The Day After: Tommy & Angel // Tommy, Yvette & Kyle

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It's normal for Tommy to pass Angel getting out of the pool on his morning run. Today, they actually talk. Tommy is awkward, still being confused from yesterday, yet Angel is friendly and invites him to have breakfest with her.



There was a burn in her muscles as Angel climbed out of the pool, in her arms and legs. It'd been a while since she'd swam like that, like she was competing again, but after the past week her body had needed it. It was hard for her to stay mad at people but the last of the irritation with Kyle had finally been drained away with the swim. And now all she had to do was towel off and then get some breakfast.

Eyeing her towel, she roused her powers a little, trying to see if she could dry herself off. A few minutes and burnt towel later was an obvious no to that question. Not yet, anyway.

Despite not really wanting to face anyone after last night, Tommy wasn't about to give up his morning run. He'd been wound up so tight that he'd barely slept and even going out for a smoke hadn't helped. His last hope was a run before he went crazy.

Tommy just couldn't understand what had happened. Everyone should have been agreeing with Kyle...not defending him. It totally screwed with his version of the mansion. Everyone was supposed to hate him, it made it easier to keep his distance. To know people would actually care, like Yvette seemed too, was a bit much for the teenager.

Wrapped up in his thoughts, Tommy forgot how he often passed Angel as she came back from her swim.

"Morning, Tommy," Angel called out, pretty much like she always did, shaking out what was left of the towel. She didn't want to bring in the smell of smoke with her and, well, she could always use the towel for a handcloth now. She glanced up at him again and gave him a brilliant smile, looking far too awake and cheerful for that time of the morning.

The greeting normally just earned a nod from him, but today, it made him start in surprise. Tripping over his own two feet, Tommy pinwheeled his arms for a moment to get his balance, thankfully not ending up sprawled on the dirt. "uh...morning." He said softly, to cover his almost face dive into the dirt.
She might have looked just as surprised that she actually got a response but then her smile grew even wider. Well, the morning was a start and she'd ignore the almost tripping thing if he did. Considering she had a smoldering towel in her hand, she understood accidents. "How was the run?" Angel asked, slipping into her sneakers.

Tommy's posture clearly showed how awkward he felt at the moment. It would be hard to believe that talking to people came easy to him. "Rather unproductive." Which it was. Tommy was still as confused as he had been when he'd first stepped outside.
Angel twisted the towel a little in her hands. "Look, I'm normally kinda Ms. Blunty McBlunt but I'm afraid that'll scare you off," she blurted out, flushing a bit. "I want to see how you're doing after yesterday when stupid head went off but I don't want to pry or say something stupid. Because I do that, you know, a lot." She gave him a confused look. "I'm good at talking to people but now I'm all not because I don't want to step on toes and good grief I need to take a breath."

Her rattling on almost caused Tommy to smile. Almost. "I don't scare easily, so feel free to be blunt." He really had no idea what to do. Normally, he would have just brushed her off, distancing himself as always. But not that they were talking, he couldn't help but be polite. And she had stood up for him, why he had no idea. "Honestly? I don't know what to think about yesterday."
A strand of hair escaped from her pony tail and Angel tucked it behind her ear. "I can't blame you there," she said. "I mean, one it was really kinda sudden. And then if you weren't expecting us to think that Kyle was being a jerk to you...and he was." There was a hint of unexpected heat to her words. "Yvette was obviously really happy with you and, really, that's all that matters."

Tommy noticed the heat and it was...comforting. "I just don't understand. Why did you all not agree with him? Even if he was being a jerk, he did have a point. I'm not a good person and..." God why was he admitting all this to a stranger? But to tell the truth, he was going to burst if he didn't say it. He had been suppressing his true personality for over a year, this was just added pressure ."Yvette probably shouldn't be around me, no matter how much we enjoyed reading together. You all have every right to hate me and you don't."
"Kyle had no right trying to tell us you were a bad person," she responded, "and I know it sounds weird but you don't either. I'm not going to say you weren't probably being an idiot in the past, it sounds like you made some really bad decisions. But you know, becoming a mutant isn't easy for anyone and it had to be really, really hard on you. It was hard for me to move across the country, I can't imagine what it would be like to have your whole world view turned upside down. I think in the end, as long as you're improving...it kind of evens out, if that makes any sense?"

Tommy rolled his eyes. When would people figure out that it really hadn't been his decision. It had been his life, no choice required. "You realize, I know everything you said. Why do people insist on repeating it?" It wasn't so much getting on Angel as plain exasperation at the whole mess.

