St John the Divine: Friends
- Chibi Lurrel


When he first moved to the mansion, Pyro could barely remember what it was like to have friends, so when there was someone else lurking on the back porch the first time he snuck out of bed to smoke, he was wary. He stood lurking in the kitchen until he realized that the girl had a) noticed him and b) was waving him out. He creaked open the door and joined her, and was disarmed by her open smile. He squinted and her smile slid away.

"Hey. You're not gonna snitch on me are you?"

"No."

She smiled again and he pulled out a cigarette.

"You need a light?"

He snorted and clicked his lighter and moved the flame to the cig in his mouth, inhaling.

"Oooh, I thought you were the fire kid. John?"

"It's St. John."

"Sin-John?"

"Just. Just call me Pyro. Do you want a cig?"

"I'm Jubilee, and that'd be great."

He smiled a little and lit hers with a tiny little fire sun and she giggled, and didn't seem at all concerned with getting caught. She made fun of him a little for smoking menthols, and they both ignored each other's patched up clothes and he knew inherently he'd found some sort of kindred soul in the giant house. His first friend in what felt like a thousand years.

Being in the mansion was strange and he spent his first months there slumped in his ratty clothes, jumping at loud noises, and glaring. He had arrived at the beginning of the summer so it was mostly just the kids without families, or the kids without families who wanted them. He stuck close with Jubilee, who seemed to know her way around and who was tight with the professors.

Professor Xavier spent a lot of time picking through his brain that summer and it always made him trembly and angry, but he simply assumed that was the price to pay for room, board, and an absence of predators.

Being with Bobby at the mansion was nothing like being in the mansion in what Pyro had deemed the before-time, and it was nothing like their cosy life before Storm's phone call. No one particularly gave a shit what he did, for one, and although Jubilee was still her usual friendly self, Pyro didn't know how to make an ally any more. He was too used to being Pyro, alone, and then Pyro, with Bobby.

Except at the mansion it felt like he was back to Pyro, alone. Bobby was cordial and friendly in public, of course, but nothing more than that. Pyro could understand the excuses at first, like what a bitch slap suddenly being into dudes would be to Rogue, but after a while it just made him pissed. Coming into Pyro's room at three am for some sex was fine, but Pyro casually draping his arm over Bobby's shoulders earned him some kind of crazy freak out lecture.

'Look, Drake, I'm sick of you yanking my chain all around this goddamn house, okay?' Pyro had said one night as they lay on his bed. 'Just come out or leave me out of your spastic sexuality guilt trip.'

Bobby had grabbed his hand and looked sad. 'John, it's just. I don't know, different now. What if they think I was collaborating with you while you were working for Magneto or something? Or like, what if they think you're a spy and I'm helping you now?'

Pyro had counted his lucky stars that Kid Omega was such an erratic telepath and just pulled away, turning over on the bed. 'Bobby, I get it, you're slumming and you don't want them to know it's me you're dating. Whatever.'

'It's not that.'

'It is that.'

Bobby being a dick was just one more reason on a list of reasons why he should get the hell out of the mansion within the week, but he couldn't commit himself. For one thing, Magneto was also kind of a jerk, and Pyro knew when he was being used. But the X-Team wasn't going to be much better. Probably. Maybe.


Author's Note: Uh so I'm in grad school now? But I have all these chapters written? And I just never posted chapter 16 because it was awkward and I hated it. Then someone reviewed this story and I felt bad about never letting y'all read the rest of it, even if I wasn't so into it. So uhhhh…this is as edited as 16 is going to be. Sorry. ALSO I EVEN HAVE SOME ACTION SCENES! I will even put in some hot lovin' scenes if you want. Enjoy the simultaneous two chapter update? Whooo?