Dying embers [Open]

[John Allerdyce]

[This takes place prior to the yet unstarted camping thread]

John Allerdyce turned the knob on the stove. There was the click of the started and a ring of blue flame appeared as the gas stove ignited and leapt to life. Grinning he gestured slightly, causing the flame to dance about and then rise until it was licking the roof leaving black marks on the wood panelling above the stove. He let the flame die down, but continued to manipulate it as he watched it, the way a puppeter might fiddle with is puppet absently between performances.

They had taken away his lighter, and he was not allowed near matches. He had been castrated, cut off from his power except for the odd moment he could steal in the kitchen with the gas stove, or when one of the staff left the fire in the Commons Room unattended. Stolen moments to become who he was meant to be, minutes a week where he could let the real him peek from behind the mask that he wore around the Institute. As the flames danced to his tune he was not John Allerdyce, he was Pyro. He was a god amoung insects, and not the failing student that John Allerdyce was.

This was often his refuge when he knew that nobody would be in there preparing meals. The fire helped him think, it let him be who he was always meant to be. Having just come from the philosophy class taught by Wanda Maximoff he needed the focus point. The woman annoyed him. She was the daughter of Magneto and incredibly powerful and yet here she was acting as a nurse-maid to Xavier's stupid school. Maximoff could be one of the gods, but she had turned her back on her father and his goals and embraced weakness. At least people like Summers had been raised to be stupid and weak cattle, but she had been the great man's daughter and even now could return to godhood at any time.

How long could they keep him there, a "guest" of the school? The answer of course was up to him, he could escape easily but he did not know what awaited him. Did Magneto know that he had made a deal with the human authorities to avoid jail? If he did then Pyro was safer here than in the Brotherhood, even if that was where he really wanted to be.

As he watched the flame dancing he wondered if death at Magneto's hands would not be preferable to living in this house of fools with him kept impotent and unable to use his natural powers.

[Melody Guthrie]

The afternoon sun was beginning to fade and yet, as the moon showed itself, a young woman as just awakening. Her brunette mane in disarray from a midmorning nap, Melody had to wonder what time it was. Having set her iPod on a sleep timer following her Danger Room training session much earlier in the day, it was clear that her “short nap” had run well past her intended slumber period. Ear-buds lay across her now vacant pillow, and her iPod teetered along the edge of the bed. Grabbing the small electronic device, she wrapped up her headphones and placed the mp3 player on her nightstand.

Standing up, Aero stretched her achy muscles. The session this morning had really worked her over. More than her average flying exercises, she was beginning to focus on erecting and maintaining force fields. Prior to these lessons, the shields simply manifested as a last minute defense mechanism. Now, with both Kitty and Miss. Maximoff’s help, she was learning to concentrate deeply enough to control the protection. Part of her soreness could have been due to her fear of not being able to withstand impact, thus jetting off left, right, up, and down as means of avoidance. After being admonished however, she stood still and prepared herself. One minute the gorgeous brunette was standing tall, the next she’d been knocked on her ass thanks to a variety of flying objects.

Catching a glimpse of her disheveled appearance on the mirror while stretching, she caught sight of a bruise forming along her right hipbone. She had showered following her time in the Danger Room, and then immediately went to her room to rest. The shorts she wore showed off her toned legs, and the simple white tank gave a slight view of her taut stomach. Her face bare of make-up, the girl was still a beauty. Grabbing an additional shirt off of her desk chair, she lifted it over her head.

A soft noise from below signaled hunger, and Melody, figuring that she had missed lunch, decided to venture downstairs to the kitchen. Her thoughts were varied as she made her way to the large cooking space, but her first and foremost thoughts rested on her soon to come late-lunch. The kitchen held many possibilities as it was always fully stocked. Perhaps a grilled ham and cheese along with some tomato soup; a meal as such would go nicely with the frigid weather New York had been receiving as of late.

