Kevin and Angel

[x-firestar.livejournal.com]

Angel and Kevin are the only early risers in the kitchen. This leads to breakfast and fire.



Angel glanced at her watch as she toed off her shoes. It was a little after 6 now though she doubted anyone else would be up and awake just yet. She'd left the house around 5 to go swimming (even though she didn't live there most of the time, her dad had made sure to get a house close to a year-round pool. She loved her daddy.) and now she just had to sneak into the kitchen for some food.

Her stomach growled loudly as she crept down the hallway and she shushed it. A noise like that just might wake up someone.

Kevin had been up for the past half hour. It wasn't nearly as early as he was waking up when he first got back to the States, but it wasn't as late as he'd finally managed to sleep either. After showering he'd decided to go down to the kitchen. Food made everything better and people were kind of tense around here. Of course, he was possibly the person with the most tension in the house, but at this hour with everyone else asleep he was more relaxed than he'd been since arriving at Mr. Jones' house.

Hearing a noise, Kevin's head popped up over the door of the fridge as he'd been trying to decide what to make for breakfast and then what to make for everyone else when they woke up. When Angel appeared in the doorway Kevin gave her a little half smile. "Hey. Hungry?"

"Wow, someone's actually awake!" She beamed as she dropped her bag of gear in the corner by the door. "And, oh my God, I could eat Mr. Marko right now, I'm so hungry." When her stomach rumbled again, she stuck her tongue out at it. "You one of the early risers as well?" she asked, making her way to the table.

Her hair was still damp, so Angel reached up and started to run her hands over it. Steam curled up in wisps between her fingers as she dried her hair slowly. Too fast and she'd end up looking like a chia pet.

Kevin's eyes got a little wide at that particular mental image. "No' really tha mos' appetizin' image ever there." Actually, it was really, really the opposite of appetizing. "Almos' a year in Muir makes it sorta hard ta rise at normal people hours. Passed out around ten las' night, woke up 'round five-thirty." Watching Angel dry her hair was sort of interesting. It could have just been the part where steam was rising from her head in little tendrils, though.

"So whatcha in tha mood fer? Ah was thinkin' o' makin' french toast fer everyone when they're awake. Not like hypin' everyone up on sugar is in any way mah attempt to keep 'em calm, or relaxed er whatever," though his tone clearly indicated it was just that. Hey, food made people happy and sugary food made people bounce around, not freak out.

"I've been getting up around 5 for...not forever because that's not possible but pretty close. Get in my daily swim early and I've got the rest of the day for me! But, wow, that's some jet lag." Angel laughed and rubbed her hands together in glee. "Oh, french toast sounds awesome and you're awesome for cooking it. Careful, dad might decide you're too good to let leave again."

Not that Bart ever forgot to eat. At least Angel had the excuse of powers for her metabolism.

"Yeah, took me 'bout four months to adjust ta their time from ours. Ah was startin' ta 'djust back to ours, all holed up in the machine shop lately, but then evac and I find mahself up early. It's no' so bad, Ah was gettin' up at three an' four in tha mornin' before. Kinda crazy, bu' tha quiet's nice at that hour, y'know?" He shrugged and then smiled at her enthusiasm as he began to pull the eggs and milk out and poke around for some cinnamon and vanilla for the batter. "Ah used ta do all tha cookin' during tha week when mah dad was alive, 'cause he worked long hours. Ah'm used to it, an' Ah kinda like it anyway. Somethin' 'bout feeding people." It was like instant happy for most people. You gave them good food and they were like excited Labrador puppies all of a sudden. There was something about making a person that happy that easily that appealed immensely to Kevin.

Angel twigged into what he was looking for and slide off her chair to go looking through the spice rack. "Sounds like me and photography," she responded, voice muffled from having her head in a cabinet. "Because even though so many people protest they don't like getting their picture taken, so many of them are happy once you show them a good picture, you know? Silly people. But I swear, I will never, ever, ever turn down food. I'm a walking garbage disposal. Power burns up a lot of the food energy and, well, dude I'm a 15 year old girl. I could eat my weight in peanuts if it came down to it."

