting the random chatter of the six teens. "I need you to pair up. We're going to try using our powers in groups of two today, to work on your focus."
They had had the preliminary session to work through their powers and judge how much control they all had over them. This was just another one of those, the last sessions having consisted of power demonstration, offensive against a machine and defensive against a machine. This was the first time they were going to use their powers on each other, and they were both nervous and excited at once.
"Okay... remember, this exercise is about CONTROL. Be careful with each other, and be AWARE of each other... okay... go!"
Lia faced off against Rae, as she had said.
"Ready?" She asked, standing with her hands on her hips, legs slightly apart in a steady stance.
"Whenever you are." Rae grinned back, pricking her slightly pointed ears and turning her head in order to pick up as much sound as she could.
Lia took a deep breath in and exhaled in a blow, sending a steady stream of mainly red and silver glitter at Rae. Rae danced out of the way, then held her hands up, sending the gathered power of the sounds towards the other girl. Her blast was off however, and it skimmed Lia's shoulder and grazed the grass behind her, making a small furrow in the grass.
"Watch it." Lukka called, as the blast nearly hit him in the foot. He turned back to Bryn, who took advantage of Lukka's momentary lapse in concentration to focus enough to slow the other boy down. He broke the strands of coppery hair which had wrapped themselves around his wrist, and walked forward, seeming, to the slowed Lukka, to be running. He came nearer and let go of his power, allowing time to speed back up so that his kick to Lukka's legs was effective. Lukka went down, but used his hair to catch himself and push him back up, where he aimed a wave of his hair to slap Bryn in the face. Bryn saw this coming with his power, and had dodged out of the way to avoid it.
"Sorry." Rae called. Her distraction was what Lia needed to get close enough to make her powers work. She let another load of dust out into Rae's face and, although Rae tried to shove it away from her with her powers, she was hit and immobilised, freezing in place. The small sound blast that she had sent back at Lia caught the other girl in the face, and some of her own dust went down her windpipe. She doubled over coughing, trying to get the dust out, eventually having to reach into her pocket for her asthma inhaler while Rae looked on, worried but unable to do anything about it.
Brian was powering up, taking electrical energy from the cables running under the ground. He only used a small amount, being wary of the strain that it had on his body, and he then let go with a punch to Tone's midriff. Tone had had no formal training in fighting before and she didn't have much strength, but she was very fast and the blow only glanced off her. She'd been trying to avoid using her powers, but was beginning to realise that she had to if she wanted to win against Brian's enhanced abilities. She stared with her solid black eyes, intently at Brian, who suddenly released the energy that he had been storing and dropped to his knees, hands over his head.
"No, no... I didn't mean to, I'm not a killer..." He whimpered, seeing the dead body of his father in his mind and the expression's on the faces of his mother and little brother. "I didn't mean to... I'm not like him, I'm not... it was an accident, I didn't mean to kill him."
Tone relaxed, letting up with her power, and her eyes came back into focus. She ran to Brian and shook him. "I'm sorry." She wailed, distressed.
Scott came up to see what the fuss was about, calling to the other pairs to have a break. They kept their distance, although they did look over to see if anything was really wrong. Rae was still stiff and Lia was now sitting on the grass next to her trying to get her breath back. Lukka was rubbing his cheek where Bryn had got a foot in, and Bryn was running his finger underneath the bracelet of hair now wrapped around his wrist.
"What happened?" Scott asked, gently moving Tone to the side and checking Brian over for any physical injuries.
"I used me powers on 'im, tha's all, I din't know he was gonna do this, I din't mean to... I'm really sorry..." Tone stammered. Scott held up a hand to her to get a word in.
"It's okay Tone. It's just the effects of your powers. Brian will be okay."
He turned to Brian, who had now been released from Tone's influence, but was still sitting with his head in his hands on the grass.
"You okay?" He asked.
Brian sat there, then stood up, facing away. "I need a second." he said gruffly.
"It's okay. You can go on in." Scott told him, then turned to the others. "Training's over for today guys."
Brian was already walking away. After a few seconds of anxiously watching, Tone ran after him.
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"Brian."
Brian stopped, wiping at his eyes, then turned round to face Tone.
"I'm so sorry. I would never'a used me powers on yeh if I'da thought..."
He cut her off. "It's okay. You didn't know, and they ARE you're powers after all." He gave her a weak smile. "I just won't go up against you again."
Tone smiled, but it collapsed back into a frown. "I feel really bad about it though." She watched his face. "Do yeh wanna talk about it?"
Brian turned away, then went to lean against the wall, uncertain if he wanted to spill it or not. Tone came to stand next to him.
"You c'n tell me, I won't tell anyone else." She said quietly. "And it might even make yeh feel better about it... whatever it is."
Brian looked at her and smiled, but it was strained. "I don't know if you're going to like me after I tell you." he said.
