Players:
Summary: Jem makes progress in breaking the new kid out of his shell. A contest of two flames chasing each other on the ice is made for the ante of future dates.
Date: June 17, 2011
Log Title: Fire and Ice
Rating: PG.
Xavier Mansion - Attic
Every wall is made of glass up to the domed ceiling. Storm has really done her work up here over time and turned it into quite the indoor garden. The room is separated into different parts for the different plants that are in there. There are flowers, vegetable plants, herbs, shrubs, small trees and much more. There are plants that shouldn't even be able to be found in this northern climate but they thrive up here. Anyone wanting to come up here for fresh herbs, fruit or vegetables are welcome to steal from the indoor garden. Depending on the time of year, various different species of flowers and different fruits and vegetables grow. In one area there are a few small fountains and a bench with some fresh dirt on the the ground with trees and plants all around. It seems like a good spot for meditation.
Ashley, trying to cement his nomination for 'Most Antisocial' in the School Yearbook, has managed to discover Storm's attic-cum-biodome. While others make their way up to snip off a fresh fruit or veggie, or to stop and smell the flowers, Ash is having pretty much none of it. Sitting in the dirt with his back against one of the fountains (as close to a water source that isn't a shower as anyone is likely to see), once more in a grey hoodie and black jeans, despite the relative heat of the glass-encased dome.
The hood is once more pulled down low over his brow, with his head tilted forward to regard the notebook resting against his knees. White leads for earbuds emerge from the cotton drapery about his noggin', another mark towards his race for Anti-Social-Newbie of the Year award.
She has a knack for encroaching upon his personal space it seems. While Ash is likely trying to avoid the world, and be invisible in many ways, it isn't in the plan for Jem to actually let him go unnoticed. Just when he thinks he is all alone in his little corner of the world, he is joined by someone sitting down right next to him. The fiery blond from a few days earlier just happens to slide into place right next to him, wearing a skirt of all things, along with a white blouse, and she is currently brushing her hair over the front of one shoulder. No words really leave her lips at the moment, she just joins him, as if it were the thing to do, or as if she had more familiarity with him than she actually does.
It takes a moment for Ash to notice that his personal space as been assaulted once again. Just that feeling you get when someone's peering over your shoulder, or copping a place right down next to you, as opposed to anywhere's else in the massive biodome. When he does notice that feeling creeping up the back of his spine, Ash's reaction is not to leap to his feet and bolt away.
First the notebook is closed, hiding whatever writing he was detailing on the page in a small, careful hand. Then his head turns (one can assume, the hoodie is moving) to start to regard whoevers parked themselves right next to him. Shoes, legs, skirt, blouse are all noticed and catalogued before his face appears around the edge of the hood, peering towards Jen. One hand comes up to pluck free an earbud, to allow him to hear the answer to the question of "…yes?"
Actually, it doesn't look like she is paying attention to him, not immediately at least. "Hm?" she looks over at him, somehow coming off as if he had just joined her. "Yes what?" the girl ask his, sliding that brush down from the top of her hair all the way to her ends in smooth, steady strokes. She seems to be in a much different mood than she was in when he previously met her. It is actually quite noticeable when looking at her, she isn't shining as brightly as she had been.
"What are you writing?" Sure she outright asks, why not? Some other people might be reluctant to ask about something personal like that, but this is Jem we're talking about here. "Can't be school stuff. School is out for this year." The girl smirks.
Whereas she might run like a light bulb, glowing brillantly or subdued with her moods, Ashley seems to only have one setting; dim. The slightest furrowing of skin between his eyebrows as he takes in the quieter side of Jem, while still trying to work out why she picked this spot to work on her hair.
As the question on the notebook comes up, Ash is quick to stuff it into his backpack, resting in the dirt on the side of him opposite from the seated, skirted girl. "Stuff…" is the elegant reply. "Gettin' a head start on things, y'know?" he offers half as a feint, half as the truth. Of course, no need to crow from the rooftops that he gets to repeat his Senior year.
