O2: Meeting the 'Freak Show'
I found Charlie waiting for me outside, just like he said. He leaped up as I entered the hall and once again breathed a sigh of relief. Had that really just all happened?. My face must have told my confusion as he laid a hand on my arm. "You okay dude?"
I half shrugged, half nodded. "I guess... that was just..." I didn't finish. I didn't really have words. All those nerves had been for good reason. But I firmly reminded myself – I was at the Institute for good now. All my weeks of hoping had paid off, and I could finally try and fit in somewhere.
Charlie extended an arm around my shoulders and began to steer me back the way we had come. "Don't worry, you'll be alright. By the looks of your parents, they were pretty riled up and upset, but honestly... ninety percent of the parent's that come here start off upset. Majority of them get over it though. You'll be fine now dude"
I nodded again, and I believed his words. I felt better already, just knowing that I was around other mutants, in a safe, non judgmental environment. "I thought I could show you our room later, but first I might as well give you the low down on the mansion" he explained. We reached the door again and stepped foot onto the marble floor of the entrance room. He sounded so casual and laid back – well, this was Charlie's home. And now it was mine!.
He took me to the large lounge rooms either side of the hall. Both were expansive, and were dominated by two ridiculously big TV's. A few students were sat on the larger than life sofas watching some reality show, and barely looked up as we entered. From there we swept around the jaw dropping kitchen, the two dining rooms, the various toilets and bathrooms and the collosal library that dwarfed any other room I had seen. And that was just the ground floor. Three floors up, forty six bedrooms, twenty three bathrooms and various other studies and more lounge rooms later I realized that this place was not only beautiful, but it was warm and friendly.
By the time we reached our room, on the second floor, my things were being brought up by a boy just as tall as Charlie. He was more muscular than Charlie, and had an air of slight gruffness about him. The ruffled dirty blond hair and stubble matched perfectly with the silver hoop through his ear and the few tattoos I could see on the arm that showed from his black shirt. Charlie greeted him warmly with a high five, but the boy, whom Charlie called Bastion, simply nodded. I had a feeling it was because I was there. He eyed me, interested. He had large, murky green eyes that seemed to weigh every part of me. Either he wasn't much of a talker, or he was playing it cool. When Charlie introduced me, Bastion simply nodded again. After dropping my stuff at the door he eyed me up and down again before turning and walking off. I realised then, that he hadn't said a word.
"Don't mind Bastion... he's not the stand and chat type. Well... he's not any type really" Charlie explained, opening the door and heaving my suitcases in. I stepped into my new room and swept it. It was large – big enough for two wide beds in oak stands. A moderately sized window stood opposite the door, and two matching heavy looking chest of drawers stood side by side at the end of Charlie's bed. The wall space next to his bed was taken up with basketball and sports posters. He pointed me through a door on my side of the room that led to a small en suite. "Its nothing special.. some students have bigger, better rooms but we both got luck of the draw" he said. I could tell he was waiting for a reaction. I turned and beamed at him.
"I think its amazing!" I said, and I meant it. Already, after an hour and a half of being here, I felt at home. Charlie's face broke into a relieved state.
"Now, I'll let you unpack and familiarize yourself with my – our room. Dinner's going to be served in about half an hour, so when your done come down to the dining room on the left of the kitchen. Thats normally where me and my friends hang out, I can introduce you!" I nodded, and he left. I looked around again, still smiling, and turned to my bags. They held all my possessions, but suddenly I felt like I didn't really want them.. it was all a reminder of the place I had just left, and the place I wouldn't be going back to for a long time. I resigned to the fact that I at least needed my clothes, and set about putting them into my chest of drawers.
