Disclaimer: Characters and past storylines are property of Marvel and Fox. I lay claim to nothing but the compilation of the words. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Note: Okay, another chapter. I thank you all for your kind words. I'm glad that everyone is liking it so far! I was afraid that people would hate a second person story in this fandom! Well, again, thank you. I hope that you enjoy Chapter Three!
"Guys," Verity said, standing over the group of students sitting at a picnic table outside. "We brought someone to breakfast with us." She motions for you to step forward, and you do.
Scanning the table, you see two people that you know, Rogue, who is holding hands with the same guy that she is always hanging around, and Kitty, who is busy blowing air onto her freshly painted nails. You all share greetings. There are five others at the table, whom you don't know; three guys, and two girls. Both of the girls have dark hair, and they both smile at you. The blonde guy with Rogue looks up, holds up a hand, and waves. You can't help but wave back. A dark haired guy beside Kitty looks up, and smiles.
"Morning," he says, with a small smile.
"Good morning," you return the greeting, along with the smile. There is one more guy, whose face you can't see, as his back is to you. He is wearing a leather jacket, and you can see that he is playing with something. You look at him in question, before Verity speaks up again.
"This is Rogue, Bobby, Kitty, Gambit, Jubilee, Orienne, and -."
"Verity!" someone calls from behind you, and she turns around.
"I'll be right back," she says, placing a hand on your shoulder. "Talk for a little while."
Once she departs, the young man with the jacket begins to speak.
"Alright," he says, not bothering to turn around. "Since I wasn't mentioned before her highness took off on you, I'll introduce myself." He stands, and turns around to face you. When you see his face, your mouth drops, as you recognize him from your kitchen trip the night before. You laugh, seeing that he has the same surprised look on his face. "(You), right?"
"Yeah," you say, with a smile. "I can only call you the Jumpy One. I never got your name."
"(You)?" Rogue asks, smiling. "You guys know each other?"
"Yeah," the boy answers, still looking at you. "She offered to make me dinner last night."
"Liar," you mouth, knowing that no one else can see but the guy in front of you.
"What?" asks the blonde guy. "You skipped dinner, John."
"Forget it, Bobby," he laughs, turning slightly. "The ship has sailed, and you are drowning." Bobby sticks his tongue out the boy before you, and then motions to you.
"Come sit down, (you)," he offers, pointing to an empty section. "There's plenty of room."
"Thanks," you say, and follow the dark haired mystery man to the picnic table. Turning to him, you can't help but inquire. "So, what is your name?" you ask, tired of not knowing just who you are dealing with, not to mention the fact that the only thing that you can currently call him is the Jumpy One.
He smirks. "I'm John."
Once again, your mouth drops. "You're the Pyro," you say, more as a statement than an actual question.
"You've heard of me," he laughs. "How?"
Your brain freezes; it's really not the time to say that your roommates each of a thing for him. "Just... You know," you lie. "Around." He nods, and you hear the clicking sound again. Finally you look, and see that John is playing with a lighter.
"Should have seen that one coming," you laugh to yourself. You look up, and smile at everyone. "It's nice to meet you, for those that I haven't met before."
"You new here?" Jubilee asks, and snaps her gum.
"Four years ago, yeah," you say, with a smile.
"Wow," Rogue laughs. "You've been her longer than me, (you)."
You nod your head. "I know. I remember the day that you showed up here."
"Yeah, I don't like to think about that one, much." You see her frown a little, and feel bad about bringing it up in the first place.
"Sorry," you apologize, dropping your head a little.
"No, it's fine," Rogue assures you, with a smile. "Just one of those things, you know?"
You nod your head again, and begin to let yourself get lost in the sound of John clicking his lighter. Just when you have gotten to timing the second between each flick, open, close, open, close, you are snapped back to reality by a cheery voice.
"How is everyone doing over here?" When you look up, you are not surprised to see Verity standing before you.
"We're alright," Bobby assures her. "Just having a moment of quiet."
"(You), don't tell me you wall flowered," she laughs. "John, could you scoot down a little bit? I'd like to sit down."
"Yeah," he mumbles, obviously not wanting to move from his position. He stands, and slides down the banch, toward the end. "There. (You), now you can move down with me."
