Disclaimer: I do not own Sky High.
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In the morning, Warren woke up to see he still had over forty minutes before he had to actually get up. He decided then and there that waking up too early was a bad habit that needed immediate breaking. He stumbled sleepily out of his bed, and headed down to the living room. He saw Ivy was in the same position she had been in when he left her only a few hours earlier, and he decided not to jump on her, as was he and Ivy's' custom when the six friends spent the night together. He smiled at the thought of it, but seeing as she was both injured and naked, he thought making breakfast was a better idea.
The plate of pancakes was steaming on the kitchen table, and he made sure to put out a small bowl with blueberries and chocolate chips, since she didn't like the pancakes made with the extras inside. He was pouring water into the coffee filter when a loud "mmm" sound came from the door.
"You know just the way to get to a girls heart." She sat at the table and yawned.
Warren grabbed two mugs and sat down opposite her. He raised an infamous eyebrow while looking at the gray blanket. She must have read his thoughts, because she answered his question.
"It wouldn't make sense for me to put on clean clothes just to take them off in ten minutes when I shower. Because I will shower. This hair," she pointed flamboyantly to her messy white hair, "not cute." She wrapped blueberries and chips in a pancake, rolled it like a burrito, drenched it in syrup and took a huge bite from it. "Delicious." She smiled a syrupy, drippy smile, causing Warren to role his eyes.
After they put the leftover pancakes in the fridge, and the dishes in the washer, she followed him upstairs. He showed her to the bathroom and grabbed a clean towel for her.
"You can change here or my room, whichever you'd prefer. And please don't use all the hot water?" He begged slightly, and she laughed a little at how his bottom lip became slightly pouty.
Ivy looked around the blue and green and white bathroom and her laugh faded. She pointed to an aqua colored tile. "That's the color my eyes used to be." Her voice held a sadness Warren had never heard before. "Before I couldn't change them back, I mean." She looked in the mirror next to the tile, and stared at the silvery eyes.
"They weren't always silver?" He leaned against the door frame.
"No. They were blue-green. The same as my moms. They faded to gray before turning black. But that one day, they never faded all the way back." She looked at the room. "These used to be my colors. But since my eye color changed, it didn't make sense to keep them. Blue didn't look right anymore, and green made me sad."
"How can you tell the difference between colors if you can't actually see them?" He didn't understand.
"I couldn't at first. Slowly, with practice, I figured it out. I can't explain it, but different colors have different textures in shades of gray. No matter what shade of pink, it will always look ribbed, like your wife-beater. Or purple always looks like veins in carved wood. Stuff like that." She shrugged. "Sometimes when there's more than one color it's hard to separate them. Most of time I can tell, but if it's too bright or something it's useless. I tend to stay away from that type." She looked at Warren and saw a look of pity on his face. She stared at him angrily, and he took the hint.
"You should shower. You're starting to make my house smell like cat." He smirked a little and he left, but not before she laughed and called him a jerk.
Her shower was quick so Warren had plenty of hot water. She got out and wasn't sure what time it was, so she figured it'd be better to change in his room so he could shower just in case it was getting late. She wrapped the towel around her body and tucked the corner in so that she could carry her bag to his room down the hall. Ivy unlocked and opened the door and wandered on down towards the direction he had pointed in. She finally came to a room and saw Warren sitting Indian style on his bed, chewing on a pen cap while reading his science text. He looked up and the pen cap dropped out of his mouth.
"Now who smells." She dropped her bag on the floor and gave him a lame noogy, only so she mess his hair up more than it already was. He swatted her hand away and closed the science book. "Didn't finish your homework?"
"Not science. I was too tired after work, and I didn't understand it." He grabbed a pair of fresh boxers.
"I can help you on the way to school. It wasn't that bad." She remembered how mean he'd been when she dropped him off from work, and as much as she wanted to ask why, she didn't feel like starting a fight so early in the morning. Especially since he'd been taking care of her all night and morning. She looked at the new boxers he was hold and stifled a laugh.
"What?" He eyed her suspiciously.
"Dinosaurs. How cute." She bit her lip to keep from laughing harder.
"Jurassic Park is an awesome movie. Don't you dare diss dinosaurs." He warned her, but she couldn't contain herself, and she burst out laughing at his ridiculous black boxers with kiddie dinosaurs. He threw his arms up in frustration and marched down the hall, slamming the bathroom door shut. Ivy laughed harder.
About ten minutes later, Warren knocked on the bedroom door.
"Yeah, come on in." Ivy called.
He opened the door and threw his dirty clothes on the bed. He watched Ivy as she struggled to towel dry her hair with one hand. He laughed a little before helping her. She thanked him and sat on his bed while he got dressed. She watched Warren as he pulled on a pair of black jeans. She watched his shoulder blades dance in his back, and the muscles move and contract as he moved his arms. And she watched it all disappear beneath a black t-shirt. She hid her saddened expression as she saw him turn around and towel dry his own hair a bit. He sat on his bed and pulled on his boots.