As I went to leave the room I caught sight of myself in the wall length thin mirror. I felt myself sigh – I really did look like shit. My blond hair had come free of its usual messy cut to look seriously messy. I had coloured the tips a deep cobalt blue and they stood on end. My pale, slightly angular face looked sweaty. "Eww..." I muttered as I wiped my brow. Perhaps the most striking feature on my face were my bright sapphire eyes, perfectly rounded so they looked like bowls of water – they even outshone my few freckles across my nose that I hated so much. I was slim, not stick thin, but hardly hench – I was relativity tall too. I was wearing the denim shirt with the white tee underneath that I had spent so long picking out earlier that morning, and my favorite black jeans, and my dirty white trainers. It was too late to make myself look half decent now, so I just made my way out of the hallway and down the stairs.
The mansion was a buzz of activity now – the delicious smell of what I assumed was spaghetti bolegnese must have drawn all the other students out. I myself must have smelt too – of newcomer, because I received interested glances, and even a few cheerful smiles. I found myself smiling back, and slightly surprised. Most of these teenagers looked normal – dare I say it?. I saw a girl with what looked liked cat ears poking out from her red hair, and a tall dark haired girl with eyes that shone – literally shone with a array of dazzling colours. But aside from that, most of them looked just like what you'd expect a everyday teenager to look like.
I found my way into the dining room Charlie had told me about, and cast my eyes around the long table looking for him. He found me first, as I heard a familiar voice. "Max! Over here dude!" this was followed by a series of frantic waves. I waved back and made my way over.
"Sit down and chow down!" he said, patting the seat on the bench next to him. "And meet my guys – everyone, this is Max!" as I sat down he cast his arm out to the three people opposite us. One of them I recognised instantly - Bastion sat leaning casually in his chair between two girls. I choked out a hello, but he simply stared at me with those intense green eyes. I felt colour rise up in my cheeks and quickly averted my attention to the girl the left of him.
"This is Reya, our regular spider monkey" Charlie said with a cheeky smile. Reya looked young, she was looked petite next to Bastion. Her light brown hair was pulled into a messy ponytail, and her baby face broke into a welcoming grin. Her eyes matched her hair colour perfectly, and only emphasized how young she looked. She stretched across and grabbed my hand as I said hello once again. Charlie went on to introduce the other girl, but she cut across him.
"Nice to meet you Max, I'm Annabell" she said, also shaking my hand. I then realised this had been the girl I had seen earlier, with the dazzling eyes. Her black hair, curling towards the ends rested just on her shoulders, and her made up face told me she was older than me. I notice that up close, her eyes were a array of dazzling colors, pinks, blues and greens – there wasn't an iris at all.
I must have been staring. "Don't worry, I'm not blind or anything – its just an effect of my powers" she told me with a smile.
"Oh god.. I'm so sorry... Really I am.." I began to sttuter, feeling heat in my face. She threw back her head and laughed, waving away my apologies. "Don't be silly, everyone stares at first. It takes a while to get used to – chill" she said.
"So, how are you finding the mansion so far?" Reya piped up, leaning across the table, her eyes lighting up at the prospect of talking to someone new.
"Incredible! It all seems too good to be true!" I replied. It was then that Bastion made the first sound yet – a loud snort. I glanced over at him, confused, while Annabell frowned and threw him a displeased look.
"You haven't sat through one of Xavier's lectures yet – the novelty will wear off soon enough" Bastion explained. His voice was so.. gruff! Just like his appearance, but somehow he was well spoken.
"Oh come on Bastion, there really not that bad!" Reya said with a giggle – how old was she?
"Reya's right Bastion – some of us actually have the attention span of more than a spoon" Annabell commented sarcastically, if a little harshly. I watched Bastion's face flicker with annoyance before shrugging and taking a sip of his drink. I noticed that Annabell watched him for a few seconds, maybe expecting a come back.
Well, Bastion certainly wasn't a very social person. But there was something fascinating about him – his voice, his attitude, his eyes.. it was all so mysterious. "Max's parents didn't take too well to the idea of you being here though, did they?" Charlie said, reaching across and pouring me and him a glass of water. I felt myself shake my head.
"Deffinetly not...But then you said most people's parents don't like it" Reya nodded frantically, like an overactive child, and Annabell chuckled. "Charlie's right hun, but who can blame them? I think if most people had the choice, the mansion certainly wouldn't be the decision they'd make. But its a good place here, you'll enjoy it" she explained.