Walking into the kitchen, she saw that another person may have had the name idea as she. Squinting her eyes in the setting sun, the figure by the stove was at first difficult to decipher. Moving closer though she saw that it was none other than John Allerdyce, or Pyro as he was known most commonly. Melody would like to believe that in the last few months the two had become friends. It seemed as though she were one of the only people who actually gave John a second chance, and from their discussions, he seemed sincere enough. When the two were alone, one would think that the pyrokinetic suffered from multiple personality disorder. The two held a mild flirtation instantly, but from there a friendship had grown.

Aero also appeared to be the only one who felt for John’s plight. He had been, for lack of a better phrase, stripped of the fire that live within him. Upon entering Xavier’s, he had been extremely restricted, no one truly trusting him. As she stood watching his hands move about the stove, it became apparent that there was nothing actually being cooked. This was simply the only way he could exercise usage of his powers within the mansion’s walls. Moving slowly and carefully towards him, she caught a glimpse of his face, his eyes reflecting the flames that danced upon the stove.

Remaining silent for a few moments longer, the flier allowed Pyro some time to become reacquainted with the flames. It seemed harmless now, but Melody was quite aware of exactly how powerful he was. For someone of such a young age, John’s gift had been developed incredibly fast. For her sake, and for the sake of the X-Men, the youngest Guthrie hoped he would remain here for a decent amount of time. Enough time at least to understand that, although through much less radical means, the X-Men wanted the best for their own kind, just as the Brotherhood did. She herself didn’t agree with their purpose, but she could absolutely see the attraction one may feel towards the group. Walking cautiously, as to avoid startling her friend, Melody’s raspy voice, tinged with a Kentucky-raised accent spoke out.

“Betta’ be careful there. Wrong person walks in here, and you’re askin’ for trouble.”

[John Allerdyce]

OOC: Some language used in this post may shock and awe.

"Betta’ be careful there. Wrong person walks in here, and you’re askin’ for trouble.”

John's eyes left the flames for a moment to dart to the side in order to identify the voice. Discovering that it was Melody Guthrie he relaxed slightly and resumed his play with the flames. They danced for him like a marionette on a string. They were nearly an extension of his body, the way that Logan's claws were part of his. That they had been stripped from him was an insult to everything that he believed in, an insult to everything that Magneto had taught him. He was a god, and he was being forced to play the role of an ant. "I thought you knew me," he said, his voice even though with a hint of hardness to it, "ever think I might be looking for trouble? Here I could take them all on, they keep me caged like I'm some kind of animal and they don't expect me to lash out?"

Suddenly he raised his hands as if at gun point and the flames died down to the low levels used to boil water on the stove. Lowering his hands he twisted the knobs and shut off the gas, and the flame quickly died. He turned his face away from Melody as though he was watching something to painful to see. He groaned slightly and then much to his dismay and disgust discovered that he was crying. Gritting his teeth he tried to will the tears back into his tear ducts, and he refused to turn around to look at her until he knew he was back in control. He was Magneto's right hand man, the Heir Apparent to the Brotherhood and now he was trapped like a grounded teenager in the same damn mansion that had held him back for so long.

He looked at her, trying to decided what she was thinking and for a moment he thought he saw pity. Instinctively and without thought his right hand raised and he moved towards her quickly making as if he intended to drive his fist into the centre of her face, "Don't you fucking pity me." He only made it about a foot, with several still to go, when he turned 90 degrees and drove his fist into a wood cabinet that held dishes. There was a crack as the wood splintered. Pain shot up from his knuckle all the way up his arm. Pulling it back he saw that it was bleeding and swore again. Turning to Melody again he looked ashamed.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. She was not to blame for this. Scott Summers, Emma Frost, the government of the United States and even himself had all contributed to the situation he found himself in. He would kill them all, he knew he would, but hurting Melody was foolish and was just him being a bully. Robert Drake was a bully. Logan was a bully. Pyro was not, he fought to protect mutants, and to aid Magneto.

