Angel and Inez

[x-firestar.livejournal.com]

Angel meets one of the newer mansion residents while out on the courts.



With the prom done and over with, Angel had put the dresses and shoes back up and gone outside to get dirty. She liked being a girl - shopping, shoes, more shoes - but she equally liked...not being much of a girl. She'd rollerbladed earlier that morning and had finally ended up at the basketball court. After making sure it wasn't going to open up under her, she'd rescued a ball and started dribbling and shooting hoops. She'd stuck to just the swim team back before Xavier's but she enjoyed pick up games from time to time.

Inez was enjoying a walk out in the sunlight when she saw the redhead shooting the basketball. With a grin, she snuck up behind Angel as quietly as she could and waited for the shorter girl to try a jump shot before reaching over her head and swatting the ball. "And the shortie gets stuffed!" she crowed, watching the ball bounce away.

"Dude, what are you, a ninja?" Angel asked, turning around, hands on her hips. She was grinning, though, more amused than anything else. With the court completely empty, it had been a bit boring. "You must be...Inez?" It was a good guess - she didn't like like walking metal. She held out a hand. "I'm Angel, one of the firebugs around here."

"That's me," Inez said, watching the ball as it rolled across the court. Impulsively, she jogged over and picked it up, trying (and failing) to spin it on a fingertip. "I'm... um, one of the strong ones? I guess, I think there's more?"

"There's a few!" Angel agreed, watching the ball with interest. "Marie, Garrison - apparently they had a Russian who could turn into metal and then get really strong." She held up a hand and concentrated, forming a glowing ball of fire roughly the size of the basketball. The blue fire shimmered as she tossed it from hand to hand. "We've got some more unusual powers around here as well! My roommate can turn herself into sand."

"Sand?" Inez asked, jaw dropping. "That's weird. My roommate... you know, I have no idea what Tatiana does. Besides kind of freak out all the time." She watched the fireball with great interest, eyes following it back and forth. "Yeah, someone said that Garrison's like the guy version of me. Which is, y'know, kind of creepy. But it explains the hot." She quickly caught herself and cleared her throat. "I mean, for a cop."

Angel giggled suddenly. "More like hot for an old guy," she responded, shaking off the fire after a few moments. "And yeah, sand. Cool, isn't it?" And it had saved their butts but she wasn't going to mention that to Inez. "I thought everyone else had cooler powers then me - until I fell off the roof and learned I could fly." She said it rather fondly.

"You can fly?" Inez practically squealed, her excitement suddenly halted by a hiss of air and a squeaking noise. She looked down to see the deflating basketball crushed in her hands. "Aw, shit. Sorry about your ball. I just got a bit excited. Um, flying? Really?" she asked, trying to distract from her sudden embarassment.

She would normally mourn the loss of the basketball but, really, Cain expected these things and kept a ton hanging around. "You betcha I can fly!" It wasn't showing off if they asked she thought, now hovering several feet off the ground. "Only downside is the flames stay on. You wouldn't happen to be fireproof, would you?"

"Not really, I don't think..." Inez said, trying not to stare at Angel hovering in midair. "I burned my finger on the iron the other day, so I'm guessing not? I mean, I heal fast, but..." She rubbed her side slightly, frowning and biting her lip. "I, uh, I got shot once. My daddy said it was a flesh wound, but it healed up in like, a day. That's kind of when we figured out I was a mutant. Strong and tough, yeah. Fireproof, I'm thinking not so much."

She wrinkled up her nose. "I'd rather not test that, then," Angel said with a lopsided grin. "My other job's to prevent that whole setting people, or things, on fire." She flipped herself over so she was floating upside down, the blue fire rippling around her in response. Then she focused on something else. "You got shot? I'm trying to decide if I should go 'Cool!' or look horrified. Can I do both?"

"Less of the 'cool' and more of the 'suck'," Inez replied, tugging up the hem of her shirt to show Angel her stomach. "Although not even a scar. And to add to it? I'd had my belly button pierced the week before - boy, Daddy was pissed about that - and that healed up too. I tried to go get my ears pierced again, but the needle broke. God, that was embarrassing. Sometimes this mutant thing sucks."

Another slow rotation and then Angel was touching back down sometimes. "It can be awesome, but yeah, I totally get that. I can't wear any jewelry, either, because of the whole melty thing. I'm glad that between Forge and the fashion folks here, I've got clothes that won't go up in smoke."

Inez nodded. "I'm supposed to see Mr... Marko? About testing how strong and tough I am. Everyone says I can't miss him, but I haven't run into him yet. Is he one of the doctors here?"

There was almost a visible thought bubble over Angel's head as she envisioned Mr. Marko in a white doctor's coat that was far too small for him, a stethoscope, and a scowl. She dissolved into giggles and shook her head. "Oh no, no. He's actually, well, groundskeeper and all that?" Angel grinned. "He's the biggest thing on the grounds if you don't count the mansion itself and probably one of the strongest guys around here."

Inez arched an eyebrow. "Greeeeeat," she drawled. "Well, that should be fun. Hey, want to go find another basketball and see if some of the boys want to play? I think we could take them."

Angel beamed. "Oh heck, yeah, I'm all over that like a thing all over another thing. We could totally take the boys in a game of basketball." She looked around and leaned over, her grin turning into a smirk. "I play dirty, how about you?"

"Dirty?" Inez smiled right back. "You ain't seen nothing yet."