A bell rung somewhere, and Charlie jumped up. "Score, foods here!. Come on Max, lets dig in" he said over his shoulder as he practically skipped to the kitchen. "Is he always like this with food?" I asked as the rest of us rose. "Unfourtantly so" Annabell said with a sigh.
My guess had been right – huge pans full of spaghetti and a mammoth bowl that contained more bolegnese than I had ever seen in one place sat on the side, and people were beginning to help themselves. After watching Charlie pile his plate sickeningly high, I got mine and we resumed our places. We talked about the mansion grounds and how amazing they were, and then I told them about how scary Xavier had been, but kind at the same time – we all agreed on that. They started to tell me about the lessons we'd be having, when Bastion, who had once again lapsed into silence leaned forwards and interrupted Annabell with a loud question.
"So, Max, whats your power?" he said very clearly. He was staring straight at me, was he even blinking?.
Annabell instantly frowned again, crossing her arms. She seemed to be biting back a comment, clearly annoyed about the interruption. I noticed Charlie gave her a warning look – I had pretty much figured out that Bastion and Annabell didn't get on very well – there had been plenty of snide remarks from Annabell about Bastion's beard and his 'sulkiness', but he hadn't responded. This seemed to have made Annabell even more annoyed.
I cleared my throat, slightly taken back by the question. "Well.. what does it matter?" I found myself asking, with a smile. What was I doing? Where had that cockiness come from. Bastion didn't say anything for a few seconds, but just continued to stare, before finally smiling. He looked so different when he smiled, he looked a lot better. "Curiosity" he simply said, still staring.
"Yeah, I wanna know too! Come on Max, what can you do?" Reya said excitedly, even clapping her hands. I realised then I was staring back at Bastion, and quickly averted my eyes.
"Well, I'm not completely sure myself yet to be honest. I still have to have a meeting with Xavier, you know, so he can kind of fill me in. All I know is I used to get these agonizing headaches, and then I'd pass out, but when I woke up, wherever I was would be pretty bashed up. One time, my mum found me, and apparently I had this weird purple.. energy flying from my hands, smashing stuff up. When I spoke to Xavier via email, he said it was most probably psionic energy – you know like, energy of the mind" I said. It felt weird to actually talk about it.. ever since it had started happening it had been hushed up in my house.
Bastion registered the story for a moment before raising his eyebrows, looking impressed. Reya 'oohed' and 'ahhed' at it. "What about you?" I shot back, without meaning too. I had no idea why I was being so cocky and loud towards him. He smiled again, looking amused. "Curiosity killed the cat, you know" he said.
"And satisfaction brought it back" I replied, a smile mirroring his. He chuckled slightly – even Annabell looked surprised at that, before replying. "You'll just have to wait and see in your first Danger Room session" and with that he picked up his plate and stood, winked at me and walked off towards the kitchen. There was a moment of stunned silence before Reya spoke up.
"Oooh.. he winked at you Max!" she giggled like a three year old, imitating his wink. I laughed, trying to cover the redness in my face. "Maybe he likes you! We never did get it out of him what he likes, you know, boys or girls" she carried on.
Annabell rolled her eyes. "Knowing Bastion, it'll be anything that moves" Charlie boomed with laughter at that. "But what about you guys? What can you do?" I was desperate to move on, it was embarrassing enough that he winked at me, let alone with Reya playing it up.
"Well dude, you already know what I do" Charlie said clenching his fist on his right hand. His whole arm sprung into a torrent of flames. His elbow and upper arm remained perfectly normal, but elbow downwards was a block of roaring flames. Just as quick as it had set a light, it blinked out, revealing his perfectly normal looking arm. He had shown me that and some other cool tricks during our webcam chats. That was why his codename had been chosen as Furnace – he could transform his limbs into fire.