She smirked. "Try me."
So he told her, all about how his dad was abusive and angry, about how his dad always seemed to prefer taking it out on his younger brother Daniel, how it had gotten so bad on that one night that Brian had snapped and put all his power into a punch which subsequently killed his dad and how he had been so appalled by his actions that he had run away and left home.
And then Tone hugged him and told him that it was okay, and that it didn't mean that he was like his father, that she didn't feel any different about him now than before, except, maybe, a little bit more proud because of what he had gone through and what he had done for his brother.
Then, she leaned up and kissed him gently, and Brian felt the weight of his history ease a little, and they stayed, leaning and kissing against the wall for a little bit longer until they were called in for dinner.
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After he'd gone to his room and washed and changed into a simple shirt and pair of slacks, Bryn curled up on the window seat reading Kafka's 'The Trial' in its original German. He heard a knock on the door and carefully bookmarked his place before going to answer. He was surprised to see Lukka standing there, also changed into a pair of jeans and a green buttoned-up shirt.
"Hello." Bryn said politely, slightly confused as to why Lukka was here.
"Hi." Lukka grinned. "I'm not bothering you am I?"
"Not at all." Bryn replied. "Is there something you needed?"
"Well, kinda." Lukka smiled, his hair curling and uncurling at the ends in slight nervousness. "I was wondering if you wanted to maybe have lunch with me? As a thank you for healing me."
As Bryn thought, Lukka noticed the bracelet of hair still around Bryn's wrist and internally raised an eyebrow. Hmm... that was interesting, to say the least.
Bryn looked puzzled but nodded. "Alright. Do I need to change?" He asked.
"Oh, no. You're fine." Lukka said, then giggled in his head. "Just come with me."
Bryn followed Lukka as they walked, suddenly realising that they were walking up a spiralled flight of stairs.
"This isn't the way to the dining room." He pointed out.
"Oh, I know." Lukka said. "We're going somewhere else to eat for a change."
Bryn accepted this and followed Lukka all the way to the top and through a door. The room on the other side was small but not cramped. There was a large balcony type window through which a cool breeze was blowing and there was a blanket spread out on the floor with two plates and two cups set out on it, a large box taking place in the middle.
"What is this?" Bryn questioned, looking at Lukka questioningly.
"It's a picnic." Lukka said, sitting down and beckoning Bryn to sit down next to him. "You did something nice for me, so I thought I'd do something nice for you."
Bryn sat down in shock, and Lukka served them both.
Bryn surreptitiously watched Lukka as they ate. He was somewhat flattered by the lengths the other boy had gone to for him, and was confused by the feelings that raced inside him. He'd only ever felt this way towards the opposite sex before, but when Lukka looked up at him with questioning exotic hazel and yellow eyes he felt something inside flip in a way that was unpleasant but exciting at the same time.
What was going on?
Lukka felt Bryn looking at him and wondered what he was thinking. Of course he had an ulterior motive behind this picnic. He was slowly seducing Bryn without the other boy even noticing. It had taken him this long to gauge that Bryn had only ever been straight, but that he might be persuaded to try 'new' relationships, and then he had had to prepare everything... but so far things were going well.
"Cheers." Lukka said, lifting his wine glass to Bryn, who tilted his and gently touched it to Lukka's.
Lukka drank without taking his eyes from Bryn's face, and Bryn stared back, that strange and familiar feeling bubbling up inside him once again.
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Logan sparred with Liz as part of her training, intense and hard. As the other girl was so much older than the others, and as a result of the trauma she had gone through which made her slightly leery of using her powers, the others had decided that it would be better if she trained with Logan, especially as she seemed to have a better relationship with him than with any of the others who were training.
Towards the end of the session, which was a mind-blowing display of physical agility and self-discipline, Logan had allowed his claws to show through. Liz hadn't stopped, being so focused on winning, and she let go with the red ice that was her power.
Logan managed to block most of it with his claws. Liz's red ice had no affect on metal, but some of it landed on Logan's hands and began eating at his skin. He hissed and ignored it, the ice soon melting off and his skin regenerating. Logan caught Liz's foot on her next kick and disabled her.
"Alright Streaks, that's enough for today."
Liz, panting hard, took a deep breath and relaxed, and Logan let her go. She turned and saw the pink skin still in the process of healing where her attack had hit and looked down.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... I should've been more in control..." She began apologising.
"Look kid, don't worry. We'll work on your control okay, I'm a tough guy, I can take it." He said grinning. "You should never be ashamed of using your powers. It's part of who you are, and suppressing it means suppressing a vital part of yourself."
Liz stood as if chastened, and Logan's face softened. He slung a towel over his shoulders and threw one to Liz. "Good fight anyway."
Liz looked up and caught the towel, smiling back at him. "You weren't so bad yourself." She said.