"You're so boring." He stopped buckling his boots and looked at Ivy.
"Wow, thanks." He cocked his head to side looking at her.
"And you look like a chicken when you do that." She used her one good hand to straighten his head back on his shoulders.
He resumed putting on his shoes and asked, "Why am I boring?"
"All you wear is black t-shirts and black shoes and black pants and black everything. Why can't you be eccentric sometimes? Wear red more often. It brings out the streaks. Do something. Black is so boring after a while. Trust me, I know." She laughed as she pulled one of the red streaks, and he made an "OW!" face.
"I'll try to remember that." He stood up and pulled on his jacket. "And just so you know, I used to wear red daily." He paused, embarrassed. "I kinda grew out of all the red shirts, and I hate shopping, so I never got new ones." He looked at her, and saw a small smile play across her lips. He quickly changed the topic. "My mom has some old bike gloves you can borrow. The very tips of the fingers are cut off, but you're welcome to use them anyway." He picked up his bag and made for the door.
She picked up Layla's hair and tooth brushes and handed them to Warren to put in his bag. "They'd be better than nothing." Ivy followed him back downstairs and waited as he fumbled around in a hallway dresser looking for the gloves. She looked in a mirror that hung on the wall and scowled quietly. "I hate it when my hair gets that random wave thing going on. It looks so weird." She tried to straighten the minor waves out, but failed.
Warren looked up and shrugged. "It looks fine. All you're going to do is make it frizzy and fluffy and then you'll just complain all day, so stop touching it." He handed her a pair of gloves. She made a funny face at him and put the gloves on. He opened the hall closet and grabbed a smaller leather jacket and held it out to her.
"You'll be cold without a jacket."
She took the jacket from his hands and slipped it on. She looked in the mirror, and became almost giddy at the reflection staring back at her. "I look so tough!" She laughed herself. A plain gray long sleeved shirt, with baggy pants and a leather jacket. She couldn't help but laugh. "This is so not me. Look at the pants!" She laughed as she looked down at them. They weren't huge, but she was used to slacks, or skin tight jeans, not baggy pants that hung off her hips.
"Come on." He pushed her out the door while she continued to laugh at herself.
The sat at the bus stop and Ivy started to explain the science homework to him. When the bus pulled up to them, Warren had barely finished, but was relieved to have it done. They immediately spotted their friends and sat down with them.
"How's your wrist?" Magenta looked at the splint.
"It's doing a lot better. It'll be normal again by this afternoon. I'm lucky Absolutes heal like a zillion times faster than normal people, otherwise I'd be royally screwed." Will chuckled at her. "Thanks again for the clothes, Layla. I really appreciate it."
"Not a problem. The pants are big on you, too, huh?" Ivy looked down at them and nodded. "My mom bought them for me, but they just never fit right. I tried a belt and it just looked ridiculous. They look good on you, though. Probably cause you have bigger hips than me, so they have something to hold them up." She shrugged and Ivy laughed.
"I've never worn pants this big before. It feels weird." She pulled, poked and prodded at them like they were a foreign object she'd never seen before. Warren hit her hand to make her stop and she laughed at him. He glared at her for a little while before cracking a tiny smile.
The bus landed and everyone piled off. Ivy buttoned the last button of the leather jacket, and looked down at herself one last time. She giggled again, then pulled her hair into a ponytail at the base of her neck.
"I should go see my aunt and tell her what happened. She'll want to know what's up."
"We'll come with you." Zach offered, and the six of them headed to the Principals Office.
Ivy explained the entire story and situation to her aunt. Twice.
"You're staying with me." Principal Powers demanded.
"Evelyn, its fine. I'd just be in the way at your house. You have your husband to worry about, it'd just be an imposition." Ivy tried to comfort her.
"Not at all, I'm sure Craig will understand." She waved Ivy's response away.
"Evelyn. Really. I'll be OK." She locked eyes with her aunt.
Principal Powers drew in a huge breath and nodded. "Of course you will. You're a strong person, and a strong super." She looked at Warren and Will who stood just behind her. "You two." They looked at each other, then at their principal. "She goes no where without one of you." Ivy rolled her eyes, and dropped her head into her good hand.
Will chuckled and nodded, while Warren just stood there.
"Maybe she should stay with one of us. If that guy is at her apartment, she probably isn't safe there alone, let alone there at all." Warren continued to look at her.
Evelyn nodded immediately. "I was actually thinking the same thing. Ivy, you really should stay with someone, or have someone stay with you. Although I'd prefer the former. It's probably safer if you aren't home."
Ivy reluctantly nodded, and together they decided she'd stay at Warren's, since Will's house was having some construction done on it. Will and Warren said they'd both accompany her to the apartment in the afternoon so she could grab some clothes and whatever else she needed for a little while, and they'd meet Zach, Layla and Magenta at Layla's when they were finished. After they finished discussing the days' plan, Principal Powers wrote all six of them passes back to their classes.