Reya explained that she possessed 'Superhuman acrobatic abilities, super flexibility and an increased muscle mass that meant she could hit five times harder than a heavyweight boxer' – she had obviously become accustomed to telling people because it had sounded like a script. My eyes had boggled when she had spoken about hitting hard – it turns out she was fourteen. She was tiny – how could she hit someone that hard?.
Annabell explained her powers were a little bit more harder to explain. "I won't bore you with the scientific stuff, but pretty much, I constantly absorb energy from the moon and the stars themselves and can change myself so that basically I'm made out of stars and lunar energy. I can fly, my strength and endurance is increased tenfold, and I can charge objects with the same energy" she said. I felt my jaw drop, that sounded cool. As she had explained, her eyes had slowly faded from an array of colours to solid black – but her whole body, as in her skin and hair – had taken on the previous appearance her eyes had been. Underneath her clothes, her skin had dazzled, her hair had rose up and whipped as if caught in a wind, also beautifully dazzling. The fork she had been holding had mirrored her skin and eyes, suddenly becoming a three pronged piece of star energy. After a few seconds she stopped, and her skin and hair suddenly became 'human', her eyes suddenly blinking a miasma of colour at me. The fork was left intact, but smoking slightly.
"So don't worry if you were feeling slightly alone at any point recently – your one of the freak show here now" Charlie said with a booming laugh.
After dinner Charlie suggested that all of us do something exciting ('It is Saturday after all!'), a notion which Reya resounded with more claps and 'yipees'. Annabell seemed hesitant at first.
"Oh come on Annabell, surely you can drag yourself away from your books and notes for one night?" Charlie said with a dramatic eye roll "Besides, we need to settle Max in. I was thinking of hitting the pool, and we know how much you just love the pool" he said with a teasing smile. Annabell bit her lips, obviously considering it still. Reya piped up, repeating the word 'pool' over and over again. How irritating.
I flashed her my cheesiest smile, and she rolled her own eyes. "Fine. But I really have to study tomorrow. We all do, Xavier's paper on Ethical Laws is in Monday" she said with a meaningful glare at Charlie.
"Meet you in the inside pool in twenty minuets guys!" Reya chirped happily, grabbing Annabell's hand and dragging her out of the dining room.
"Ethical Laws?... Ew.." I said slowly. Charlie nodded. "I know right.. his lessons can either be a serious bore, or a serious thinking session. His stuff is pretty deep.. but academic work really isn't my thing" he muttered, standing up and motioning to the door.
"So, whats the deal with Bastion?" I said slowly, trying to sound as casual as possible. Luckily Charlie didn't seem to pick up on my eagerness.
"He acts like a bit of a douche, but he's generally a cool guy. A little quiet and withdrawn, but he's cool. He's a bit of a troublemaker though.. if you didn't notice, he's got a bit of a bad boy vibe going on. Apparently he was found on the streets in Chicago, he was doing a lot of robberies and stuff to get by. He doesn't like to talk much about his past, but he never turned up with any parents or family, and no one ever visits" he said, albeit a little sad. I couldn't really think of anything to say, and just shook my head.
"Him and Annabell really don't get on huh? They just seem to love winding each other up" I laughed as we made our way up one of the grand staircases. "You noticed?" Charlie said sarcastically. "Annabell was a prim princess, her parent's were executives of some huge company. She's always been a bit of a spoilt brat, and she's pretty outspoken too. Thats where her and Bastion clash – she hates being confronted. And he's everything she was told by mummy and daddy that was bad, and she's everything he dislikes in people. Annabell won't admit it, but I know she's got the serious hots for him!"
Was I feeling... knarked by that last part?. There was no denying that Bastion was good looking, and Annabell was very pretty.. but they just didn't seem to match. Besides.. Bastion had been paying me attention, not her. "I don't know.. she seems pretty resentful" I said quietly as we reached our room.
As Charlie pulled the v-neck off and rummaged for his trunks he began to talk about Reya. I had to force myself to listen, and not to stare at the perfect beach body he had. "Reya's always been pretty... immature. I know she's only fourteen, but most of the time she acts like she's four. She doesn't really talk about where she was before she got to the Mansion, and she's pretty touchy about it. After a while you just get used to having a friend with the mental age of someone ten years younger than you" he said, stopping to view himself in the mirror and mess his faux haux up even more.
