Marius/Angel, Back to the Party

[x-firestar.livejournal.com]

Back at the party, Angel runs into Marius and has some moments of quiet freaking out. She also lights her hair on fire. Marius eventually clues in and Angel decides to worry about the whole boy thing tomorrow.



When Angel finally rejoined the party, she smoothed her skirt back down again. The whole new boy awareness thing was getting to be tiresome, as if it was some part of her brain she couldn't turn off again. It was probably making up for lost time. She glanced around the room, knowing that, eventually, everyone would get ready to go off to the parade.

"Well, I am impressed. You've managed to press a full 3/5 of my total compliment of flatmates into your nefarious plan. It take much blackmail? Though I suppose you were aided by the fact Forge didn't have far to go anyway . . ."

Marius drew to a stop beside her and held out a paper plate with a bright smile beneath the half-mask. "Biscuit?"

It really was, Angel thought, all his fault. Her hormones hadn't kicked in until that night, when he just had to go get better. Selfish brat. She did, however, take the offered cookie. "Only one of them took bribes," she said after a minute. Talking with your mouth full was gross. "Julio was amused, you know, and just came along with it. Now, Kyle…there was blackmail." Angel grinned.

"Ah, so the loaded pig brought onto the stage was finally fired, eh? So nice to see a plan come together." Marius finished his own cookie and started to attack the mound of mixed fruit that comprised the majority of his plate. He was willing to admit there was still some residual giddiness that came of being able to eat without the respirator; he hadn't quite realized what a toll the sheer physical discomfort had been taking on his appetite until Amelia had weighed him. The fact that Lorna had once again deigned to allow him access to her cooking was a welcome bonus. The first meal had come with a whack from a rolled-up newspaper, but frankly that was nothing new.

Crushes, Angel decided crossly, felt like heart burn. She eyed him, though, with amusement. "We're totally going to have to keep food even more stocked in our suite, aren't we?" she asked him, leaning over to snag a chocolate cupcake that had her name on it. No, it literally had her name on it…someone had gone a little insane with the fun baking tools.

"Ah, perish the thought. I am quite consistent about payin' my own way where meals are concerned. Or at least back. Though now such extravagances must be preapproved, alas. Still, I'm sure my parents will make some allowance for necessary livin' expenses. It bein' in their best interests to not have it be known their son is a shiftless burden on others an' that." Marius popped a grape into his mouth and wondered vaguely at the sudden lack of prolonged eyecontact. While he hadn't been extremely sociable with any of the new arrivals the shrieking chase around the school a few days ago certainly hadn't lent itself to illusions of demureness.

Oh, his shoes were very nice. Quality stuff, those shoes of his. Yes, very. "Well, feel free to take and give as much as you want," Angel replied, completely not realizing that the ends of her pigtails were flaming. Just a little flame, on each end, in tune with her internal embarrassment. "God knows between Jennie and myself we could take on a whole college devoted to cooking."

"Too true. Never have I lived among so many tiny women so able to consume such vast quantities of food. An' do not think to play the innocent, quite impressive tales have been told me about hot dogs consumed in the streets of New York. Do not be ashamed -- bottomless pits of energy, far from an unattractive quality in a girl." Marius looked up from his plate and tilted his head at the redhead, yellow eyes skirting her hair. "Incidentally, you're flamin' a bit."

"I'm what…gah!" Shoving the basket into whatever free hand he had, managing not to knock any of his food over, Angel reached up to grab her pigtails. A tip of tongue stuck out as she concentrated, drawing the energy back inside of her where it coiled somewhere around her stomach. "Well. That was, um, unexpected." Red started to creep up her neck and cheeks. "Oh maaaan," she muttered, covering her face with one hand.

The combination of Angel's body language, power-slip and uncharacteristic shyness suddenly clicked for him, and for a second there was a bizarre mental clash as the dual reactions of Eh, wait, she's attracted to me? and the kneejerk Well really, who wouldn't be? collided. As firmly-entrenched as a lifetime of experience had made his confidence, Marius realized with mild shock that it had been some time since he'd felt he had anything left to be attracted to. The obvious physical reasons featuring on the low end of the list.

Various thoughts flitted through his head, such as the automatic "pretty girl," "redhead," and "completely unfazed by the application of lipstick to a bloke's palm". These were in turn met with retaliatory thoughts along the vein of "mutant," "classmate," and "fifteen." Personal preference, personal preference, and sure and creative death, Marius thought, looking down at the girl. Well then, this can never be.

"Ah, no worries," the boy grinned, "as unexpected manifestations go that was actually quite neat. An' in fact I rather think it adds a certain je ne sais quoi to the ensemble. Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz? Quite acceptable, if a bit on the conventional side. But Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz with her head cheerfully aflame? Brilliance."

Peeking out from between her fingers, Angel suddenly laughed, tension easing somewhat. This sudden…awareness was irritating but it could be dealt with. After all, if it couldn't no teenager would ever leave their room until they were, like twenty. And before Marius became someone with a nice butt, he had been her friend. Like Kyle, Forge and Julio. She could deal with it.

Later, much later. With lots of advice. And perhaps an excel spreadsheet.

Taking her basket from him, she slipped her arm through his and concentrated, relighting the tips of her pigtails. Impishly, she grinned up at him. "There we go, at least until we get to the parade," she said.

Marius was proud; he was able to accept the physical brush of an unfamiliar mutant without tensing, and just as unwilling to dwell on the fact that it was still an issue now as he had been with Jennie and Forge. That would be something to address with the doctors later. But not tonight.

"I don't know," Marius replied, crooking his arm for her in a position of lofty gallantry, "I think you should keep at it. Should anyone ask, you may claim it is but a clever wig. It is Halloween, after all. It is not unknown for some to spend entire months in preparation." He raised his free hand to drag his fingers dramatically across the domino mask. "Whereas I myself fully intend to be that bloke who couldn't be bothered with anythin' other than the ninety-nine cent buy in the checkout lane of the grocery. After all, creativity would rather defeat all effort devoted to appearin' as myself. Besides, I did Europe whilst on the visible mutation circuit. I rather fancy the idea of bein' stared at for a glarin' lack of prominence. The tragic loss of my hair aside."

With another grin, the Australian brought his hand around in an elaborate whirl of proferment. "So, shall we away to the forming carpool?"

"Why, yes, I think we shall," Angel said, locking all emotions besides giddy candy happiness away. "And I like your hair...it means I can stick balloons to your head..."