[Marie D'Ancanto]

Marie figured today was going to be a quiet day, a simple day. Ever since the virus outbreak, everything had been relatively low-key. Mutants were growing in population, and so was support as well as hate for them and their rights. It was sort of like a neo-civil rights issue at hand, only this time it wasn't the rights for women, colored people, or cultural differences at the forefront – it was the direct denial of mankind's evolutionary genetic makeup and those who revered mutants as the next superior step in humanity. It was a sad state to Marie, truth be told. She had seen first hand what people on each side of the extreme of the debate would go to, and what lengths exactly. In fact, it was almost yesterday that she had almost died at the hands of the crazed man Magneto just so he could prove a point. Genocide was strong with that one, indeed.

Rogue dressed in head to toe to once again cover her flesh, as she commonly would do. With voices already creeping around her mind, Marie did not intend on absorbing anyone new anytime soon – especially the students around the mansion she had to see day in and day out. Hoping that it was just a result of her mutation, Rogue decided she would simply go about her day to day activities and then meet with Emma Frost later for a possible telepathic probe of whatever deep dark recesses of her troubled mind were affecting her. In order to reinforce herself from the possibility of any casual contact, Rogue had put leather, wrist-length gloves on to cover her hands. A tight ribbed black turtleneck covered the rest of her torso and a snug pair of dark blue jeans covered her legs down to her feet which had a matching pair of stiletto black leather boots on.

A bit hungry, Rogue decided she would head into the kitchen to find something small to snack on before dinner. Pretzels seemed to be her fit for the moment, As she walked towards the kitchen, she heard a chirpy, southern girl speaking to someone else whom Rogue assumed was also in the kitchen with her. Naturally timid, Marie’s initial inclination was just to swoop in, grab what she needed, and swoop out… unfortunately for that ideal what was to come next startled the mutant teenager and saddened her all in the same swoop.

The deep growl of an individual who was once very close to Marie was not intended to be undistinguishable. His words, his tone – they were the vile words of an anguished and caged man, and that man was John Allerdyce, Rogue’s friend Pyro from when things where simple. Bobby Drake and John always had some sort of a soft rivalry with each other and Rogue was watching from between the two of them. Whereas Bobby was enthralled with the X-Men and their way of doing things; John had become taken over by Magneto and his mindset that children were not as weak and innocent as the X-Men had treated Rogue, Iceman, and Pyro. He was intrigued by the power he could unleash, and in the end he ended up back here on a leash.

Hearing a thud and the jittering of plates clanging together as a result, Rogue knew it was her queue to enter the kitchen and confront John with how he was behaving. As she entered she recognized the girl he was being heated with as Melody Guthrie, one of the younger siblings of the endless Guthrie clan. Although the two girls shared a similar heritage, she hadn’t really found a way to grow close to her – or anyone – after the events of the cure and losing Bobby as her boyfriend. With her arms crossed and an annoyed look on her face, Marie opened her mouth to confront John.

“John, what exactly th’ hell do yah think you’re doin’? Have yah gone and lost yah mind, damn’t? Yah not here to break shit, jeeze.” She scolded, standing in the doorway as she looked towards the other too.

“Yah know I’m speakin’ the truth, don’t go back down that road. You’re not that weak, please John. Ah just want tah see the best for you… really. Jeeze…” she trailed off, a bit embarrassed she had to say what she did along with the adrenaline that had begun to flow since she wasn’t quite too sure how exactly he was even going to react to her.

[Melody Guthrie]

"I thought you knew me…ever think I might be looking for trouble? Here I could take them all on, they keep me caged like I'm some kind of animal and they don't expect me to lash out?"

The harshness in his tone took Melody by surprise. Had he been talking to anyone else, she would have been little other than shocked by his outburst. She hadn’t been trying to offend him in anyway, her statement was merely meant as a simple conversation starter. The flier had meant no harm, and on most days John would have joked back with her, but this reaction, the venom laced in his words. This was the furthest thing from the young man she had come to know.

Pyro turned away from her quickly after extinguishing the flames, as if the sight before him was too much to take. Hearing the hurt in his voice, the anger and rage, Melody felt for him. It was horrible to see the agony through which her friend was suffering. Moving towards him, she lifted her hand, intent on placing it upon his shoulder. Suddenly though, the handsome boy whipped around and raced towards her; arm in the air as if prepared to strike. While her eyes widened, she knew deep inside that John would never physically cause her harm.