His trunks were bright orange with deep red flames licking the crotch area. I snorted and shook my head – such a boys boy. "Hey don't hate, appreciate! I'm on fiiiire!" he said smoothly, thrusting. "If you say so" I laughed, pulling on my own black trunks.
Feeling a little exposed in front of all the students still roaming the corridors in nothing but swim wear, I followed Charlie downstairs, past the kitchen we'd got dinner from and through some French double doors into a room I hadn't been shown. It was in complete blackness though, but something about the way my footsteps resounded told me it was large. "I know the lights around here somewhere..." Charlie muttered in the pitch black somewhere near me. Rich flames burst into life as he swept his arm into fire, using it as a light. "Aha!"
For a few seconds I was temporarily blinded by bars of white across my vision. As vision returned I realised the industrial sized strip lights were illuminating a huge indoor swimming area, a Olympic size pool complete with diving board and viewing seats at the far end of the bright white room. I mentally noted that this was something else to add to my 'Why the Mansion is Amazing' list.
"Ahh ladies!" Charlie greeted Reya and Annabell as they strode in. Reya was wearing a horribly fuchsia pink swimsuit complete with frills, while Annabell had a blue and white bikini, her slightly curly hair tied up in a bun.
"SPLAAAAAAAAAASH TIME!" Reya screeched, zooming past me and literally spring boarding four feet into the air, completing a almost impossible turn of twists and twirls before creating what she wanted as she landed in the water; a huge splash. I must have looked surprised as Annabell strode past me, climbing down the ladder.
"Like Charlie said.. spider monkey" she kicked off, steering clear of Reya who was now floundering around talking about mermaids.
Charlie followed suit of Reya and threw himself in, dive bombing. I decided I'd save my dignity in my overly floppy and large trunks and just climb the ladder. The water was comfortably warm. I proceeded to do a few laps, although I was out of practice compared to Annabell who steamrolled around the pool. Apparently her parent's had made her do swimming lessons for eight years, along with violin, piano and elocution. I ticked off 'spoilt brat' in my head.
Reya dragged us into a game of shark, which Annabell point blank refused to play at first. I even felt stupid, but after a while it was actually quite fun. In a stupid way. We had been playing for a while when I heard a familiar chuckle. I spun round halfway through attempting to dunk Charlie and make him 'shark' and found Bastion standing up from the seating area and walking over to the pool's edge.
"Well if I haven't seen such a group of water babies" he said with a jeering smile. Annabell scoffed and instantly swam off in the opposite direction. I noticed Bastion gazed after her for a few seconds before staring down at me.
"Aren't you coming in?" I asked, pulling myself out. He didn't respond for a while but simply stared me up and down like he had been doing all day, this time taking a lingering look on my naked torso. I felt a little heat in my cheeks and hastily wrapped my arms around myself. He finally met my eyes.
"No thanks. Water and swimming pools... there not for me. I'll just watch" he nodded and went to make his way back over to the seats. I reached out and grabbed his arm. "But Bastion.." he turned to look at me. A mischievous smile spread across my face and I hardened my grip. "Thats no fun!" I shouted as I swung him round and firmly shoved him straight into the water.
The feat got a round of applause and cheers from Charlie and Reya. The fountain of bubbles and spluttering that was Bastion surfaced, his hair stuck to his head. He was half smiling and half glaring. "Now your an honorary 'water baby'" I chuckled jumping in next to him.
"Your a bit of a devil aren't you?" Bastion murmured, leaning in. It was only then that I realised how close he was, his murky green eyes were so close I could see the specks of hazel in them. Once again I felt my face go bright red and I laughed nervously.
"Umm.. you could say that" I stuttered before turning and swimming off, cursing my red face and stupid response. I heard him chuckle over my shoulder though. I couldn't help but stare as he bobbed over to the side again and slid his shirt off. He was more bigger built than Charlie, and I noticed a tattoo on his shoulder that had been hidden before, a family crest of some sort. His chest had a little nest of light brown hair and his six pack was perfectly toned.