"So what if I have 'improved' as you say," though Tommy thought it was a horrible word to use to describe it, managed was more like it, "I still don't understand why you all didn't agree with him. He's one of you." Isn't that what people do after all? Tommy wasn't one of them, he purposefully distanced himself so he wouldn't be, for their sake.
At that, Angel stomped her foot. "I'm going to assume you didn't mean "mutant" one of us since..." She pointed at him, flailing a little bit. "Duh. Just because Kyle's my friend doesn't mean I'm going to agree with his dork headedness at every turn. He was a jerk at you for no reason whatsoever and he managed to irritate Yvette in the process. All around, a massive lose/lose situation. Besides, none of us are stupid, and we should be allowed to make up our minds about someone." She rocked back on her heels. "Like I know I'd like to get to know you better and Kyle can still be my friend...even if I have to push him out of his tree for being a butt."

Tommy cursed softly, because of course that's not what he meant. He didn't think of himself as any different in that sense and that in itself had taken months. He'd meant, just more then general population of the mansion, vice him, who kept himself the outcast.

He was about to explain, but was struck dumb at her last words. She wanted to get to know him? "Why?" He asked softly, finally letting his utter confusion show on his face.

"Why not?" Angel said, shrugging one shoulder. "In general, I like people. Specifically, because we pass by each other every day and I'd like to be able to say more than good morning. Overall, you seem to be someone I'd like to get to know better. You know...maybe be friends? But that's totally up to you, you know? I can't make you like me but you'll never know until we get to know each other." She wrinkled her nose a little. "That's like one of those vicious circle things."

Vicious circle indeed.

He couldn't help staring at her for a few long moments before sighing. Maybe it was a red head thing but Angel was sounding too much like Terry and Tommy had run out of his own homemade brand of logic. He looked down at his feet before saying softly, "Okay."
Now that got a brilliant smile out of her. "Oh good," she said, refraining from bouncing or doing something stupid like she sometimes did. "I was just about to go get changed and then get breakfast. Want to join me."

There was a long pause.

"Uh. For the breakfast and...not...the changing..."

Tommy couldn't help his eyes from widening slightly, more from the idea of people asking him to join them then the changing comment. "I..." He rubbed the back of his neck again and sighed. "Yeah, okay. Umm...ten minutes?"

"See you then!"





---

Later that day, Tommy takes Yvette up on her offer of a walk and they end up out under a tree where with the aid of book, he explains to her who Piglet is. Kyle finds them as the last two people on his list to apologize too. Things are strained between the three as one can imagine but apologies do get made.



It had been a stressful morning. Strange purple girls who teleported away without warning after giving her more of Forge's miracle clothes, including the sought-after gloves and socks, large boisterous Samoan boys with a fascination for Sesame Street... It was nice, Yvette decided, being able to get outside into the bright sun and walk with Tommy. She hadn't brought up the previous day's incident again - as far as she was concerned, she had said everything she needed to to Tommy and she wasn't going to argue with him about his perception of himself. So instead he had brought along a book and they were sitting under one of the trees whilst he explained Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin and Piglet.

"I am thinking Angel is being right," she said, with an embarrassed little giggle. "If I am to be meeting a Heffalump, I am to be made fright of too."

Tommy had been thankful to find a version with the older illustrations, not the stupid bright Disney versions. Especially since Yvette was much more adorable then that neon pink pig that sang and danced in the TV cartoons. It was much easier to think about that then yesterday, especially when she'd asked him to read parts of the story to her.

He smiled down at her. "I think there are other reasons why she would think you were Piglet, but if you ever meet a Huffalump, you shouldn't be afraid."

"Be afraid," she repeated, correcting herself. "I am reading strange things, in the journals, about demons and soldiers - if this is happening, I will be finding you, I am thinking. It is easier, to be brave for your friends." She looked down at the book, softly touching the page with one gloved talon and was pleased when she didn't tear it. "If I am a Piglet, Mr. Forge is being the Owl. He is the one people are coming to for help."

Kyle hadn't been kidding when he told Angelo that he had a list. He'd been very slowly working his way down it, and avoiding the two most intimidating names for as long as possible.

He'd lurked for quite some time in the trees, watching them read, occasionally shaking his head in confusion. Tommy had beaten up Jay, for being so obviously a mutant, and now he was sitting and reading quietly with Yvette, also so very obviously a mutant.

Something had to have changed, and the easiest answer was that it was Tommy. But he hadn't apologized for Jay, for anything at all. Kyle shook his head again, and dropped down off his branch, landing almost silently in a crouch. Even if Tommy wasn't going to do the right thing and apologize to the people he'd hurt, Kyle could.