"So.. what is your deal, anyway?" Jem outright asks him, the girl scooting in the dirt a bit so that she is less sitting next to him, and more making him now sit in front of her. It is pretty awkward how she finds these little ways to make him commit to interacting with her, as opposed to giving him much choice in the matter. Sure, he could turn around and away from her, but she had still initially made him sit in front of her, which is really all that matters. "Why do you seem so upset all the time? I don't really get it. You're obviously not hard on the eyes, so.. why are you always hiding behind that hood?"
The girl isn't the type to beat around the bush, that is for sure. At least no one has to worry about her not being honest and up front with them. "Do you think someone is gonna hurt you or something? Or that someone would have a reason to try?"
Scoot scoot scoot. How it is that Ashley keeps finding himself in these situations, ending up facing the brazen blonde as she digs for his life story. As she accuses him of hiding behind the hood, his hand comes up out of the dirt to sweep it back. He wasn't hiding behind it… just under it. "Don't have to be ugly to be upset…" comes a quick reply, defensively.
"Plenty of stuff can happen to make someone upset, y'know.." Ash retorts, without actually explaining what that 'stuff' is. As she muses on a reason, a bit of a sarcastic snort bubbles up from Ash's lips. "Hurt me? I'd like to see them try…" he says, a hint of cockiness peeking out through the gloom. "…cuz yeah, maybe someone does have a reason, and I'm hiding from them…" Eh, it sounds good enough.
If anyone ever got their hands on that notebook, they'd find a nice long list of just those individuals, the ones with plenty of reason to try to hurt Ashley. A certain set of names right there at the top.
Well, for one thing, he has encountered Jem. It is probably likely that he hasn't met anyone as near as similar to her, and probably never will. She does strive to be a bit of an individual. And another thing.. if he believes he is going to get away from her that easily, then he has another thing coming. Jem actually follows him a little as he scoots, the girl showing that she really isn't going anywhere at the moment. "I didn't say you were ugly." she smirks, "I asked why you were hiding, which I guess you partially answered. You're upset about something, I get it." she shrugs her shoulders, "But.. all the time? You don't really get over things well, do you." Wheras she rather does.
With a smirk, the girl actually reaches out to touch him. In doing so, she seeks to grip and lightly pinch his leg. Not really enough to hurt all that much, just a little one. "That hurt?" she offers up to him, as if she were challenging to do more, depending on his answer.
"Some things you don't get over well…" Ash mutters as he is pursued through the dirt. Although once she starts to follow, Ash doesn't slide the seat of his jeans through the grass any further. She's not staying behind, might as well give up and not crabwalk through the greenery.
"You haven' had any really _bad_ things happen to you, have you?" Ash asks. "Y'know, somethin' really, really horri- ow!" his questioning is interrupted by the pinch; not a pained yelp, more of a surprised 'whatcha do that for' response.
"What?" Jem grins to him at his sudden jump. "I figured by the way you were talking, you couldn't exactly be hurt." When really all she was trying to do is get things away from more depressing matters, and move it into lighter areas of interaction. Jem is the type not to dwell on the sad and the bad if she can help it. If she has had bad things happen in her life, no one would know it because she lets them go along with everything else. "It didn't really hurt, so stop whining. Least I didn't do this.." she reaches out to try and pinch him again on the back of his hand. Only this time she ignites the tip of her fingers as she snaps his skin between her finger and her thumb. "But that won't hurt you either, with it?" She is clearly messing with him. As if she doesn't really have any care about any backlash he might too her way.
Unfortunately there are those in the world that have issues letting things go. Ash seems to be one of those types. Those big blue eyes blink at her, another flicker of shock crossing his features when she snaps the back of his hand with fiery fingertips. "Hey!" he yelps; not from the flames or the heat, which as she guesses, doesn't even touch him. But still, pinching hurts!
He draws his hand back once she pinches; to his credit, he doesn't rub the assaulted patch of skin, but he does scoot back a bit to try to get out of arms reach. It probably won't work, but he tries. "Of course I can be hurt…" he grumps out in response as he watches for another incoming pinch attack. "…I'm fireproof, not invincible. But someone has to get close enough, first.." he says, raising his hand to snap his fingers…. but then that flicker of surprise returns across his brooding features. Apparently what he wanted, and what happened, didn't quite converge that time. "….and most people have a tendancy to burst into flames when they try to hurt me…" An abundance of alcohol in the system helps, but Ash won't mention that.