Charlie made a point of coughing loudly, and I quickly averted my eyes, but not before Bastion had also noticed my preying eyes. Desperate to clear the awkwardness, I spoke up. "So, are there any other games to play apart from shark?"
Reya and Charlie's eyes lit up and they both blurted out 'VOLLEYBALL' at the same time. Before giving me a chance to respond they raced out of the pool, Charlie pressing a button next to the light switch so that two metal poles raised up either end of the pool. Reya had dragged a large net out from the closet near the door and the two were fastening it to the poles in seconds.
"Well done Max, you've started them off now. They used to spend hours and hours down here playing it before Xavier started actually giving out weekend detentions for not completing work" Annabell sighed.
As there were five of us, we decided to do pairs and rotate people in and out. First off me and Charlie went against Reya and Bastion. I soon realised why Charlie had seemed a little disappointed when I picked him as a partner. I had forgotten about Reya's ridiculous acrobatic abilities.
Bastion didn't really get chance to hit the ball. No matter how high I thwacked it, she leaped up in a ball, and then unsprung at the last second and smashed it back just as hard. When Charlie tried to curve it more towards Bastion, she still actually cartwheeled through the air to hit it, and even when we tried to bluff them and just tap it over the net, she was always there in a second to send it whistling back.
Accepting out first defeat, Bastion switched out and Annabell joined. That game pretty much went the same as the last one, and I sat out, leaving Bastion and Charlie. The past two defeats seemed to have strengthened Charlie's resolve, and him and Bastion spent a few moments huddling and whispering. This time they actually managed to put up a fight, and I realised they were both actually quite good. Annabell was terrible, but she seemed oblivious.
What a shame her parent's didn't force her to do Volleyball lessons.
Reya switched out and I joined Annabell, fully accepting the fact we were going to get thrashed. "Ahh, now theres no need for a huddle. We've got the newbie and possibly the worst volleyball player in the whole Mansion" Bastion sniped with a jeer. I simply laughed it off, but Annabell rose to the bait.
"I've no idea how you got so 'good' Bastion, you normally scarper at the first sight of any water, especially baths and showers" she hissed. He simply chuckled. "Tell that to the boy who had to be your partner in the Volleyball competition last summer. Did you know Max, that I ended up dropping out just because she was that terrible?" I glanced at Annabell, not sure whether to laugh. Her fists were clenched... definitely not a time to laugh. Bastion ploughed on.
"When I said possibly the worst player, I really meant the worst player. She actually came last.. so she's rightfully earned that title"
Annabell seemed to be calculating a comeback. "Does your fear of water come from a near death experience Bastion? Or did you just not get to wash that much on the streets of Chicago?" she snapped. Instantly I noticed Charlie's face drop, and Bastion's eyes narrowed. This time Annabell carried on.
"I can't imagine showering opportunities were high on the wind as a street rat. Unless the gutter counts"
"Shut it Annabell" Charlie barked loudly, giving her a meaningful look. The tall, dazzle eyed girl seemed to snap out of her minor rage and realise what she said, her face told the story of the regret that was going on in her head.
Reya had observed the tiff from the side of the pool, and had stopped her repetitive foot splashing and was staring between the two with wide eyes and a slightly open mouth. Bastion however, hadn't even flinched, but stood looking daggers at Annabell. It was a little bit disturbing, he wasn't even blinking.
Silence reigned for a moment before Bastion snatched the ball out of the water. "Lets play"
Eager to shun the silence I agreed, taking my position next to Annabell. Charlie coughed and nervously took up a stance, still looking a little bemused. Bastion leaped up into the air, throwing the ball upwards. As it fell back down, he swung his arm back, ready to hit it. As if in slow motion, my eyes were drawn to the light green sparks flashing around his open palm. What was that? His face was etched with anger and concentration. As his palm made contact with the ball the sound of a far off explosion ripped through the silence, and shock waves burst from his palm, and from the ball.
