Author's Note - That last chapter was painfully short, I know, don't worry. So...I give you this one! It's longer, and it has a slight hint of...fluff-ish-ness. And I'm out of school for the summer, whoop. Thank you all once more for the reviews, I love them!
Chapter Five - Rooftop Observatory
Surprisingly enough, the news of John's return seemed to be traveling quite slowly around the school. No one went running through the halls in a panic, and there were no fights.
Rika considered this a good thing. She had seen two more new students arrive just as she was leaving the kitchen, and was happy that no more stress had been put on Storm. Then again, she had an odd hunch that Logan would be watching John for most of the day.
One thing she had noticed, thinking back, was that John had not carried anything with him. Based off of more information from past news, Pyro could not produce fire itself. Rika assumed that whatever he had been using to start the flames had been taken away from him. It appeared that being at the Institute was just another prison.
On the other hand, this one didn't have the cure waiting for him. Another assumption on her part: by the look on his face at the mention of the cure, Pyro wanted nothing to do with it. He was most likely terrified by the thought.
After wandering around the school for almost two hours, Rika found herself in her room once more, tossing the blue tennis ball against the far wall and catching it without moving from where she was sitting on her bed. This had become a game of sorts for her over the past year, when she had nothing else to do. She had even shut the window so she couldn't hear the normal noises of a weekend afternoon.
Throwing the tennis ball for what had to be the sixtieth time, she looked up in time to see Kitty appear through the wall. Katherine let out a startled yelp as the ball flew at her. Of course, it just passed right through her, bouncing back to Rika as if nothing had been in its path.
She caught it.
"I'd rather you not make a habit of that." Rika almost laughed, though she was a serious.
"I couldn't help but be annoyed by the constant knocking against the wall." Kitty replied, smiling as she leaned against the wall she had just phased through.
"I get the point. What's up?"
Katherine shook her head. "Rogue told me that you know about Pyro...John."
Rika put the tennis ball to the side, her attention caught. "You okay with it?"
Again, Kitty shook her head. "I don't know. I mean...there has to be a reason why Storm let him come back. It must have taken a heck of a lot of talking to get Logan to approve." She paused, seeming at a loss for words. "Before he left, I didn't really know him that well. But him and Bobby were really good friends."
"I wouldn't mention that around either of them." Rika responded. "Mainly Bobby."
"Oh, I know. Bobby's so mad. Rogue actually walked away from him so he could blow off steam and she could think a bit."
"I think I'm going to try and not take sides."
At that, Kitty tilted her head, watching Rika with curious eyes. "He was part of The Brotherhood. He killed innocent people."
Rika had a response to that, but retrained herself from actually saying it. As she had decided that morning, she was to keep her mouth shut for the most part today.
Kitty sighed, then looked outside the closed window. It was getting rather cloudy outside.
"It's supposed to rain later." The younger girl said.
Rika turned her gaze to the window, also noticing the clouds. "Really?"
"Ya. I think I'll go outside for a bit. I haven't seen John yet..."
"Okay. I'll see you later, then."
After Kitty left, Rika noticed that she had called John by his real name, only using Pyro when she had first started the conversation. Maybe, besides Bobby, things weren't all that bad.
"Or I'm going crazy." She said with a sigh, feeling as if the mood she had woken up in that morning was long gone. Deciding to take advantage of the weather, she opened her window again. Sticking her head out, she looked above her for a high balcony, easily spotting one.
When she had been traveling and didn't at first have the money to spare for even a motel, Rika had climbed in many a tree to sleep. When she had been in the middle of cities, she had slept on the roof of the tallest building she could find more than once.
Managing to make it to the top floor of the school without being stopped for anything, she now made use of that habit. She was happy to find the room with the balcony empty and unlocked. She guessed it was an old classroom or some other space not being used. Looking over the edge, she was even more delighted to find what she needed to get to the roof; one of the many large vine plants lining the walls.
Using quick reflexes and balance, she was able to get to the roof. She was lucky that the Institute was made of brick on the outside. It made for a very good foothold. The roof was slanted, unfortunately, but Rika was able to find footing near one of the towers at the sides.
"Note to self, come here more often." She breathed, taking in the view.
She could practically see the entire property that the school lay on. Several students were talking under a group of trees to her left, and more were merely walking around the grounds. Rika hadn't realized how nice the place was on the outside. Looking up, her eyes narrowed as she took in the slowly darkening sky. It looked like they were going to get whatever rain was predicted.