You stand up, and move your body down the bench. No sooner do you sit down, then Verity starts to talk.
"Well, how are you all this morning?" she chirps, way too happily for the hour that it is.
"Fine," Jubilee informs the blonde. "We're just peachy. (You) has been quiet, though. I think that she should talk a bit more, but, that's just me."
"Not just you," Gambit says, with a smile. "I definitely think that she should say something." He shoots you a grin, and you laugh a little.
"Well, fine," you challenge. "What is there to talk about today?"
Without a second's hesitation, John flicks his lighter closed, and turns back to you.
"What's your power all about?" he asks, tilting his head to one side.
You laugh at his lack of hesitation; you've never met anyone so straight forward in your life.
"Anybody have a match?" you ask, deciding to show, rather than tell.
"Use John's lighter," Bobby suggests, and you crack a smile.
"From what I've heard, he'd give his right arm never to be parted from it, so, I don't think that that would be a good idea." You smile at him, and he looks back up at you.
"Allow me to prove you wrong, then," John says, holding his lighter out to you. You grasp it in your hand, and flick it open. Striking a flame, you hold it, tilted, beside your left palm. A small ball of flame settles just above your hand, and, before you can close the lighter, the fire disappears into your hand.
Jubilee snaps her gum again. "That's what you do?" she laughs. "You make things disappear?"
You smile, and pass the lighter back to John. You place you left hand back on the table, and lift your right hand. Holding your palm to the sky, you lightly blow air from your wrist, up to the tip of your fingers. As you do so, flames emerge from you hand.
"Cool," Rogue says, smiling. "Is that the extent of it?"
You shake your head from side to side. "No, that's on safe mode. I can touch things, and make them go up in flames, when I want to." You mentally shake the thoughts that are now coming back to you, concerning your first encounter with your powers. "I don't want to think about that," you tell yourself. "All I have to do is absorb the fire, and I can do pretty much whatever I want to. Well, within reason, if you know what I mean."
"I know that feeling," John said. "I didn't know that there was another student with the power to control fire."
"Neither did I, before I heard about you," you laugh. "Thanks for letting me use your Zippo." You smile again, and look at your watch; it's almost ten o'clock. Feeling a little bit hungry, since you hadn't grabbed anything to eat yet, you stand up.
"Where are you going, (you)?" Kitty asks, raising an eyebrow. "Don't run away."
"Relax," you laugh. "I'm just going to go get something for breakfast." You begin to make your way back to the mansion, when you hear the sound of feet moving behind you.
"You know," comes a voice. "Food sounds good right about now. I guess I should get something, too." You turn around, thinking that John has followed you. To your surprise, it is Gambit.
"What in the world?" you think, but brush the thought aside. "Yeah, food does sound good." You smile, and resume walking. You are surprised at the new feeling that is overcoming you; friendship. "I guess I can make friends, after all," you laugh to yourself.
"What's funny?" Gambit asks you, as he moves in front of you to open a door, snapping you out of your thoughts.
"Nothing," you say, with another smile. "Just happy today, is all." You step inside, and turn to him. "Thanks."
"No problem," he says, returning your smile. He follows you inside, and closes the door behind him.
To your surprise, the kitchen is completely empty, and you head for the refrigerator.
"I'm thinking fruit," you say, with a quick nod. "How about you?"
Gambit shrugs. "I have no idea," he laughs, looking at you. "I guess... Fruit for me, too, I guess."
You pull two apples from the refrigerator, and rinse them off in the sink. Tossing Gambit an apple, you laugh again. Taking a bite, you lean against the counter top, and watch your new friend bite into his. When he tenses, you raise an eyebrow.
"What's the matter?" you ask, curious.
"Cold," he responds, pointing to the apple.
You sigh. "It just came straight from the refrigerator. What did you expect?" You both laugh, and you return to your apple. Taking another bite, you let out a sigh of contentment; it is shaping up to be a fairly decent day.
Author's Note: Wow. That was a long one, huh? Well, I hope that you enjoyed it! I might get another chapter up later, but probably not until this evening, at the earliest. As always, I await your thoughts! Thanks for reading! Until the next chapter...