As they walked back to their separate rooms, Liz glanced out of the window and sighed deeply. Logan stopped. "What's wrong?"
Liz went over and crossed her elbows on the sill. "I just want to get out of here." She said. "I mean, it's not that I don't like you... or the girls or anything, it's just... I don't feel like I fit."
Logan shook his head. "O'course you belong here Streaks. If I do, then you HAVE to."
She didn't smile, just continuing to look from the window. Logan put a hand on her shoulder and she turned away and started walking back down the corridor.
"Don't worry about it kid." Logan told her. "You'll settle down eventually."
They separated, walking down different corridors, and Liz muttered darkly to herself. "I don't think I'll stay around here that long."
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*Genist: someone who discriminates against other people because of genes... I made it up ^____^
Look! You have TWO quotes for this chapter. Aren't you special? I'm sorry this chapter took so long to get out, but I had severe block and many unassessed essays to write for Uni. In the end I just wrote something and this is what I've posted, and I know its crap... I'm sorry.
Also, I know it looks like I'm rushing some things, and making some of your characters seem slightly off, (for example, Jean vs Rae, who, by the way, I DO NOT hate... it's just that Jean does...) but there's a plan. I trust in the plan. My muse trusts in the plan. Do you trust in the plan? Yes you do... I know you do....
Thanks to Trunksblue for the idea to use that lyric from Greenday, and to Demon for scaring me into writing and telling me stories. ^___^
Chapter Sixteen: Time Passes....
(Dedicated to Cloud of Blood, whose AMAZING writing kicked me up the arse to do my own)
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//The glass sets up a sound like people laughing
It's going to my brain and it's easing all my pain
I must hear this sound again 'cause time is passing//
Time Is Passing - The Who
//Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go
So make the best of this test and don't ask why
It's not a question but a lesson learned in time
It's something unpredictable
But in the end is right
I hope you had the time of your life//
Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) - Greenday
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Devi didn't like what Kegan went on to tell him, and continued to not like it for ten days after that, ten days during which he was locked in his room and at one point sedated, as the drug cravings drove him to curse, scream and plead with whoever was watching him at that time.
Kegan had explained to him that he had to go through withdrawal, and Devi had been scared, his fear manifesting in a string of cussing. Kegan told him that he'd also been through it, and knew that it would be hard, but that he'd help him as much as he could.
When Kegan extended his arm and pulled his sleeves back, showing the faint track marks, scars of tiny pin-points that also covered the insides of Devi's arm, in rainbow bruising and clotted blood, Devi knew that he wasn't lying about going through it himself, but still didn't want to do it.
He'd tried, he said. He'd tried but it had been too painful, too stressful, he was too weak, he couldn't... he just couldn't...
Kegan ignored him, and still ignored him even after his symptoms started: the cravings, the panic, the restlessness that clawed and ripped through his head, the inability to sleep, the terrible bone-deep itching for the needle, the shuddering shivers, the nerves in his skin so raw that any contact made him wince.
Kegan ignored him but sat with him through the first three days, which were the worst.
After Devi had coldly ignored him, tried to physically attack him, swear at him and eventually gotten down on his knees and begged Kegan to give him just one hit, just one more hit, please, with tears of frustration and agony almost carelessly trailing down his flushed face out of those wild eyes, Logan took over watching the boy while Kegan had a much needed break.
Kegan, shaken and strung out from the abuse he'd been getting, plagued by memories of his own withdrawal and exhausted emotionally and physically, stalked to his room, passing various other people on his way and biting the head off anyone who tried to talk to him.
Once there, he lay down on his bed, face buried in his arms and let everything crash down on him where he was safe and hidden.
He fell asleep with the tears still in his eyes, and woke up with them red, but still felt better than he had done these past few days. He had a shower, was actually present for breakfast, and was eager to get back to watching Devi, who had calmed down after the worst had passed and was now more lucid, although still far from better.
Kegan sat on Devi's bed, staring at him... Devi, in turn, was also seated on the bed, facing Kegan, arms crossed around his drawn up legs, chin resting on his knees and looking at nothing. He'd been like this for the past two days now, and it had developed into some kind of waiting game between the two.
Kegan pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit up, sighing heavily after the first drag. He usually went outside to do this, but at that point, he really couldn't be bothered to move.
"Can I borrow one?"
He looked up, surprised slightly. Devi had a hand held out, shaky but noticeably less so from the first few days, where he'd practically been the human blur. Kegan lit up and handed him a cigarette and the two smoked together in silence, almost companionably. Eventually, Devi spoke.
"I'm sorry."
Kegan snorted. "For what?"
Devi gave him a look. "Fer being a bitch to you these past... however long it's been."
Kegan waved a hand. "Forget it. I know what it's like coming off that drug and I was the same way. Really, don't stress over it."
They were quiet for a while longer, then Kegan chuckled.