Shifting her weight to her heels, she moved so that she could watch the younger kids below her. If it weren't for the rain, she probably would have spent the whole day up there, watching the world around her.
Around half an hour later, one of the kids below her yelled something. Rika looked down to see him pointing to the small group of trees that lay behind the school. Turning so that she could see, Rika smiled as she realized that he hadn't been pointing at the forest, but what was above it.
It was Angel.
As Warren spread his wings to catch a thermal in order to gain altitude, Rika realized just how large the wings were. It was quite the sight, watching him fly, and Warren seemed totally at home in the sky as he turned again so that he was flying away from the school once more.
Below her, Rika noticed that most of the students had gone inside. She wondered if Warren flew around the school every day, exercising his wings.
Hoping that none of them had seen her, Rika started to trace her way around the school's roof, jumping down when it dropped slightly behind one of the towers.
Arms out for balance, her feet carried her to a spot above the gardens. She hadn't seen the place before, nor the three gravestones. However, she knew who they were for. Looking up at the sky, she realized that it was getting darker more quickly. It would rain soon. But now that she was there, Rika didn't intend on going back inside just yet.
She was about to sit down when a rush of wind that wasn't exactly natural made her spin around. A little too quickly, in fact, she realized as she lost her footing. Even though she knew better, she looked down into the gardens behind her, which panicked her slightly as her left foot skid on the roof's shingles. Whether she would have actually tumbled or not, she would never know, as a steady hand suddenly caught her wrist. Only thinking about not falling, she swung her left foot around so that she could spread her feet apart and regain balance.
"I'm sorry."
Rika looked up to see Angel hovering above her. As she stood shocked for a moment, he landed, wings half spread for balance.
"I didn't think I'd scare you like that." He said, repeating his apology.
Rika felt her face grow hot, and was going to reply when she noticed the worried look on Warren's face.
"I'm okay." She whispered. "Thanks for catching me, there."
Warren nodded, and she suddenly started to laugh. Seeing the look on his face, she nodded to where his hand was still gripped around her wrist.
"It looks like we were dancing or something." She said.
It really probably did look like that to anyone that was watching them. Warren had his hand lightly on he wrist, and Rika was standing sideways, feet apart and one arm held out from her side ever so slightly. With Warren standing with his feet apart too, it looked like they had come out of a twirl.
Noticing this, Warren let go of Rika's hand, though he smiled.
Rika shook her head. "I thought it was a little funny."
Again, he flashed her a smile. Rika settled her feet once more, brushing a stray hair that had fallen from her ponytail out of her eyes. She looked up to see Warren watching the sky; it had gotten darker.
"I saw you earlier, flying." Rika stated after a moment of silence. Her eyes fell on his wings for a moment.
"Hm?" Warren replied, looking back at her.
"You love it, don't you? I mean, you have one thing that millions of people dream of every day. That's so...so..." She couldn't think of a word to fit that.
Angel looked a little uncomfortable again. Rika wondered why he was so damn shy sometimes. Then again, she had heard that he had been home-schooled.
"Yes." He finally answered simply.
There was another pause, and Rika wondered how often Warren had actually had someone talk to him about his powers. She doubted he and his father ever had, save for recently. A thought occurred to her, though she wasn't sure if she should ask. Then again, she never let nervousness get her down. Curiosity should have been her middle name.
"Could you extend one for me?"
Angel looked startled out of his mind. "What?"
"One of your wings. If you don't mind...I think that they're beautiful. I'm not going to hurt you. I, just want to touch one." She smirked rather childishly.
Warren looked a little taken aback by the idea, but he slowly extended his left wing. "No one's ever really asked me that. It's not like people have known about them long, since they were strapped to my back all my life." The last part was said rather bitterly.
"They are kind of noticeable."
"I can fold them in pretty tightly."
Rika didn't respond at first, she was too busy keeping her balance so that she didn't embarrass herself again. Aware that Warren was watching her closely, she ran a single finger along one of the ending feathers. It was soft, like any other bird's, but she was startled by the shear color, if you agreed that white was one.
"I'd hate that." She suddenly replied. "I mean, I can never go swimming, so I love the wind, a simple cool breeze. You...you can fly. I would never conceal something as wonderful as your wings. Sounds rather dumb, doesn't it?"