"Somehow Ah don' think eatin' yer weight in peanuts is tha best idea." Though, okay, it was possible and maybe in a real fix. Then again, who had ninety pounds or however much of peanuts on hand at any given time? Actually, he never wanted to know that answer. "Do ya sneak aroun' takin' people's pictures? If not, then ya should. Ah like watchin' people when they don't know anyone's around ta watch."

She gave him a sly look when she popped up with spices in hand. "Maaaybe? I'm on the yearbook staff, I think that's totally in the description. Besides, if I hide my hair, I'm really awesome at sneaking up on people. All ninja and stuff, hoohah! That, and I can run really fast."

Kevin looked at her out of the corner of his eye which narrowed at the mention of the word yearbook. "So this tha time Ah mention how Ah'm no' a student and don' need ta be seen in tha yearbook? 'Cause tha's somethin' ta keep in mind, ya know." He gave her only a slight smile as he took the spices from her, the expression mostly overcome by the suspicion on his face.

"If you live at the mansion, you just might end up in the yearbook. However, as the official photographer for the yearbook?" Angel heaved herself up onto an empty counter and swung her legs. "I am totally bribeable, just so you know."

The suspicion on his face only deepened. "An' 'xactly what would one hafta bribe ya with? More french toast?" He was going the french toast route because food was easy to bribe people with. The prospect of it also didn't make him blush, unlike a few of the other possible answers she could give.

"Yep," she said, popping the last 'p' and then she giggled. "I'm very easily distracted by food and shiny things. Shiny food things would completely kill me, yeah?" Angel caught his look and that really got her giggling. "Not bribing like that! I mean, you're hot and not old so I'm probably going to crush on you but that's okay. I like boys. A lot. I have a chart, even. But it'll last like a day and then I'll be good."

He was going to make a comment about making her a metal sculpture of a fruit basket when she got to the part about him being hot and the crush. The blood rushing to his cheeks was instantaneous. Yep, see, stuff like that did it just as well as the potential bribing comments could have done it. Now would be a really good time to say something. That is, of course, if his brain was working. While his was an ever deepening pink which was well on its way to red all he could manage was, "Uh...um..thanks?" He figured the all of a day thing was probably a good thing, but he was also pretty sure he should be slightly offended he was so easily gotten over as well.

"Welcome!" Angel gave him the most innocent look she could muster under the circumstances. "Oh, sometimes I say things before I totally think about it, so sorry. Like the crush thing. I didn't really think that through all the way, so, um, whoops?" She snagged the cinnamon sugar from the counter and dumped some in her hand so she could eat it a little at a time.

Kevin had reached an all out crimson color and he was pretty sure it was short circuiting his brain. He nodded numbly at her apology and explanation. People with crushes on him was way out of his mental grasp, even when not being overridden by the intense blush that was gracing his face. "Eatin' straight sugar's maybe not tha way ta go." She bursts out about crushes without sugar, did he want to know what her censor button would let slip with sugar?

In response, she fished out three empty pixie stick packets from her pocket and snickered. "Breakfast," she explained, tipping the sugar into her mouth. "I need all the energy I can get, though I didn't have to go into the fire station this morning, which was good since that would have taken up a chunk of my time. I think they've got me doing something tomorrow, though."

"Fire station?" He was scared to ask almost. He was more scared about the pixie sticks she was downing. Oh, dear God, who was going to save him? And when was his skin going to be skin colored again?! Kevin busied himself with making the mixture for the french toast once he had fished out an appropriately sized bowl and a fork.

"Long story short time! I'm fireproof, I ended up in a fire and saved a few people, including this really awesome firefighter named Paul, and the station totally adopted me and they're grooming me until I'm old enough to get an internship which is like in a month or so." Angel took a deep breath. "So, I hang out with the guys a few times a week until they can officially start showing me the ropes because the chief is psyched about having a potential firefighter that is invulnerable to fire."

The further into her explanation she got the higher Kevin's eyebrows crept. "Tha's pretty cool, actually. Ye're never gonna get another day off in yer life ever again once they got ya," he laughed, some of the blood draining from his face. "Is tha' whatcha actually wanna do? Be a fire fighter? Seems like it'd be a good job, interestin' an' all. An' Ah'm thinkin' if ye're invulnerable ta fire a lot of the risk sorta goes outta tha window."