"What?" Devi asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You should be apologising to Logan, not me. You almost drove him to suicide... or homicide. Believe me; it was NOT pretty when he came out of here."
Devi bit his lip and looked down. "I..." he stopped. "I don't feel comfortable around him." He said carefully.
"How come?"
Devi looked at Kegan, who looked back at him curiously, expression quizzical. He really didn't want to talk about himself, but he felt that he owed this guy that much, that he'd answer his questions for him.
"The place I grew up was filled with people like him. You know, the angry- at-the-world guys with respect issues. He looks like someone in there as well, this guy... heh... he hated kids, really, loathed them; but I guess he didn't hate them that much to do what he did, hey. But yea... this guy was a sadist. He gave me this," Devi leant towards Kegan and brushed his hair back slightly, showing Kegan the small but deep scar hidden in his hair line above his left eye. "He threw me into a bedpost, knocked me out for a bit."
Kegan didn't quite know how to take that. "Sorry." he eventually said. "I can sympathise with you. See this?" He pointed to the thin scar running a line across the left side of his face. "I was beat up by some narrow minded jerks and got this just for liking boys as much as girls. Fortunately, my powers kicked in at that time, and I nicked the guys sight, and managed to get away. It wasn't the first time I was attacked for being bi, and it wasn't the last time either. But at least now I could fight back."
Devi looked at him with interest. "You're bi?"
*Shit.* Kegan thought. "Uh, yea. Why, you gotta problem?"
Devi laughed. "I don't make a practise of being a hypocrite. I'm a fag myself, I'm not exactly gonna get on your back about it."
Kegan smiled. "Cool..."
There was another period of silence, which Kegan broke. "So... did you have a boyfriend? I mean, before the whole 'being captured' thing."
Devi shrugged. "No, not really. I mean, I slept with some guy, but I don't think we really had what you'd call a 'relationship' going on."
"Oh."
"What about you?"
Kegan gritted his teeth. "Yea, I had a boyfriend. Not that I'd call that back-stabbing genist* bastard a boyfriend anymore." He seethed.
"What happened?"
"He's the one who betrayed me to the MSDC. He waited 'til I had fallen asleep, then called them. They actually caught me in my own bed, stark naked. The bastard. Thankfully, the guy who'd come by to take me let me put some jeans on first."
"Oh..." Devi said, a slight smirk on his face. "That's a shame."
Kegan stopped being angry for a second and gave Devi a surprised look, not expecting that comment and unsure of how to take it.
Devi grinned back with a suggestive look on his face. He was an impulsive kind of person, to the point that it could be a fault, and now that he didn't have to depend on having sex with strangers to stay alive, he was free to selectively approach who he wanted because he LIKED them, not because he needed something to eat and a place to stay.
And why wouldn't he be attracted to Kegan?
He had the kind of body that Devi liked, not bulging with muscles or rangy and lean, but just pleasantly muscled enough to make things interesting, but not bizarre. He had piercing aqua blue eyes above highly defined cheekbones set in an attractively chiselled face and topped with platinum blond hair, the green tips giving him a subtle edge, making him look like a scene boy.
Apparently, Kegan caught Devi's interest as much as Devi caught Kegan's, and with Devi's direct statement, Kegan decided to move into the aggressive flirting playing field. He moved his hand across to Devi's and played with the other boy's cold and slender fingers. Devi shivered slightly, and Kegan stared at him heatedly the whole time.
"Well, you know..." Kegan said playfully. "If it's such a problem for you... I can always take them back off again."
Devi pretended to think. "I dunno. That'd make you the only person with no trousers on... I should probably do something to make you feel less like the odd one out..." He leant in closer to Kegan so that their foreheads were almost touching.
"I think you'd probably need to take your trousers off too..." Kegan agreed softly, then leaned forward and kissed Devi gently, a quick caress of a kiss. Devi moved forward again for a longer kiss, one hand running up the outside of Kegan's arm, and that was a signal for them to suddenly explode into action, Kegan slipping his hands up underneath Devi's shirt, Devi moving almost into Kegan's lap, Kegan pulling Devi's shirt up and over his head, breaking the voracious kiss for a few seconds. Devi responded in like, so that the kissing could resume as soon as possible, which it did once both shirts had been flung to the floor.
Devi traced a finger over the bleeding heart tattoo on Kegan's left bicep and giggled. Kegan smiled back at him, then found the bite mark scarred into Devi's shoulder, and paused to give Devi a questioning look. Devi turned his head away in shame, and Kegan responded by smirking and licking over the vicious mark, making Devi shiver and toss his head back. Kegan moved his head down to nibble across Devi's collarbones and came to the Japanese kanji tattooed there. He paused and rubbed his nose against Devi's.
"Does that mean anything in particular?" He asked, in a voice which was short of breath.