"Don't you fucking pity me."

The aerokinetic was unsure on how to respond to his words. She didn’t pity him, she was simply concerned. It was a natural feeling when you cared for someone, as she had come to care for him. The two had built a bond, and from what she could gauge, he trusted her. That in and of itself should have told John that she didn’t pity him. You don’t pity the ones you care for, and those people know that. Pyro was different though; no one had ever truly cared for him, not from everything he had told her at least. Perhaps their newly developed friendship was just a cause of unfamiliarity for the boy. He hadn’t known how to properly respond to a kindness he had never before received.

Her face contorted in a wince as the fist previously aimed at her face was driven into the dish cabinet. Plates clanked, wood fractured, and John moved quickly, swearing as the pain shot through his hand and arm. As she looked to his hand, she saw the blood and walked carefully over to him, taking his bloodied hand in hers.

"I'm sorry."

His brown eyes, filled with rage just moments ago, took on a sadness and remorse. Melody understood how difficult things had been for the pyrokinetic, readjusting to life in the mansion; a mansion she was growing convinced that he wanted no part of. Another voice caused Melody to drop John’s hand. It wasn’t that she had any reason to feel guilty about trying to help him, but her peers enjoyed gossip, and the last thing she needed was for Julian to hear through a third or fourth party, that what had actually been innocent, was somehow transformed into John taking Melody on the kitchen counter in a fit of passion. Goodness, his head would likely explode…ok, bad choice of words. He’d go nuts; yea, that’s not working either. Putting it lightly, he would definitely not be happy.

“John, what exactly th’ hell do yah think you’re doin’? Have yah gone and lost yah mind, damn’t? Yah not here to break shit, jeeze. Yah know I’m speakin’ the truth, don’t go back down that road. You’re not that weak, please John. Ah just want tah see the best for you… really. Jeeze…”

Turning her head in the newcomer’s direction, she recognized the Southern accent as belonging to Marie D’Ancanto, Rogue to her fellow Excelsiors. Despite their positions on the same squad, the girls hadn’t become well acquainted with each other. Rogue didn’t seem to be all that close to anyone the more Melody thought about it. Looking back at John, his reaction was difficult to gauge, so the brunette responded to the girl instead. Her breathing had steadied following his outburst, allowing her voice to flow evenly. “Marie, it’s fine. Really. No harm done…well aside from that cabinet there, but we can fix that.” The final part of her statement was said with a lightness, one she hoped would bring the mood up. Facing Pyro again though, her husky voice was directed at the good-looking mutant. “She’s got a point though. You are stronger than this.”

[John Allerdyce]

John's face hardened again. If this was a stage play about his romantic failings two of the main players had just joined him front and centre. Two girls, both of whom he had harbored feelings for and had chosen some empty headed simpletons over him telling him to calm down and be stronger. He was stronger, he was just neutered. They took his powers away, took his purpose away and now even Xavier's lap dog Bobby Drake and Emma Frost's star pupil Julian Keller had more going for them. He had once had a clear purpose, a place where he belonged and now all he had was the pity of two girls who were dating the school bullies.

“Yah know I’m speakin’ the truth, don’t go back down that road. You’re not that weak, please John. Ah just want tah see the best for you… really. Jeeze…”

He turned to Rogue, wanting to say something cutting. How had what she thought was the best for them worked out? She had taken the cure, lowered herself all for the love of Robert Drake and ended up alone and back to being untouchable. Her gift should have been a source of strength, but she had been taught that it was a weakness. Of course for all his anger was he any better, he had failed Magneto and turned against his Lord and his purpose all to stay out of jail. He had betrayed his race to the insects that sought to exterminate them all, just for his own freedom.

Freedom. It was barely that. It was more a sort of purgatory, a half life while God and the angels decided whether his sins outweighed his virtues.