And then he hears her chuckle. Which he might initially perceive her to be laughing at him, until he looks at her face, which is just showing that she is having fun at no one's expense really. Just a little light hearted teasing. A but impulsive, perhaps a little invasive, but she isn't being cruel to him. "Well, I'm not most people, am I?" she starts to scoot a little closer to him again. If he keeps this up, she'll have him backed against something eventually. And then where will he go. "You saw what happened when you set your fire loose on me, so.. that means I can get close enough, right?" A blond brow arching, "Not that I'm wanting to hurt you. But you know.. It's whatever." A small shrug of her shoulders, followed by a tilt of her head, and her green eyes gazing directly at his, seemingly fascinated, "Tell me about you, Ash."
He's already pretty close to one of the stone benches surrounding the fountain, since his retreat from that space. Of course, her talk about getting close enough just casts another shadow across Ash's features; one could guess that he's suddenly looking at Jem with a more paranoid filter over his vision. Or his thoughts are going to the last time someone got close to him, and how that ended…
"What's to tell?" is the gruff response as he scoots back just a bit more to freedom… nope. There's that bench, right up against his shoulders. "…I'm jus' a dumb firebug who's gotta redo his whole Senior Year next year…" cuz I'm a murderer, and a failure. As the memories are dredged up, and Jem peers at his baby blues, there is pain there. Possibly from not getting to go through graduation with everyone else, but no, not really.
Those green eyes roll upward into her head as she hears him go discrediting himself. "If I thought you were dumb, I wouldn't be talking to you." comes her response, totally discrediting his initial discredit. "I don't deal with stupid people.. And as you can tell, I also don't do well with drama and being a downer. So to make this easier on yourself…" Because either way isn't difficult for her at all. "How about you focus on a few positives rather than dumping your dirty laundry in my life. Besides, if you'll be here another year, that means you get to be here a whole nother one with me, and we can walk down the aisle together." There is a little mischievous grin on her face, letting his imagination take that where ever he it will go. But clearly she meant the graduation aisle.
"Here, how about we start over? Be easier on us both." she extends a hand out to him, "Hi. I'm Jem, and I love ice skating."
He'd much rather discredit himself, than tell the truth, it seems. Although when she comments on him dumping his dirty laundry, Ash's eyes go into a bit of a roll as well; she asked! A roll, and then another shadow of something with talk of aisles. Another bad subject for the teen, apparently.
Positives, positives, positives. He's not dead.. no, sometimes the boy wishes he was. He's not in jail.. no, that'd be what he deserves. Jem confronts him, and Ash finds that he doesn't seem to have many positives in his life. Well, there is that… "I'm Ash, and I've finally gotten out of a podunk middle of nowhere life."
It is most likely Jem's belief that they are far too young to be so troubled. So she just isn't. All that worrying and crap comes later on in life when you have to be an adult. She rolls her eyes at his response, finding it to be full of fail. "Wrong answer!" she buzzes him, "You're not very good at this you know. The correct response is.. My name is Ash, and I like…" she rolls her hands in a circle in front of her, urging him to finish the sentence, as opposed to the answer he gave initially. "Basketball? Sports? Girls?…" she prompts him, and then arches a brow further, "Boys?" Because she has been privy to quite a bit of that around this school, so she has to at least mention it. It would actually explain a lot for her at the moment if he did answer that way.