"It's Japanese for 'dirty'." Devi told him.
"Oh really? Well, it'd better not be false advertising..."
Devi laughed as Kegan's hands dived down to undo the fastening of Devi's jeans, and Devi whimpered, shifting his hips up when Kegan evilly ground his hand down between his legs. Kegan pushed Devi backwards, the two boys still attached at the mouth, Kegan finding Devi's lip ring very interesting, and then tugged his jeans down. Devi broke away and arched his back so that Kegan could pull them down, and then off as Devi stretched his legs out.
Kegan now lay down against Devi, blanketing him with his body and devouring his mouth. Devi ran his hands up and across Kegan's strong back, while raising his hips to grind up into Kegan's. Kegan hissed and broke the kiss, licking at Devi's lips, then pushing himself up on his arms above the other boy, looking around the room searchingly.
Devi squirmed under Kegan, running a finger up his chest.
"What are you looking for?" he asked, panting.
"Something... we can...ah-ha..." Kegan replied distractedly, getting off Devi and moving over to a shelf to grab a jar of something like antiseptic cream, then coming back to straddle the smaller boy again. "Lube." he said, grinning and showing Devi the tub.
Devi grinned back and took the tub from Kegan's hands, unscrewing it and holding it out for Kegan with an eyebrow raised.
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((yea, sorry... this IS R rated... but, if you WANT to read them getting it on, my email is in my authors profile, just drop me a line and I'll send it to you))
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Gabriel fell down beside Kegan, breathing hard.
"Well..." Kegan eventually said.
"Yea." Gabe smiled, turning to his side and cuddling against Kegan, entwining their legs and resting a hand on Kegan's chest.
Kegan ran a hand over Devi's hips, feeling some unevenness, then looking down. He rubbed his thumb over one of the tiny crescent-moon scars. "What's this?" he asked curiously.
Devi didn't freeze physically, but something about him seemed to still. He spoke, attempting to sound blasé but something dark still came through in his voice.
"I told you, didn't I, that the place I grew up... the guy at the foster home who didn't like kids, but didn't hate them as much as he was letting on..." He swallowed. "Of course, we'd try to fight him off. I never stopped struggling..."
Kegan pressed a hand into his hair and kissed the top of his head softly, and Gabe was quiet. He lay on Kegan's chest with his eyes closed, and eventually, Kegan's deep, rhythmic breathing sent him to join his lover in sleep.
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Tone lay on her back on the hospital type bed, looking up and away as a metallic instrument waved in her peripheral vision. Jean stood back finally.
"That's all of them."
Tone sat up gingerly and looked into a mirror that Jean floated in front of her. She studied the scar in her face and rubbed a thumb near it gently.
"It looks much better." Jean reassured her with a smile.
While Devi had been getting clean, Tone's face had been healing, and now Jean had taken out the stitches it looked much better. Rae's red streaked head poked round the door, followed by the bluing streaked blondness of Lia, who needed to redye.
"How is she?" Lia grinned, falling over as she overbalanced and grabbing to Rae to save her. Rae, being an inch shorter and having less body mass, and as she was also leaning in, toppled over to land in a mass of legs and arms on top of Lia.
Tone laughed at the giggling, apologising girls on the floor.
"I'm a lot better'n you two by the looks o'things." She chuckled, her Irish lilt still as strong as it had ever been.
Rae sat back on her knees while Lia sat up and then got to her feet, bending to give Rae a hand up.
"Sorry Rae." Lia said, grinning from ear to ear. "Next time I want you on the floor, I'll ask okay?"
Rae blushed, but gave Lia a friendly slap on the arm. Over the months she had grown closer to Lia, but still remained confused by the girl's light, friendly flirting. Was she serious or not? Rae hadn't been brave enough to question. Lia slung the slapped arm over Rae's shoulder then turned to Tone.
"Scott wants us for a training session Tone." She explained. "He said for us to come up with you when you were ready."
Rae, smiling, looked over at Jean and their eyes met. Rae's smile dropped and she actually had to take a step back when she was faced with the venom that was suddenly and inexplicably directed at her.
*What did I DO?* She thought, panicked, and Jean picked up on it, realising that she was sending hate-filled glares Rae's way. She turned her eyes down, suppressing the jealousy inside her, then looked back up with a soft smile.
Rae wasn't taken in for a second. Having seen the poison in Jean's eyes, she couldn't look at her smile without seeing it linger in her expression, and Jean just looked to her like a wolf before the attack on the flock.
"Rae?" Rae jumped and turned to Lia with a startled face. Lia gave her a concerned look. "Are you okay? You look a bit... off."
Rae attempted a smile. "No, no, I'm fine." She gave Jean a brief glance, then tugged Lia's arm. "Shall we go?"