He knew that his sins were always going to outweigh his virtues in the final balance, he had no illusions about that. The world needed people like him, people with the strength to do the ugly stuff that shaped the world. It sure as well was not going to be a pretty boy goodie good like Drake. Keller could go either way, but in the end John guessed that Keller would be the sort of person that the world called a hero while he let his dark side out beating his wife.

"Weak, of course I'm weak I'm here aren't I? Had I been anything but weak I'd have been given the chair and died a martyr's death," he said. Back here to where they turned gods into well trained dogs who knew how to heel and fall into line. If there was anyway they could manage it they'd have a collar around his neck as well and put him in their super special X-Men club so he could protect the very people that wanted to kill them.

“She’s got a point though. You are stronger than this.”

John turned to her, could they not see? Whatever strength he might have had left had been stripped away from him. They just felt bad, guilty maybe, for how he was. They care about him but not enough to do anything than speak platitudes at him about how everything was going to be alright and how much stronger he was than this.

"What do either of you care anyway?" he asked, backing off slightly. His voice was quiet, but it had an edge to it. His hands were balled into fists though he had no intention of striking out at either of them again and certainly had learned his lesson about the kitchen cabinet not being a good punching bag. "I'm the Institute's black sheep, you're both better off not even knowing me," he said.

[Marie D'Ancanto]

Although Rogue obviously had a sharp tongue for how quickly she had chosen to go at John Allerdyce about his behavior, the mutant wasn’t quite sure on how Pyro was going to react to her as a result of this comment. Rogue had already been through the events that caused John to defect from the mansion and the X-Men, and had just hoped at the time that he was being an upstart teenager. With him returning to the mansion, Marie felt as if she had regained her long lost friend once more but he was undoubtedly a changed man without a doubt – he was darker, broodier, and definitely tainted with whatever the Brotherhood had infected his mind with. It was a true shame.

As John turned to her, Marie had braced for whatever verbal lashing he was about to give her. The pain, the fierceness of his eyes – it was all a sign that John Allerdyce was far from the boy she once knew when she had first arrived to the school. He was angry, he was slighted, he felt entitled to things that he and mutant kind simply didn’t. Magneto was some what gone for now, the Brotherhood was decimated as much at Mutant Town had been and John was home – was that not enough to show him that his childish endeavors of being a wannabe super villain was far from the path he should be taking for his life? Where did things go wrong from how the three friends used to be? Perhaps he truly did despise and hate Iceman that much.

“Don’t say that John, jeeze.” Rogue scoffed at his mentioning of what not being weak truly was.

He didn’t need to die. He didn’t need to desire to die. There was no war here – there shouldn’t be a war between mutants and humans here. Sure, the evolutionary shock was hard enough for all of them, but did people like Pyro truly need to exist simply to fuel the tensions that needed to be dissolved more than ever? Mutant Town wanted answers for why so may of theirs had died. These answers were obviously something that neither Emma Frost nor Ororo Munroe could give them; Perhaps the government truly was the cause for the virus, perhaps it was just some third party off-shoot; but all in all Rogue cared for John as a friend, and did not want to see him down the wrong path as he had in the past. It depressed her – she was losing everyone, again.

John then turned to face Melody, and Rogue bit on her lower lip as he had. She was contemplating a rather risky idea in her mind and was milling it over quickly. She was worried for what the consequences would be – but making an impact was obviously what Marie knew she had to do. Once more, Pyro continued to spew his anger filled statements, not wishing to believe in or accept the empathy that the two girls were simply trying to share with him out of their goodness of their hearts.

“What do Ah care? Shit… yah really are thick headed, aren’t yah?” She muttered, rolling her eyes at he made his black sheep comment.

Teenage boys; girls were worried about them for a reason. They all really did have such ego maniac attitudes and tried to act well beyond what they were. In the end, they were just trying to find themselves as much as the next person and John had truly been warped to some disgusting degree. Sighing, Marie shifted around in the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a simple bic lighter, slamming it on the granite counter adjacent to her.