Like an orange bullet, streaked with green sparks, the ball rocketed forwards almost too fast to watch. Annabell let out a scream, Charlie swore loudly and I done what my instincts told me to do; I threw myself in front of a stationary Annabell. I had the glimpse of orange and green before what felt like a few professional boxing punches smashed into my rib, and I was sent reeling backwards. I must have actually skimmed the water, because I don't remember going under until I finally stopped.
My rib roared with agony as I tried to kick upwards, and my legs still seemed to be in shock as they weren't working the way I wanted. I could hear the muffled shouts of the rest of them before a tattooed arm grabbed my arm and yanked me up. I coughed and spluttered as Bastion pulled me over to the side, laying me down.
"Oh god, is he okay?" Charlie shouted, racing around from the other end of the poolside. He slipped and almost face planted the tiled floor a few times, but his face was a mask of worry. Bastion's face, above me and staring down, however was ten times worse. His murky green eyes were pools of horror.
"Max.. Max! Are you okay?" he shouted, more louder than needed. He obviously thought I was concussed or something, but I nodded, pulling myself up onto my elbows with a wince. "I'm alive" I said slowly.
A catapult of arms and legs told me Reya had landed next to me. "Ouch.. that looks painful" she said bluntly. I looked down and saw the big red mark across my left rib. "It is, surprisingly" I said flatly. Charlie's face broke into a smile.
"Ever so sarcastic. But like you said, you're alive" he said, patting my shoulder.
"You complete and utter idiot Bastion! You could have seriously injured him!" Annabell screeched, shoving him aside to sit next to me. She inspected the mark, pushing my ribs much to my protest. "Its not broken, or fractured, thank god, but its probably going to be a nice shade of green and purple tomorrow" As I opened my mouth to ask how she could possibly know that, she answered my question. "My parents made sure I was paramedic trained".
"Shoulda known.." I muttered under my breath, sitting up properly.
"Maybe you should go to the Recovery?" Reya said, wide eyed as ever, still gawping at the mark.
"No way, I'm fine. It hurts a bit, but it'll be fine" I cut her off firmly. Annabell seemed to be considering Reya's suggestion. I pulled myself onto my knees and slowly began to stand. My legs were a bit wobbly, and my side pulsated. I felt myself stumble, in the direction of the pool, but once again Bastion's muscled and tattooed arms gripped me. He slipped my arm over his shoulder for support.
"I think he'll be okay Reya, he just needs to put some ice on it" Charlie said, picking up on my embarrassment. "Come on, you can help me put the net back" They strode over and began to unlace the complicated knots that held it to the poles.
"Are you sure you're really okay Max? We have machines in Recovery that can really help with stuff like this, and Xav-"
"He said he's fine, leave it" Bastion interrupted. As expected, her dazzling eyes narrowed in annoyance.
"No thanks to you. Were you born stupid? Or is it just a lifestyle choice?" she snapped, crossing her arms. I felt Bastion sigh.
"Annabell, leave it out. I need to make sure Max gets some ice on this" he said simply, turning me towards the door.
"I'm fine honestly, I can wal-"
"I don't think thats a good idea, you might try and kill him again" Annabell said firmly, frowning defiantly as she put her arm on my other shoulder.
"Look guys, I'll go by myself, I'm not limping.." Once again I was overrun mid sentence.
"For once will you back down and just fuck off! He's in pain, he needs ice, were going to the kitchen, now go" Bastion growled, tightening his grip on my arm. I held back the grimace I wanted to give at the pain in my side.
"You've given enough help for one day Bastion. You caused this" Annabell bit back, and actually yanked my arm. I let out a gasp of pain as Bastion pulled me closer to him at the same time.
"And I'll fix it. Get back to your books" this time, Bastion's voice was low and seriously gruff, almost threatening. Annabell's hands lingered on my arm for a second more before she turned and almost ran out of the pool room. I could have sworn I had heard sobs.