Lia looked between the tall redhead and the shorter Asian girl, and was unconvinced. "Okay then. C'mon Tone." she chirped, back to her bouncy self. She pulled Rae out of the room.
Tone turned to jean before she left. "Thanks." She said, before jogging to catch up with the other girls.
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Jean watched the three leave, then turned to look out of the window. Scott was holding a training session in the garden today, and she watched, after a few minutes, as Tone, Lia and Rae wandered, chatting and giggling, out to meet the former X-men leader, joining Bryn, Lukka and Brian, who were already out there.
She eavesdropped gently on their uppermost thoughts, just skimming the top layer.
Bryn was apparently thinking in Italian, so Jean had no idea what he was thinking, although the tone of his thoughts seemed vaguely puzzled, in an exploratory way more than anything else.
Brian's thoughts were tinged darkly, as they always were, and he was anxious about the close social situation. He hadn't interacted much with the other students over the past few months, as he was painfully shy, but also afraid that he might do something to hurt one of them. He seemed to always be watching over his own shoulder, which gave Jean something of a headache at times. However, his mind seemed to lighten when he thought about the Irish girl, which led Jean to believe that Brian had some kind of affection for her.
Taking a quick look into Tone's thoughts, she was pleased to find that the feeling was reciprocated. She found his withdrawn personality intriguing in that she could sense that there was something under it all, but she was entranced by his blue eyes. She kept giving him glances when she thought he wasn't looking to have another look at them. Jean was amused when their gaze met and held, nothing going through their heads until they came to their senses and pretended to be distracted by something else, reddening, while the same thoughts went through their minds.
*Oh NO, I was SEEN!*
Lukka was thinking some extremely predatory thoughts about... Bryn. It seemed that he had something about long hair in the same way that Tone had something about blue eyes, and he was letting his thoughts run rampant. When he started wondering about the... mechanics of their relationship, Jean pulled out of his mind, blushing slightly. She quietly wished him good luck, and Lukka lifted his head suddenly.
*I could've SWORN I heard something just then...*
She turned, mentally smiling, to Lia, by far her favourite. She didn't hear anything from her at all, her blocks were so good. It was like taking a cool bath on a hot and sticky day, refreshing and liberating in some way. For a while, there was comparative silence in Jean's head, without the minimal amount of bleedthrough that she had, something she had started experiencing a little bit more ever since the massacre.
She turned, lastly, her thoughts to Rae, listening with disdain to her pathetic joking and ramblings. The girl was as unorganised and chaotic in her head as Jean was finding her in any other situation. She had a little dig deeper into the girl's thoughts.
*... I don't know... it could just be me. I mean, she IS pretty friendly with the other guys as well... maybe it's just wishful thinking that's making me think she's flirting with me...*
Jean sent a cutting thought spitefully her way.
*Yes, why would she want me...? I'm obviously no match for her, I should just BACK OFF!*
Rae shook her head, startled by the vehemence of that thought. Lia noticed her putting a hand to her head.
"Are you alright Rae?"
Rae smiled a little. "Yea, I'm okay... it's probably just my brain rebounding off the other side of my skull after that fall. Musta taken this long to reach the other side." She joked.
Lia frowned and gave Rae a quick hug. "Stop that, you're smart and you know it. Now come one. Scott wants us to pair up and you're gonna be MY partner." She said defiantly, linking their arms.
Rae laughed and Jean scowled, moving back from the window. She didn't want to witness this sickening sight anymore.
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"Okay people, listen up!" Scott announced, quieting the random chatter of the six teens. "I need you to pair up. We're going to try using our powers in groups of two today, to work on your focus."
They had had the preliminary session to work through their powers and judge how much control they all had over them. This was just another one of those, the last sessions having consisted of power demonstration, offensive against a machine and defensive against a machine. This was the first time they were going to use their powers on each other, and they were both nervous and excited at once.
"Okay... remember, this exercise is about CONTROL. Be careful with each other, and be AWARE of each other... okay... go!"
Lia faced off against Rae, as she had said.
"Ready?" She asked, standing with her hands on her hips, legs slightly apart in a steady stance.
"Whenever you are." Rae grinned back, pricking her slightly pointed ears and turning her head in order to pick up as much sound as she could.
Lia took a deep breath in and exhaled in a blow, sending a steady stream of mainly red and silver glitter at Rae. Rae danced out of the way, then held her hands up, sending the gathered power of the sounds towards the other girl. Her blast was off however, and it skimmed Lia's shoulder and grazed the grass behind her, making a small furrow in the grass.
"Watch it." Lukka called, as the blast nearly hit him in the foot. He turned back to Bryn, who took advantage of Lukka's momentary lapse in concentration to focus enough to slow the other boy down. He broke the strands of coppery hair which had wrapped themselves around his wrist, and walked forward, seeming, to the slowed Lukka, to be running. He came nearer and let go of his power, allowing time to speed back up so that his kick to Lukka's legs was effective. Lukka went down, but used his hair to catch himself and push him back up, where he aimed a wave of his hair to slap Bryn in the face. Bryn saw this coming with his power, and had dodged out of the way to avoid it.