How can he get a wrong answer to a positive for himself… then again, no, Ash doesn't know Jem, even if she'strying to get to know him. A bit of a sigh passes from his lips, and he listens to her rattle off the choices. That last one gets a bit of a lifted brow, "…hey, I might light stuff on fire, but I'm not flaming, not like that." Well, that should be a relief for Jem, even if crude. Well, for all of its liberal upbringing, he still went to school in the Mid-West. "…football, I guess. Hockey, sometimes…"
"Hey.." Jem holds up her hands defensivley, "No offense really, I was just making sure. Cute new guy walks in, all lonesome and evasive about things, and then you find out he's not really secure with himself if you know what I mean. Just trying to understand is all." She smirks. Trying to understand what? What did she mean by that. But she'll let him get away with the joke, finding it a little more refreshing than his other behavior. Hearing that he likes hockey, she grins, "Hm. Kinda ironic, don't you think? Firestarters like you and me, attracted to the ice? Hockey is okay I guess. Not as hard as figure skating, but.. It's cool." she shrugs. Perhaps teasing him about the sport a bit.
Blue eyes squint slightly at Jem, trying to get a read off her. And probably failing. Although then she teases him on hockey, which only serves to bring him out of that grumpy shell a bit, "..not as hard? Last I checked, you didn't have to figure skate with five guys trying to knock you on your ass."
Jem just laughs at his words, the blonde shaking her head and sending her curls to bounce from side to side, "Oh, but you've got all that padding and stuff like some kind of trussed up safety dummy. When you can try leaping, flipping and busting your ass on the ice in something less than full body armor? Then you can talk to me about a difficult sport." Sitting with her legs crossed in front of her, she places her arms in her lap, "To be quite honest, I bet I could skate circles around you before you could even lay one finger on me."
Of course, she probably could. Jem's been on ice skates for way longer than Ashley has. Get this boy (or hell, most any boy) to admit that a girl is better than him at something, though? Not a chance. Her response is met with a snort, "Fallin' down on the ice is nothin'. The pads are to keep you from crackin' something when you get checked into the wall." he explains; not quite like explaining something to a child, but obviously it's in his tone. As much as he isn't "ZOMG! HOCKEY!" he still thinks it's a better sport than figure skating.
Well, to play, anyway. Watching figure skating is cool, but that's not something he'll admit either, for different reasons. Another snort serves as Ash's response to Jem's boast, "I was defense.." most of the time, "…the point of me was speed to take out the other guy.." he says, lifting a brow at Jem and her boasting. "Not fancy twirls and prancing." Was that a gauntlet being thrown?
Perhaps that was the bait to get him to start up a bit of a chase. He might not realize that he is coming a bit out of his shell, but Jem hones in and keeps it going. "Oh really?" she arches a brow, "Even if you're falling down on the ice after being thrown about 8 feet in the air? Missing a quarter of a turn which could ultimately end up with you landing on your ankle and snapping it in two? Not to mention the bruises you'll get from having your bare butt smack the cold ice." Jem shakes her head, smirking all the while, "Sorry hotstuff, you're not selling me on hockey being better than figure skating. Those fancy twirls and stuff as you so put it? Couldn't blow a candle to what I can do. If you wanna test out that theory, you're more than welcome. But I bet you. Bet you that you'll be eating crow."
Well, it seems that persistence is paying off as Ash leans back against the bench for a minute, "I thought the bet was that you'd be skatin' circles around me before I could even get a finger on you?" he replies with a bit of a smirk. Folding his arms across his chest, the youth listens to the potential damage report. "Two hundred pounds of pissed off Canadian hitting you at what feels like twenty miles an hour, cuz you said his brother made a good goalie for bein' so large, only to find out it was his sister. Cracked skull and pickin' teeth out of the ice."
Then he's rising, up out of the dirt, bookbag going with him, "..but I'll take that bet. Keepaway on the ice." Oh, Ashley. To be brought out of that shell, only to be crushed by the Olympic figure skater.
Score one for the blond girl. What he doesn't know is the exact extent of Jem's skill. Spanning not only to the ice, but over into her fire powers as well. Either way, she has goaded him into her little contest. It is much more than having him hide behind his hoodie, "That's the bet." she grins with a nod, and she pushes herself up to her feet as well, dusting the dirt off her backside and then further off of her hands, "Keepaway on the ice. If I win, you have to take me out. And be my date for the first dance of the beginning of next year… And maybe for the Sadie Hawkins dance too. Maybe.." Not likely that she'll be hanging on him that long, as she is pretty come and go, but.. it is another fire on the log. "If you really have what it takes that is."