The remainder of the day was fairly uneventful until PE. Ivy's wrist finished healing during sixth period, so she decided it was a Save the Citizen day. All her friends told her she should sit it out, and let her wrist rest a little longer, but she didn't listen and volunteered first. Taylor shrank in her seat, completely unwilling to volunteer herself to fight against Ivy, especially after what happened the first time. Layla, surprisingly, offered to be Ivy's partner taking the Hero pairing, and they were teamed against Trent Davis and Lash.
Layla and Trent had been slight acquaintances since freshman year, but they never really spoke about anything in particular. Layla didn't even know what his powers were. The blue-haired boy strapped his protective gear on, and spoke to Lash about strategies, while Layla and Ivy did the same.
Boomer said, "Battle!" And Lash immediately attacked Layla. Luckily she wasn't worried about hurting him, so she had her vines and roots attack him and tie him in knots.
The ceiling lights began to flicker and Ivy looked up. That's not me. She looked at Trent, whose hands started to spark and ignite with blue electric waves. Ah. I understand. He shot a bolt at her, but she somersaulted out of the way and ran for him. Once in front of him she jumped and kicked him two-footed in the stomach forcing him to fall to the ground. He shot another bolt at her, but she ducked out of the way, and the bolt hit one of Layla's vines, cause it to retract and fry. He jumped back up to his feet only to get a roundhouse kick to his face that forced him back down.
"No light," Trent raised his hand to shoot more electricity at her and she folded the light in on itself, leaving just enough to see clearly, "no electricity." She kicked his hand down, and ran towards the citizen. Layla barely finished locking Lash in knots of greenery, when Ivy screamed her name. Layla whipped around to see Ivy staring at her. "Wrap a vine around the citizen, and get ready to pull!"
"Wait, what?" Layla was confused but did as Ivy said. She wrapped a thick vine around the citizen's waist, and waited. Ivy took off running for the citizen, and she jumped up and caught herself by holding onto the rope holding the citizen above the mulcher. She wrapped her legs and one arm around the rope, and started to try to undo the knot that held the citizen attached to the chain. She glanced at the clock. Fifteen seconds. Not enough time. She gave up, and turned her arms mid-change so they were over three times as strong. She put both her hands on the thick rope and pulled, shredding the rope in two.
Layla caught on, and started pulling as Ivy fought to break the citizen down. When the it broke, the citizen flew to safety, and Boomer declared the Heroes victory. Ivy jumped from the rope to the floor just beyond the mulcher. She and Layla shared a quick victory smile before Layla retracted her vines from Lash, and Ivy went to a hurting Trent. She grabbed his clothed elbow and helped him up.
"I'm sorry, are you OK?" She looked worried she had really hurt him.
Trent smiled at her and rubbed his stomach. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little sore." He laughed. "Ivy, right?" She nodded. "That's awesome that you used physical combat. I've hardly ever seen someone do that during the game, unless they're like, super-ninja or something."
Ivy laughed and shrugged. "I do what I can. You're an electro?"
He smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I can't actually make it, though. Only use it from nearby sources."
"I had a friend like that once. He couldn't actually make fire, but if it was there, he could manipulate it and make it bigger and stuff." Trent nodded his agreement.
"I see you control light." He glanced up at the dim lights.
"Oh god, whoops." The light unfolded and the gym brightened. "I fold light in on itself so it doesn't shine outward."
"That's so random. Awesome, but so random." They laughed and shared a good game wave.
Ivy returned to her friends, as they watched Speed and Taylor lecture Lash about how he managed to lose, and then walk away from him.
"Poor guy." Layla felt sad for him.
"Maybe we should invite him to dinner?" Magenta asked her friends.
Zach shrugged. "He hasn't picked on me since freshman year, so I don't mind."
Ivy nodded. "We can at least extend the invitation." She turned to Will and Warren. "Do you guys mind? I know you don't really like him."
Will and Warren exchanged angry looks, but they knew that even if they said they didn't want to, Layla would anyway. They shrugged, and Layla and Ivy walked over to an angry Lash.
"Hey." Ivy waved.
"What do you want?" Lash stared at her.
Layla looked at Ivy worried, then turned her attention back to Lash. "We're all going to dinner tonight, and we wanted to invite you along."
"And why would I go with you?" His voice grew angrier.
Ivy looked towards where Taylor and Speed were walking away. "You're friends don't seem to care much."
Lash looked at the floor sadly. The sadness quickly turned to anger. "Since they started sleeping together, they don't really care about anything else." He looked up, eyes wide and shocked. "I should not have said that."
"Secret's safe." Layla promised him. "The offer still stands. We're going to the Indian place on Fitz Street at seven if you want to join us. We'll save a seat for you."
"Don't expect me to show up." He snarled at her.
Ivy shrugged. "Well, even so." The two girls walked back to their friends, and they all went to get changed.
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