"Not really...why can't you swim?"
"Well, I've never tested it, but my sister used to say that if I were to fall into a body of water I'd electrocute anyone within a mile radius. A massive shock, really, except I might not be able to stop it, as water is such a good conductor."
As she spoke, Rika ran a finger along the bone of the wing. "They're almostexactly like any bird's in anatomy. Do you have problems breathing, when you're flying?"
Warren shook his head. "Never."
"Nice job on the shirt." Rika teased, noticing the crude cut that he had made so that his wings could slip through.
He actually chuckled. "It's such a pain, getting a shirt on every day."
Rika stopped, a hand poised above the outstretched wing, reveling in the sound of his voice.
"There is a solution to that." She replied, a hint of amusement in her voice.
Warren turned his head to look at her, looking as if he was going to reply. However, his blue eyes only lingered on her for a moment before they shifted back towards the garden behind them both.
"It's Pyro."
Rika stepped around him as he tucked his wing in. Looking down into the garden, she could see John standing in front of the center tombstone; Xavier's. He had his hands in his pockets, his shoulders hunched over so no one could really see his face from the sides.
"Maybe we should go inside now." Warren suggested with aside glance at Rika.
"How come? He's just standing there, and we're up here. And the weather's nice."
Even though Warren's wings were noticeable anyways, Rika sat against the slant of the roof, using her arms to hold her up. She didn't really care that John was below them, or that he would probably see them eventually. What she did care about was the fact that she was on the roof with Warren. He was easily the person she felt most comfortable around so far at the school, besides perhaps Storm.
Without warning there was a peel of thunder off in the distance, and several raindrops fell against Rika's hair. Still standing above her, Warren smiled. "That's why we should go inside."
"Well...the weather's still nice." Rika replied, an innocent smile on her face.
They both laughed. Realizing that John would have heard them, Rika glanced down into the garden, only to see that he was gone. Or at least, he had moved out of the rain.
Actually...Rika wasn't getting very wet. Looking ahead, she could see that it was still raining lightly. Tilting her head back, she realized that Warren had spread his right wing again, blocking a good deal of the rain from Rika by tilting it back.
He was watching her, and by the glint in his eye she could tell that he saw the look of surprise on her face. "I'm still getting wet." He stated, though he didn't move.
"Well, then." Rika replied, standing up and gently moving the wing away. Just like a bird's, the water was rolling right off of it.
"Hungry?" Warren suggested, tucking both wings tightly to his back. As if on cue, the rain started coming down harder. It would be hard to walk on the roof soon.
"Sure. I got up here by climbing the wall. I'll meet you down in the kitchen. I'd say 'I'd race you', but that seems highly unfair, since you can fly." She stuck her tongue out at him.
"I've got a better idea." Angel said, offering her a hand. "Trust me?"
Rika instantly felt her heartbeat quicken. "You mean?"
"I've carried my dad, and I somehow doubt that you weigh more than him, or equal, for that matter."
All Rika did was nod, and then Warren had swept her up from where she was standing and leaped off the roof. She couldn't help but let out a small gasp, or maybe it was a scream, as he spread his wings and they halted midair.
"Guess I should have warned you." He said with a very handsome smirk.
Rika, still partially trying to catch her breath, smiled, and then felt her face grow warm. She could feel Warren's shoulder muscles working with every stroke of his wings, even though they were basically just hovering a few yards above the gardens. She had totally forgotten about the rain.
"No, I loved it." She finally replied.
"I didn't even move." Warren informed her, another smirk on his face because he knew that she was flustered. "If it wasn't raining, I could show you what it's like to really fly."
"I'd like that." Rika whispered, noticing how close they were to each other.
Angel slowly lowered himself to the ground, and Rika barely felt a jolt as they reached solid earth. He folded his wings tightly to his back, letting Rika step away as he did so.
"Rika, Warren? Where'd you come from?"
Both of them turned to see Kitty leaning against the railing.
And John was standing next to her.
marinawings - Oh, she'll get a codename...soon, actually. I'm happy that you like the stry so much!
touchnotthecat - I'm happy you still think it's so good, even if you don't totally support the couples!
All - If I do start making John too...nice...tell me. And yes, Rika has a rebel side to her, so I'm happy that you guys approve! She does have a sensitive side to her, obviously. She too damn curious for her own good.