Face the Blood: Crystal and Fred

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Crystal and Fred talk on the plane ride over




The flight was underway somewhere over the ocean, and as the "fasten seatbelt" signs were off and an announcement had been made, it was now safe for occupants to move around in the cabin. It seemed that there were just as many adult chaperons on this particular Red X trip as there were students, and while most of those students had seemed excited about the trip, not all of them had seemed to share that exuberance. So it was that Crystal made her way past rows of seats until she stood in the aisle near Fred's seat. "Hello, Fred," Crystal said, smiling at him. "Are you enjoying the flight?"


Fred, who was busy chewing away on a pencil and damning airlines for their no smoking policy, had jumped a little at the voice of Crystal. He jerked up to look at her, and grinned in embarrassment. "Hey, Ms. Crystal. I, uh...I ain't the best flyer," he said, offering a little shrug as part of his explanation.


"That is perfectly all right, Fred," Crystal replied. "Some people grow accustomed to traveling in airplanes after multiple flights, and some people never become fond of it. Even people who do not have problems with shorter flights sometimes grow restless on international ones."


"I,uh...just..,heh..." Fred shrugged, and his face went a little red, "I...just wish they had a smoking section on these freaking thing, yea?" Fred looked out the window next to his seat, and immediately regretted it. He tugged at the collar of his shirt and tried to clear his throat, "I, just...don't think guys my...uh, size...are supposed to be this far off the ground..."


"Do you feel more comfortable on solid ground than you do above ground due to your abilities?" Crystal asked, curious, intentionally refraining from speaking any comments regarding smoking. "I like being off of the ground and flying, although my usual method of flight is done on my own power."


Fred furrowed his brow, "Never thought about my mu-uh-power havin' anything to do with it," he rubbed his chin, "suppose that makes sense." Fred looked at Crystal for a moment, "You're, uh...power...you can fly?"


Crystal nodded. "Yes, I can fly, but that is not the entirety of my mutant powers. I can control air in a variety of ways, including its movement and temperature. Often I act as a living air conditioner or heater on Red X missions." She smiled again. "The flying part comes in handy, too."


Fred nodded, then sighed and looked out the window again. He didn't want to be ungracious, but this...yesterday had kinda taken it out of him, and the plane ride wasn't helping at all...


"I believe that I will return to my seat now," Crystal told Fred. "I doubt that it will be long before the flight attendants will come around to serve beverages, and it would be most impolite of me were I to remain in the aisle and block their way. I recommend that you attempt to sleep on the flight; it is a long flight, sleeping will help you pass the time, and when we arrive in Bosnia-Herzegovina it will already be daytime as the timezone there is six hours later than it is in New York."


"Yes, ma'am." Fred said, and grimaced as Crystal left. He was angry at
himself that he hadn't been able to carry on a proper conversation. With everything that happened with him yesterday...Fred sighed and leaned back, closed his eyes, and prepared himself for a long trip...