“Let’s see how strong yah are than John. The decision is yours. Just remembah… choices are what make us who we are, and what we become… don’t regret whatever it is you choose to do. Take it.” She demanded, rolling her eyes as she turned and left the room; leaving the lighter behind more than accessible to Pyro’s every whim.

[Exit]

[Melody Guthrie]

"What do either of you care anyway?…I'm the Institute's black sheep, you're both better off not even knowing me.”

All Melody could do was shake her head. John was being so incredibly negative, it was almost unbearable. If he were trying to drive her away, it would take an immense effort. The flier was certainly not one to give up on people, especially when she cared about them to the extent that she cared for Pyro. Their friendly flirtations had morphed into a rather strong friendship, one she had no intention of losing. Unfortunately for her though, the angry young man was not an easy one to get close to. His walls and defensives went up nearly instantly, and once they erected, they were more than difficult to tear down.

“John…” The aerokinetic’s smoky voice took on a soft tone; one she hoped the pyrokinetic would no mistake for pity. Although, that had already worked out for her so well during this short meeting. His devil may care attitude was just a defense mechanism; it was a way to protect himself from possibly enjoying himself here.

“What do Ah care? Shit… yah really are thick headed, aren’t yah?”

Melody glanced over at her fellow Excelsior, merely raising an eyebrow in response. Marie had hit the nail on the head with that one. The boy may as well have been Rockslide with his thick skull. It were as if regardless of the way he were treated, he had it set in his mind that he was an outsider and always would be. Due to his past, Aero could understand why many would be hesitant to trust him. The X-Men relied upon trust and faith, something John invested little in as far as the team went.

“Let’s see how strong yah are than John. The decision is yours. Just remembah… choices are what make us who we are, and what we become… don’t regret whatever it is you choose to do. Take it.”

Watching in silence as Rogue left the kitchen, her hazel eyes strayed to John’s still form. She could see in his eyes that he wanted nothing more than to take the lighter and use it to get him as far away from the mansion as possible. To a certain extent, she couldn’t blame him. Each person wanted something different from life. While Mel was quite happy at Xavier’s, she had both her siblings and a boyfriend; Pyro really didn’t have anyone. It was for that reason that she had reached out to him in the first place. The dark-haired beauty would never claim to understand how her current companion felt. The two came from extremely different places, and their past experiences were nearly polar opposites. Inhaling deeply, she locked eyes with John. “Well, she definitely knows how ta make an exit, huh?” While her voice was light in nature, her eyes told a different story. Normally a vibrant blend of greens and browns, they took upon a darker hue as her worry became evident. It wasn’t that she was afraid of him, she merely feared that the choice he were about to make would take him away. “What’re ya waitin’ for? We both know you want that lighter. Hell, more than that ya want your freedom.” Her usually strong voice, shook slightly, becoming even more husky. “Just remember though; no matter what…you’ve always got me.” She was aware that her friendship wouldn’t keep John at the Institute, but she hoped that he would at least be careful in his actions. Ultimately, his decisions could very well begin a whole new battle, one she wasn’t sure the X-Men were prepared for.

[John Allerdyce]

“What do Ah care? Shit… yah really are thick headed, aren’t yah?”

He did not answer Rogue, simply watched her. It was clear that she was thinking of something. Rogue was smart, smarter than he gave her credit for and most of all she knew people. Maybe it was an empathy from absorbing their memories when she touched them, but some how more than almost anyone she seemed to understand him. Too bad she had not seen his defection to the Brotherhood coming then, wasn't it. It was a good question though why did she care, she had made her choice and that had been Drake.

“Let’s see how strong yah are than John. The decision is yours. Just remembah… choices are what make us who we are, and what we become… don’t regret whatever it is you choose to do. Take it.”

His eyes did not follow her as she left the kitchen, instead they remained fixed on the lighter which sat on the counter top. It would be so easy to just reach out and slip it into his pocket, just to pick it up and take it. Then he would not need to sneak quick trips to the kitchen to play with the gas burner on the stove.

“Well, she definitely knows how ta make an exit, huh?”

