Angel and Yvette

[x-firestar.livejournal.com]

Angel and Yvette enjoy a day outdoors until they both make a discovery.



Angel supposed she should have asked other folks to come with Yvette for the picnic but while she wasn't peopled out, she knew it had been a while since she and her suitemate had been able to hang out. Without a thousand other people. Grinning, she handed over a bowl of freshly popped popcorn. "And now, we gorge," Angel said.

Yvette stripped off her glove and dipped into the bowl, spearing kernels of corn onto her fingers. "This was the nice idea," she said. And she didn't mind it was just the two of them, not at all. She had had a confusing week. "Thank you, for thinking to do this."

"Anytime! Until there's snow on the ground because then you'd fall into a snow drift and we'd have to hunt for you." Angel grinned. "But even when there is snow, there's enough places in the mansion you can do indoor picnics. Which is a really neat idea, actually."

"Yes! Like in the old parts of the building. There are very many rooms that are not being used." Yvette began picking popcorn off her fingers, one by one. "It is strange, that a year has already gone since I came here. Summer was so fast!"

Angel blinked. "Wow, it really has been a year, hasn't it? Seems like just yesterday I accidentally set my mom's car on fire but here we are. Survived attacks and sleepovers and it's been an awesome year."

"It very much has." Yvette looked down at her hands, the skin harder than it had been earlier in the week, but still nowhere near as bad as it had been during the summer. "And we are learning, too."

A little puft of flame erupted from the middle of Angel's palm in agreement and for both of their amusement, she made it dance a little. "Totally. This place is awesome and I'm so glad I came here." Laying back, she tilted her head at Yvette, looking up at her friend upside down. "I never would have met you or Kyle or Julio if I hadn't. And my world would be sadder."

Yvette's eyes glowed softly, a sign of her pleasure. "And I would not have met you, or Miss Paige, or Mr. Jono and Mr. Sefton and Laurie and... oh, all of my friends." Finishing the popcorn on her fingers, she dipped into the bowl again, and offered the kernel on the tip of her forefinger to Angel to nibble off, trusting the other girl to be careful of her exposed skin.

Carefully, Angel slid the popcorn off, careful not to cut either the food or her. "Thank you." She munched on it and eyed the sky, watching the blue and white mix above them. Flying was the coolest thing she could do, hands down and she was always grateful to have fallen off the roof in the first place. "Man, it's so quiet down by the lake."

"And pretty. The water always looks so nice." Yvette flopped onto her stomach, looking at the water as she ate popcorn off her fingers. "Soon it will be too cold to swim, when it is freezing over?"

"Weeeell, for some people, yeah," Angel said, rocking her head back and forth to feel her hair brush along the grass. "And some say it's too cold now. To that, I say bah! Bah! For me, now, swimming is an every time of year event!"

"And for me also." Yvette gave the lake a considering look. "You know, I have not been swimming in the lake yet? Things got so busy over the summer, it seemed."

At that, Angel sat up and also stared at the lake. "Really? Oh, you know, that's a shame. It's totally nothing like the pool." She glanced over at Yvette, grin starting to grow by the second. "You want to?"

Yvette looked at Angel, then at the lake. Then back at Angel again. Then she sat up, stripping off the overdress she was wearing over bodysuit. "To race you there?" she said, eyes flaring brightly as she grinned.

Shoes and the socks were sent flying as Angel scrambled to get up. Everything else she could dry off afterward because there was no way she was getting down to her undies outside. "On the count of three!" Angel said, wiggling her butt like a cat as she hunched down, ready to take off. "One...twooooo....THREE!"

Yvette took off on the count, bare clawed feet digging into the ground, laughing as she scampered towards the lake. The cold water registered as a vague chill to her hardened skin and she plunged in, arcing in a shallow dive.

Angel had taken all but one step before igniting with a whoop. A crouch and a shove shot her up towards the sky and she twisted in the air for a second before preparing to dive right into the water, though she wanted to make sure she wasn't going to land on Yvette first.

A few bubbles broke the surface, but there was no sign of the spiky girl.

Hesitating, she hovered over the water's surface and scanned it. There was a chance that Yvette would pop up to frighten her...but that really didn't sound like the quiet girl. She didn't like to frighten anyone, even in fun. Angel rose a few more feet in the air in hopes it would let her see better.

No sign of Yvette, not at first, and then faintly, from the murky bottom, came two faint blueish lights, blinking on and off. More bubbles, as if some kind of struggle was going on, broke the surface.

At that, Angel knew exactly what was happening and she shot up a few feet in the air before angling herself down. It was a diving move but she didn't turn her powers off. Yvette was probably right at the bottom and it was faster this way. But she had to burn hot and fast as she streaked towards the lake because even though it wasn't ordinary fire, that much water would make it that much harder to keep everything on.

Through the shield around her, Angel didn't even feel the water or see the steam she left in her wake. But it was like being crushed a little as she forced herself to fly--swim?--towards the blue eyes at the bottom of the lake.

Then a long-fingered hand appeared, reaching for the fiery glow. Yvette's eyes were blazing, even through the lakewater and she was obviously struggling to push herself upwards.

Angel grabbed Yvette around the wrists, making sure she held on tightly. Twisting, she angled upwards, forcing herself to keep the fire and the thrust going as they shot for the surface.

Yvette gasped as her head broke the water, holding onto Angel for dear life, for once not even thinking of the possibility of cutting someone. As they collapsed onto the bank, she managed to choke out, between coughs: "Thank you."

Laying beside her, Angel stared up at the sky through half-closed eyes as she tried to catch her breath. "You okay?" she managed, whimpering a bit. She was exhausted and kind of freaked about what had happened, since Yvette could have been hurt either by the water or by her.

"I think so." Coughing up a bit of water, Yvette managed to sit up. "I... I was too heavy. To swim. My mutation..." She looked over anxiously at Angel. "Are you okay? I didn't hurt you?"

At that, Angel peered up at her hands, turning them this way and that. "Nope!" she said, smiling to relieve her friends worry. "I was making a lot of fire, so I think you were cutting through that." There was a pause. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"Oh, no." Yvette held up her hand to show Angel she was unburned. "My skin, it is very hard, from being scared." Certainly she was a lot spikier than she had been before she'd gone into the water. "I knew I was being heavier since I changed, but I did not realise... I am very sorry."

"Accident, no worries." Angel's stomach rumbled with enough intensity that it caused her to giggle. There had been a lot of of energy used in a way she wasn't used to and now her body needed to recover. "Wonder if Forge could make floaties for you out of that stuff you're wearing now, yeah?"

"Floaties...?" Yvette's face was too stiff to frown, but the confusion came through. Then she nodded. "The thing to help float, yes." As Angel's stomach growled again, she climbed to her feet and offered her covered-over arm to help Angel up.

Gratefully, Angel took the arm and stumbled to her feet. "Oookay, so no adventures for us the rest of the day. Food and TV time? We like TV time."

"Yes, we do." They certainly were a sight, wet and trembling and looking somewhat bedraggled. "And maybe Dani has made something for lunch?"

"Dear God, I hope so."