xp_logs | Lex and Crystal - After the Party

(Slightly backdated.) In the early hours of the morning after Lex's adult-only party, Crystal and Lex sit on the dock and talk. Both of them have had quite a bit to drink, leading to unexpected questions, conversations, and physical closeness that probably wouldn't have happened otherwise.

The party had been a huge success, many of the residents had made an appearance and no wanton damage had been caused. In Lex's mind it was about as good as he could ever expect from a birthday. After everyone had started to turn in he had retreated to the edge of the docks to finish another beer and relax after playing host. He loved doing things for others, which is why he didn't care that he was the one running the festivities, but he still needed to unwind when it was all over.

"Damn, I'm glad that there are times when all I have to worry about is how I can be myself." He spoke to nobody in particular, just voicing his opinions to the air. It could have been the amount of beer in him, but he felt that somehow he was talking to someone other than himself.

"You worry about how you can be yourself?" Crystal asked quizzically, a glass of wine in her hand. Attilan was known for its wine, not beer, and the former tended to be her beverage of choice. Cocktails were good, too.

"Only every day," he said with a laugh, which was cut short by a hiccup. "Though especially on my birthday. This day is supposed to be special, but it always seems to cause me to wonder who I am and what I have done." He rose his bottle and then looked up at Crystal, patting the docks next to him in invitation.

Crystal accepted the invitation and sat down next to Lex. "The idea of my birthday is a very confusing matter," she informed him, "and my actual date of birth no longer reflects my true chronological age. I should be twenty, just as Laurie is, but I am twenty-three, and so much has happened during that time. I know who I am and what I have done, too, and I have done a lot of things."

"You're twenty-three, but you were born twenty years ago?" Lex, in his inebriation, couldn't begin to question that idea. "Sounds pretty bad to me. Especially at your age, I'm sure there are tons of people who mind that happening later in life, but here and now?" What a hilarious concept, to be of two ages.He could have skipped his teen years and been fine, especially since he went directly into the military after high school, but he couldn't imagine what it must be like for Crystal.

"I was born on September 8 of 1990," Crystal explained, "but several years ago my island home was transported to another dimension, and time moved faster there. We spent approximately two-and-a-half years there while only a little over six weeks passed for everyone else. Therefore, as far as this world is concerned, I was born twenty years ago, but I have actually lived for twenty-three years. I have a different legal birthdate as a result; February 7, 1988." She'd mentioned the subject of her age and what happened to Attilan multiple times on the journal, but she knew that not everyone paid attention to and read every journal post and subsequent replies. She wondered if anyone actually read everything that was posted publicly for all to read.

Now that's an interesting way to age. "My first thought was another dimension, but I didn't think it was possible. I suppose I should be open to the possibility as I now know that magic is real, and mutations can cause almost any known effect - both physical and temporal." He leaned against a post and looked at her again, in the flickering lights behind them she looked much older than he remembered. He had to admit that he couldn't wrap his head around the thought, but could easily imagine the consequences of coming back to a world where things have changed so drastically you can't help but feel lost. "I can't imagine what that would have been like for you, but let me assure you that I'm glad you came back. Otherwise, I'd be sitting here drinking alone, over-analyzing my life."

"It is possible, yes, definitely possible," Crystal said. It was such a big factor in her life that it tended to take her by surprise when people didn't know about it. Island didn't disappear and reappear from the world every day and there had been news reports and various theories on what had happened both while Attilan was "away" and after it reappeared. "And magic... yes, that can do all sorts of things, and there is nothing that one can do stop it." Months had passed since her personal experience with being on the wrong side of magic, but it still haunted her. Crystal did not like the feeling of being helpless, and that was exactly what she had been while trapped in the cage by Nico's parents.

"Do you want to talk about your life?" she asked. "I can be a very good listener."

"Honestly, I've been talking about my life for almost two years and I seem to be out of things to say. I could tell you how I was a soldier, how being here is difficult for me because I can't use the skills I've honed for almost half my life. Then there's the more recent things that have happened: being reprimanded to the Professor's custody, losing my powers, losing Vee." He paused when he said the last, it still hurt to admit it. "So, unless you are interested in anything particular I'd rather sit here with the beautiful woman I have for company and listen to her melodic voice." The alcohol in him made him happy to simply enjoy the beauty of the woman in front of him, even if he had no intention of it going beyond that. The fact that he could tell her made him realize that he was finally coming to a better place.

"'Melodic voice'? I believe that you have had a lot of beer," Crystal told Lex. "And I think that I have had a lot of wine. I like wine. And champagne. Which is wine, and very bubbly." There were several things she thought of to ask, but even with all of the alcohol in her system, she wasn't sure about voicing her questions.