"Sorry." Rae called. Her distraction was what Lia needed to get close enough to make her powers work. She let another load of dust out into Rae's face and, although Rae tried to shove it away from her with her powers, she was hit and immobilised, freezing in place. The small sound blast that she had sent back at Lia caught the other girl in the face, and some of her own dust went down her windpipe. She doubled over coughing, trying to get the dust out, eventually having to reach into her pocket for her asthma inhaler while Rae looked on, worried but unable to do anything about it.
Brian was powering up, taking electrical energy from the cables running under the ground. He only used a small amount, being wary of the strain that it had on his body, and he then let go with a punch to Tone's midriff. Tone had had no formal training in fighting before and she didn't have much strength, but she was very fast and the blow only glanced off her. She'd been trying to avoid using her powers, but was beginning to realise that she had to if she wanted to win against Brian's enhanced abilities. She stared with her solid black eyes, intently at Brian, who suddenly released the energy that he had been storing and dropped to his knees, hands over his head.
"No, no... I didn't mean to, I'm not a killer..." He whimpered, seeing the dead body of his father in his mind and the expression's on the faces of his mother and little brother. "I didn't mean to... I'm not like him, I'm not... it was an accident, I didn't mean to kill him."
Tone relaxed, letting up with her power, and her eyes came back into focus. She ran to Brian and shook him. "I'm sorry." She wailed, distressed.
Scott came up to see what the fuss was about, calling to the other pairs to have a break. They kept their distance, although they did look over to see if anything was really wrong. Rae was still stiff and Lia was now sitting on the grass next to her trying to get her breath back. Lukka was rubbing his cheek where Bryn had got a foot in, and Bryn was running his finger underneath the bracelet of hair now wrapped around his wrist.
"What happened?" Scott asked, gently moving Tone to the side and checking Brian over for any physical injuries.
"I used me powers on 'im, tha's all, I din't know he was gonna do this, I din't mean to... I'm really sorry..." Tone stammered. Scott held up a hand to her to get a word in.
"It's okay Tone. It's just the effects of your powers. Brian will be okay."
He turned to Brian, who had now been released from Tone's influence, but was still sitting with his head in his hands on the grass.
"You okay?" He asked.
Brian sat there, then stood up, facing away. "I need a second." he said gruffly.
"It's okay. You can go on in." Scott told him, then turned to the others. "Training's over for today guys."
Brian was already walking away. After a few seconds of anxiously watching, Tone ran after him.
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"Brian."
Brian stopped, wiping at his eyes, then turned round to face Tone.
"I'm so sorry. I would never'a used me powers on yeh if I'da thought..."
He cut her off. "It's okay. You didn't know, and they ARE you're powers after all." He gave her a weak smile. "I just won't go up against you again."
Tone smiled, but it collapsed back into a frown. "I feel really bad about it though." She watched his face. "Do yeh wanna talk about it?"
Brian turned away, then went to lean against the wall, uncertain if he wanted to spill it or not. Tone came to stand next to him.
"You c'n tell me, I won't tell anyone else." She said quietly. "And it might even make yeh feel better about it... whatever it is."
Brian looked at her and smiled, but it was strained. "I don't know if you're going to like me after I tell you." he said.
She smirked. "Try me."
So he told her, all about how his dad was abusive and angry, about how his dad always seemed to prefer taking it out on his younger brother Daniel, how it had gotten so bad on that one night that Brian had snapped and put all his power into a punch which subsequently killed his dad and how he had been so appalled by his actions that he had run away and left home.
And then Tone hugged him and told him that it was okay, and that it didn't mean that he was like his father, that she didn't feel any different about him now than before, except, maybe, a little bit more proud because of what he had gone through and what he had done for his brother.
Then, she leaned up and kissed him gently, and Brian felt the weight of his history ease a little, and they stayed, leaning and kissing against the wall for a little bit longer until they were called in for dinner.
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After he'd gone to his room and washed and changed into a simple shirt and pair of slacks, Bryn curled up on the window seat reading Kafka's 'The Trial' in its original German. He heard a knock on the door and carefully bookmarked his place before going to answer. He was surprised to see Lukka standing there, also changed into a pair of jeans and a green buttoned-up shirt.
"Hello." Bryn said politely, slightly confused as to why Lukka was here.
"Hi." Lukka grinned. "I'm not bothering you am I?"
"Not at all." Bryn replied. "Is there something you needed?"
"Well, kinda." Lukka smiled, his hair curling and uncurling at the ends in slight nervousness. "I was wondering if you wanted to maybe have lunch with me? As a thank you for healing me."