She thought about that for a moment, drawing designs in the left over sugar in her palm. "Dunno, really. I mean, I want to and the guys are fantastic. But there's also photography -- it's what dad does and that's all I ever wanted to be. Before, well, fwoosh. And..." Angel leaned forward. "There was this time with Kyle and...and Sabertooth. And my pictures helped the Secret Service out with it. How cool is that? Really?" Angel shrugged and then dusted off her hands. "At the very least, I'll volunteer as a firefighter, yeah? And then go from there?" There was also the X-Men, which she was...not fairly certain she wanted to check out in a few years but reasonably.

"Ah'm bias, which Ah can a'mit ta. An' since it's usually tha underdog vote, Ah gotta encourage tha photography route. 'Specially with yer pictures helping tha Secret Service? Tha's pretty major, ya know? Also, very, very cool. All Ah've managed ta do is take 'vantage of some tourists so Ah could get a motel room an' eat before Ah went back ta tha school." Why he went back was remaining unsaid. If asked he'd, well, he wasn't sure what he'd say. Maybe he'd just say he didn't want to talk about it, which was true. He could lie but Kevin was generally opposed to lying unless necessary. Hopefully no one would ever care to ask him.

Now Angel was making little blue fireballs run up and down her knuckles like some sort of odd coin trick. "If the tourists allowed you to take advantage, then it's on them," she said firmly. "What did you do, though? Yvette says you do sculptures?"

"Yvette's spreadin' all mah secrets, huh?" He was kidding, of course, and his tone made that pretty obvious. "Yeah, Ah make sculptures. Metal stuff, mos'ly abstract. I sold some to tourists, nothin' fancy or really worth it, honestly. It was all stuff Ah made in an hour or two. Get scrap metal from tha junkyard, squish it together an' as long as ya call it art they'll pitch over a pretty penny more'n it's worth."

"But it's still awesome that you're making art and selling it, that's really cool. And that's why you needed the...hot...fire thing the other day, right?" Angel wiggled her fingers at him and each one suddenly caught on fire. "I'm totally a walking one of those."

"Solderin' iron," he filled in for her. "Yeah, tha's why Ah needed it, fer mah sculpture stuff." The little blue fireballs had been slightly distracting but each of her fingers catching on fire stole all of Kevin's attention. "Uh, yeah, Ah'd say ya were. Jus' how hot is tha flame ya produce? Normal fire or hotter?" Was it bad that he found the fact that her fingers could ignite on fire slightly hot in a way that had nothing to do with temperature? Kevin was going to blame that on his Ooooh, fire pretty! impulse.

The fire seemed to dim in response to his question. "I can do normal temperatures and stuff, see?" she responded and then concentrated and immediately the fire turned a brighter blue color and she made sure to keep her hand away from anything that would actually catch on fire. Like Kevin. "And I can go super, super, super hot. I project microwaves, that's how I produce the whoosh."

"Tha whoosh?" he parroted back, an amused smile playing over his lips. Shaking his head to clear it from the distraction that was Angel and her fiery hand, he got a griddle set up and dipped the first piece of bread into the batter, coating it before placing it on the pan only for it to create a sizzling sound upon contact. "Maybe if Ah eve' need ta melt somethin' really difficult Ah'll come find ya fer it." Of course, Kevin was also immensely stubborn and if there was a way to do it himself he would find it and do it that way instead.

"I like setting things on fire, I'd be glad to help! Besides, probably be good practice. I've got a lot of power but John and Shiro are helping me with my fine control."

Kevin thought for a few moments while his focus remained on the french toast he was making. "Hmmm, Ah'll work on thinkin' somethin' up. Anythin' big enough ta need ya is a bit of a ways off still, but Ah might be able to think up something. Could be interestin' if ya melted a design into somethin', 'cause it'd look differen' when it cooled down again.

She hadn't thought of that. "Oohh, that's awesome. Shiro and I've dabbled in some glass blowing classes..." Just once but she wanted to drag him back to it. "But that's something different, I'd like that if you'd be willing to let me do something." Angel held up her arms in glee. "So awesome!"

He nodded to himself, turning over various ideas in his head. "If Ah can find a use fer Yvette, Ah'm sure Ah can find one fer ya, too." Man, if she was this excited over setting things on fire she was going to die of happy when he finished breakfast.