|
|
Post by Pyro on Jul 29, 2006 18:06:28 GMT -5
Once he was a considered safe distance from the Dead Man, Pyro slowed his pace. He had no idea what mood had come upon him that morning. He was faintly aware that he had spaced out somewhat and had little to no memory of anything between the end of the conversation about the Sentinels and his conversation with the Dead Man. He'd quite literally been lost in his own thoughts.
The Juggernaut was still filling himself with sugar when he passed the kitchen, something which worried him just ever so slightly, but which he let pass. Cain was an adult, after all.
No, he was heading for somewhere else.
He had an apology to make.
It was a composed, level-headed John Allerdyce who knocked on the door of Mystique's room.
|
|
|
|
Post by mystique on Jul 30, 2006 10:10:05 GMT -5
Mystique was balanced on one hand, having taken off the shirt in order to stretch and prepare. Her legs were in three-quart splits above her head, and she breathed evenly, concentrating on staying balanced.
"...come in.." she said tightly.
|
|
|
|
Post by Pyro on Jul 30, 2006 10:18:03 GMT -5
John entered the room, not apologetically, not slinking like he might have done any other time, but with his head held high and his back rigid.
"I came to see how those earpieces work," he said, his voice cool and calm. "And also to offer you an apology. For a lot of things."
He leaned against the wall and folded his arms across his chest. "Since Alcatraz, I've been fighting to keep the Brotherhood alive. I've never been a strategist, never been a planner - never been a leader. I know you're disappointed in me and I can accept that. But I wanted to make it perfectly clear to you that I'm willing to take direction."
John shifted position slightly.
"I have...problems, Mystique." Here, he tapped the side of his head. "Whatever the Professor did to me to keep those nightmares down is going wrong somehow. Whether it's making me crazy or I was crazy to start with, I don't know. But it's been getting worse. After Baltimore, I'm gonna find myself a decent telepath and I'm gonna get it sorted out, I promise you."
He sounded so...mature, so unlike anything she'd ever heard coming out of his mouth up until now.
"I was just outside, with Dead Man? Still creeps me out, but you know what? He's prepared to follow where I lead - and it just sort of hit me. This is my group now. And I'm going to do the very best I can."
He paused and stared at his hands, not sure what else he could say.
|
|
|
|
Post by mystique on Jul 30, 2006 10:32:01 GMT -5
Mystique had gotten back on her feet midway through his speech, and crossed her arms in front of her, listening to him impassively.
"Good to know you've joined the party then," she said, reaching to her shirt to put it back on.
"It sounds as if you wanted to say these things to me to make yourself feel better. Because I told you you had my loyalty and I meant what I said. If you feel the need to convince me of what I've already offered, then you're not as confident as you're letting on."
Leaning against the opposite wall, she mirrored his body language unconsciously. "You're becoming a liability. I'm glad you've decided to do something about it, because the rest of us will have to if you don't."
Lecture over, she stepped to a bag and pulled out Emma's business card. She walked over to Pyro and handed it to him.
"She's also a telepath. But... you have to be very careful with her. Just as any of us, she has her own motivations. She will... and may already have taken liberties with your mind." She met his eyes, letting that linger. "If you give her permission to... well. Make that decision on your own." She turned away from him, still too angry to bother sounding as if she cared.
|
|
|
|
Post by Pyro on Jul 30, 2006 10:43:10 GMT -5
"Thank you," he said, softly, glancing down at the business card. Her words had cut right through him, almost frightening him on a basic level. You're becoming a liability. Storm had said something similar to him once in a training session in the Danger Room. He was a liability to have in the group because he didn't grasp the concept of team work: he preferred to do his own thing and damn the consequences.
He turned Emma's business card over in his hands, then looked up at her back. "I'm not here to convince you of anything," he said, his tone still calm and mild. "I came to apologise to you for letting you down. I just wanted to say it before Baltimore. That's all."
John put the card into his pocket and stood up straighter. "I can't start to tell you how much I respect you," he said, quietly. "But I think you already know that."
|
|
|
|
Post by mystique on Jul 30, 2006 10:55:54 GMT -5
Always turning left when she thought he'd go right. For a moment she shook her head, then laughed softly.
"You were right. You are doing your best. And these people respect you."
There was so much she could say, quite a bit that she wanted to say, but nothing safe enough and the moment she said it, he'd act as if he had no idea what she was talking about.
He made her tired. After everything else she'd felt in the last two days... in the end she was just tired.
"We need to be leaving soon. Is everyone ready."
|
|
|
|
Post by Pyro on Jul 30, 2006 11:04:26 GMT -5
"I've started doing the rounds," he said, feeling relieved when she laughed slightly. "I've proposed a departure time of nine tonight. Gives everyone enough time to sort their heads, do whatever they need to..."
He moved a little closer to her.
"These...problems," he said, slowly. "I worry about it. I saw what happened to Jean, how she went from being perfectly in control to losing herself somewhere in the power that she had. You've seen how my powers have started changing." He ran a hand through his hair. "I lied to you outside. I KNOW that I can control constructs better than that. I'm just...afraid to. In case the same thing happens to me. What if I go the way she did?"
Mystique knew John was a class four mutant; as potentially powerful in his own field as Magneto had been in the field of magnetism. She knew he'd held his powers back purposefully - now she was finding out just why that was.
He was afraid he would become another Jean Grey, no longer a person, but a conduit for pure destruction.
|
|
|
|
Post by mystique on Jul 30, 2006 11:08:41 GMT -5
Mystique levelled her gaze at him.
"What choice do you think you have?" She frowned a bit. "Do you really think Erik has spent all these years AFRAID of the things he could do? Do you think it hasn't occurred to him at times that he might crack apart?"
She sighed, shaking her head. "Do you think it's really wise to waste one second of your life being AFRAID of what it is you are?"
She took his face in her hands. It was far less gentle than she'd been in the last few days, but no less passionate. "Pyro. Listen to me. Let it go. Let it come. Fighting it... don't you think that could be what's causing the problem in the first place?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Pyro on Jul 30, 2006 11:14:36 GMT -5
He reached up with his own hands to clasp her arms and looked her directly in the eyes. "You're right," he said. "You're right. I'll stop fighting it. Magneto used to tell me that my potential was just the start. Now I understand him."
In an uncharacteristic show of actually getting the point for once, he kissed her.
He closed his eyes and he kissed her with every ounce of passion he possessed. Which was quite considerable. He let the contact linger for as long as he dared, then pulled back slightly.
"Show me how the earpieces work," he said, softly. "So that we can keep contact and get this thing right."
|
|
|
|
Post by mystique on Jul 30, 2006 11:17:13 GMT -5
God dammit. God damn him. He needed to stop kissing her.
She caught her breath, taking a few seconds to get herself together again.
"The earpieces." She nodded. "Yes."
|
|