He took the long route, out of the treeline and back to one of the paths. Spooking the people you were meant to apologize to just made for more work finding them again later, and they'd been hard to find in the first place. Walking slowly, and making, for Kyle, a blatant amount of noise, stepping on twigs and leaves and clacking his toeclaws against the pavement, he approached the pair, pausing every so often to see if they noticed, and if they'd bolt.

Tommy was smiling fondly at her as she touched the page. He was still confused as hell from yesterday, but the sentiment that she would be brave for him was...touching in a way that made him feel a warmth in his chest he hadn't felt in a long time. His voice was almost timid, an odd concept to him, when he asked, "So who...?"

He didn't finish his question as he heard someone approaching and lifted his head to see that it was Kyle. Oh wonderful, what did he want now?

Yvette looked up as he trailed off and followed his gaze. Oh, the mean boy. Despite herself she drew back behind Tommy, hiding behind his body even as she peeked out from around his elbow, eyes blazing bright blue. "What are you wanting?" she asked, forcing herself to be brave. Hadn't she just said that was what she would do?

Kyle noticed Yvette scuttle to hide behind Tommy as he came closer, and his stomach balled up again, tight and heavy. But, she wasn't running off, Tommy wasn't demanding he go away, and they weren't throwing anything at him.

Digging his hands in his pockets, he came a little closer, and stopped again, just inside what he hoped was hearing distance. Yvette was obviously nervous, Tommy's breathing had sped up, and Kyle knew he could be scary. "I need to apologize to you." He said, and then quickly added. "Both of you.", before he could talk himself into believing Tommy didn't need one.

Tommy looked over his shoulder at Yvette, smiling as he moved to take one of her hands as she tried so hard to be brave. Though the fact that a visible mutant was hiding behind him from another visible mutant wasn't lost on him. As if he needed anything else to confuse him.

Then he turned to look back at Kyle. "Why? You seemed perfectly clear how you felt yesterday." His voice was hard, more for the fact that he'd upset Yvette then anything.

Yvette held onto Tommy's hand tightly, glad for the gloves that let her do that now. "I think you are more to be apologizing to Tommy than me," she added, her voice small and nervous.

"And yesterday I was a giant butt monkey, and today I'm trying not to be." Kyle said, a little bitterly. He hadn't expected much better. Tommy got forgiveness for being a bigoted ass, but wouldn't extend the same to Kyle for a much smaller offense.

"And, yeah, I was much more assy to Tommy than I was you, Yvette." He said carefully. "I still owe you one too. I shouldn't have dumped a whole bunch of .. of.. whatever, on someone who's new and shy."

How could Tommy forgive him when he thought Kyle had been right? As it were, he could only nod his...thanks? acknowledgement? whatever and squeezed Yvette's hand to give her some support, since he could tell she was still nervous.

She blinked at the unfamiliar words, and the bitter tone. "It is being okay," she said, working out that there was an apology in there somewhere. "You are not owing me anything. But please, what is to being 'butt monkey'?"

Kyle snorted out a laugh before he could help it. "It means I was being stupid and not thinking like, you know, a supposedly not stupid human being, but more like a monkey with it's brain in it's .. um... rear end." He ran a hand through his hair. "I'm not gonna have an argument about if I owe people apologies, but I was pretty rude to you, so I think I do."

He looked around and then shrugged. "No matter what I think of Tommy, and dude, don't get me wrong, this doesn't mean I like you, I don't have the right to tell anyone who they can and can't be friends with."

Tommy sighed. He couldn't not forgive that could he? It was general enough. And maybe then Kyle would leave him alone again. "Thanks." He said softly, not looking at Kyle either.

It was strange to see a boy so careless of his honor as to give apologies where none were needed, but Yvette accepted this wasn't home. "Butt monkey," she repeated, testing out her pronunciation of the word. She peeked at Kyle again, having flinched back at the sudden laugh before she could help it. "Yes, you were being the butt monkey," she told him, as severely as a four-foot tall girl with a soft voice and chronic shyness could. "But if Tommy is being okay, then I am being okay. If you are not doing this again. Tommy is being my friend and you cannot be mean to him because he is."

"I can't promise I won't slip." Kyle said, frowning. "I say stuff sometimes without thinking. Okay, I say stuff a lot without thinking. But, no more telling people who they can't hang out with. I should've known better." He shrugged again, looking just a little defeated. "That I can promise."

"Good." Yvette looked up at Tommy, to see if he was satisfied. After all, he was the one who had been unfairly treated.

"Yeah, everything is fine." For now anyway.