As Bryn thought, Lukka noticed the bracelet of hair still around Bryn's wrist and internally raised an eyebrow. Hmm... that was interesting, to say the least.
Bryn looked puzzled but nodded. "Alright. Do I need to change?" He asked.
"Oh, no. You're fine." Lukka said, then giggled in his head. "Just come with me."
Bryn followed Lukka as they walked, suddenly realising that they were walking up a spiralled flight of stairs.
"This isn't the way to the dining room." He pointed out.
"Oh, I know." Lukka said. "We're going somewhere else to eat for a change."
Bryn accepted this and followed Lukka all the way to the top and through a door. The room on the other side was small but not cramped. There was a large balcony type window through which a cool breeze was blowing and there was a blanket spread out on the floor with two plates and two cups set out on it, a large box taking place in the middle.
"What is this?" Bryn questioned, looking at Lukka questioningly.
"It's a picnic." Lukka said, sitting down and beckoning Bryn to sit down next to him. "You did something nice for me, so I thought I'd do something nice for you."
Bryn sat down in shock, and Lukka served them both.
Bryn surreptitiously watched Lukka as they ate. He was somewhat flattered by the lengths the other boy had gone to for him, and was confused by the feelings that raced inside him. He'd only ever felt this way towards the opposite sex before, but when Lukka looked up at him with questioning exotic hazel and yellow eyes he felt something inside flip in a way that was unpleasant but exciting at the same time.
What was going on?
Lukka felt Bryn looking at him and wondered what he was thinking. Of course he had an ulterior motive behind this picnic. He was slowly seducing Bryn without the other boy even noticing. It had taken him this long to gauge that Bryn had only ever been straight, but that he might be persuaded to try 'new' relationships, and then he had had to prepare everything... but so far things were going well.
"Cheers." Lukka said, lifting his wine glass to Bryn, who tilted his and gently touched it to Lukka's.
Lukka drank without taking his eyes from Bryn's face, and Bryn stared back, that strange and familiar feeling bubbling up inside him once again.
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Logan sparred with Liz as part of her training, intense and hard. As the other girl was so much older than the others, and as a result of the trauma she had gone through which made her slightly leery of using her powers, the others had decided that it would be better if she trained with Logan, especially as she seemed to have a better relationship with him than with any of the others who were training.
Towards the end of the session, which was a mind-blowing display of physical agility and self-discipline, Logan had allowed his claws to show through. Liz hadn't stopped, being so focused on winning, and she let go with the red ice that was her power.
Logan managed to block most of it with his claws. Liz's red ice had no affect on metal, but some of it landed on Logan's hands and began eating at his skin. He hissed and ignored it, the ice soon melting off and his skin regenerating. Logan caught Liz's foot on her next kick and disabled her.
"Alright Streaks, that's enough for today."
Liz, panting hard, took a deep breath and relaxed, and Logan let her go. She turned and saw the pink skin still in the process of healing where her attack had hit and looked down.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... I should've been more in control..." She began apologising.
"Look kid, don't worry. We'll work on your control okay, I'm a tough guy, I can take it." He said grinning. "You should never be ashamed of using your powers. It's part of who you are, and suppressing it means suppressing a vital part of yourself."
Liz stood as if chastened, and Logan's face softened. He slung a towel over his shoulders and threw one to Liz. "Good fight anyway."
Liz looked up and caught the towel, smiling back at him. "You weren't so bad yourself." She said.
As they walked back to their separate rooms, Liz glanced out of the window and sighed deeply. Logan stopped. "What's wrong?"
Liz went over and crossed her elbows on the sill. "I just want to get out of here." She said. "I mean, it's not that I don't like you... or the girls or anything, it's just... I don't feel like I fit."
Logan shook his head. "O'course you belong here Streaks. If I do, then you HAVE to."
She didn't smile, just continuing to look from the window. Logan put a hand on her shoulder and she turned away and started walking back down the corridor.
"Don't worry about it kid." Logan told her. "You'll settle down eventually."
They separated, walking down different corridors, and Liz muttered darkly to herself. "I don't think I'll stay around here that long."
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*Genist: someone who discriminates against other people because of genes... I made it up ^____^
Look! You have TWO quotes for this chapter. Aren't you special? I'm sorry this chapter took so long to get out, but I had severe block and many unassessed essays to write for Uni. In the end I just wrote something and this is what I've posted, and I know its crap... I'm sorry.
Also, I know it looks like I'm rushing some things, and making some of your characters seem slightly off, (for example, Jean vs Rae, who, by the way, I DO NOT hate... it's just that Jean does...) but there's a plan. I trust in the plan. My muse trusts in the plan. Do you trust in the plan? Yes you do... I know you do....
Thanks to Trunksblue for the idea to use that lyric from Greenday, and to Demon for scaring me into writing and telling me stories. ^___^