Looking away from the lighter he looked at Melody Guthrie. Clearly she knew what he was thinking, even someone he had never met him would be able to tell what he was thinking. He wanted the lighter, wanted it as much as he'd wanted anything. He kept his hands shoved in his pockets, silently watching it before turning back to her.

“What’re ya waitin’ for? We both know you want that lighter. Hell, more than that ya want your freedom.”

"Can you blame me?" he asked, not without a little anger creeping into his voice, "How would you feel if it were you, if they had taken away what made you special, what made you you?"

The lighter would not solve all of his problems. The lighter would not free him from this place, but it would give him fire back. It would allow him to be someone more than just a drone again, allow him to be more than a flatscan.

“Just remember though; no matter what…you’ve always got me.”

He looked back at her, for a moment ignoring the lighter. Did he have her? As a friend perhaps, but he had learned that friends would betray you if they got the chance, hell he had betrayed his mentor and as the man who was as close to a father figure as anyone ever had been.

"And what about Hellion?" he asked, his hand placed on the counter inches away from the lighter as he drummed his fingers against the tile and tried to decide what to do.

[Melody Guthrie]

"Can you blame me?…How would you feel if it were you, if they had taken away what made you special, what made you you?"

The anger was still evident in the dashing pyrokinetic’s voice; anyone would have been able to decipher the emotion immediately. His rage was not inappropriate at present time, therefore, of course Melody could not hold him in contempt for it. While she had never been stripped of her gift, leaving her essentially naked, she had listened to John, watched the sadness creep into his eyes before steeling over, creating a strong façade masking his weakness. She couldn’t relate to him, the only thing she could do was support him. She’d worked her damnedest to make everyone she encountered comfortable with her, and she thought that by this time John would open up to her. Something beyond this lack of control was bothering him. The exact cause for his agitation was lost on her, as she searched his eyes for answers.

"And what about Hellion?"

She cocked her head to the side, attempting once more to read the handsome man before her. She knew that in the past she would admit to being attracted to John, but she hadn’t expected him to see her in that way. Plus, she was with Julian, so there wasn’t a chance for the two mutants to be together. As she sought her mind for the proper words, she seemed to come up empty. Melody was, for all intents and purposes, speechless; something the Southerner was certainly not accustomed to. Wetting her lips unconsciously, her tongue just breaking the sealed barrier, she finally thought of a response.

“What about Hellion?”[/color] Wait, that’s exactly the same thing John had said, minus an and. Brilliant, Mel. Truly an inspiration. Her mind’s own banter nearly overshadowed the topic at hand. “Just because I’m with Julian, that doesn’t mean that you aren’t important ta me, too. You‘re more important than you even know.” Her hands moved with her words, a habit that was often portrayed by the beautiful teen. She was slightly exasperated with John’s Woe is me routine. Yes, she was fully aware that his treatment was in no way fair, and that he’d had his fair share of ups and downs, but who didn’t? Hell, Melody had lost her father, then all of her elder siblings took off either here to Xavier’s or elsewhere, leaving her in charge all of her younger siblings and countless other responsibilities that a girl her age shouldn’t have had to worry about. People assumed that the Guthrie’s, Melody in particular, led such charmed lives, but that was far from the truth. They had been hurt just like everyone else at the Institute had, and despite having her sister with her here, it certainly didn’t make anything easier.

Sighing, she moved closer to Pyro, resting a hand on his arm. A small chill ran up her limb as she kept the contact steady. “Ah don’t know what you want me ta say here, John.” Her thoughts briefly drifted to Julian, as she had been wrestling with her feelings recently. The Psi and she had a fantastic partnership, or more correctly a fantastic sexual relationship. The brunette wondered though, if that was all there was to it. If Hellion was only with her because Wind Dancer hadn’t put out. She lifted her hazel eyes to meet his own deep browns, an undistinguishable feeling filling her. “Nothin’ lasts forever.” She shrugged her delicate, yet strong shoulders, and lifted on her toes, placing a light kiss on his rough cheek. Turning, she walked away from the boy, a slight blush creeping onto her face, and a certain contention overcoming her.

[Exit Aero]