Lex laughed a little, and leaned forward. "I may be drunk, but that doesn't mean I'm hearing impaired. You sound positively wonderful." He meant every word of it, even if he didn't know what was making him so happy. "And I can't say wine is my favorite but I do enjoy a glass when paired with the right food." He leaned forward a little and smiled brightly, it was good not to be alone.

"I do?" Crystal mused out loud. He had mentioned before that she was beautiful, which definitely not something she had never heard from people before. It was true, of course. It wasn't something she bragged about, but the truth was the truth. "I have received numerous compliments from many people over the years, but it is not usually my voice which is praised. I do not believe that I have a bad voice, but do you really find it wonderful?"

He looked at her for a moment, staring at her and wondering how to respond her question. He really did think her voice was beautiful, but it wasn't something easy to explain. So, he simply smiled and leaned in a little closer. "Of course, there is something about it that is simply brilliant. And yes, I understand that I am drunk but that doesn't make it any less true. And I'm sure that you've deserved every one of your compliments, though I'm sure they did little to persuade you." He had finished his beer and was debating whether or not he should get up to get another. He decided that he was enjoying her company too much to care that he didn't have any more, he didn't need it.

"When I know that a particular compliment is true, then I do not need to be persuaded as to its accuracy," Crystal said. "When it is not true, then no matter how convincing the person tries to be, I will be unable to be persuaded that it is true. It is only when the compliment is something that I am not sure about that there is a question about it, but of course people do have different opinions, yes? For example, the dress that I am wearing right now, some people might like it but others might not. Two people could tell me that it is pretty, but it is possible that only one of them actually means it and the other person is only saying it to be nice. But with that, as long as I like what I am wearing, that is what is important."

"That's the right way to think about it, I personally enjoy that dress on you but I won't waste words convincing you of something you already know." He was beaming slightly as he spoke and realized that he felt like he wanted to kiss her, however, he didn't know if it was the right thing to do so he simply lingered near her. "I personally never compliment a woman unless I really mean it, there's too much power in words and even more power in actions."

Crystal nodded, smiling. "Yes, that is a good way to do it. Honesty should be the way to go, but no everyone feels that way, and there are times in social situations where it would be considered impolite to tell the truth. White lies, considered to be harmless, although sometimes even such a statement can lead into something more. Someone is at a dinner party and compliments the host on a particular dish despite not having found the food appealing at all. That person might keep being given that dish year after year because the host believes it to be a favorite. Now what can the person say after claiming to find the food delicious?"

"There's nothing you can really say except that your palette has changed, and that is something very tenuous." He found himself chuckling a little at her comment, as he had seen people do that to him several times when he was in the military because his comrades loved having someone to cook - even if they didn't always like his choice in dishes. Hovering close to her, without encroaching on her personal space Lex realized that as they were talking he had moved in for a kiss without thinking about it. Crystal was beautiful, and a kiss might be harmless, but knowing his own state of mind he decided to do something he'd never done before.

"May I kiss you?" he asked with a sincere interest, backing up slightly in case she thought he was trying to be a lecherous drunk.

Crystal had been glancing at her now sadly empty glass and she paused for a moment before looking back at Lex, confused. "Kiss me? Where? On my hand?" That didn't seem to make too much sense, but he had a lot of beer and she had more than a couple of glasses of wine tonight. There was an alternative idea to what he was asking, but that also didn't make much sense to Crystal at the moment. Although, if he meant that, it was rather sort of sweet that he was asking rather than just making a move, which was a really good idea on his part.

"Um, I was thinking a bit higher up than that.. but that's probably more appropriate." He smiled and gently held out his hand for her to take, so that he could kiss it like proper gentleman. His thoughts were awash and he really thought that he should probably retreat before he made a complete ass of himself, but instead he simply waited to take her hand in his and kiss it gently.

Crystal had been planning on offering her hand to Lex, but he'd made the first move, so she placed her hand in his. He hadn't just reached out and taken her hand, too. Yes, of course he hadn't meant her hand for a kiss, but she was far more used to that particular type of kiss than she was with the kind he had actually meant. A kiss on the hand might not be a common practice for most people, but it was one still practiced nevertheless. And while it might be true that kissing on the lips was taken lightly as a common practice by many people, Crystal hadn't received her first real kiss until she was one month away from turning twenty, and three years later she had still only kissed one man.

Bringing her hand to his lips he leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss just above the knuckles. He realized he had no idea what the proper etiquette for such an action and so he let his lips linger for a moment before withdrawing them lightly. He was pleased with his course, and wondered how he'd negotiated it without making a complete fool of himself. "Well, at the risk of being considered a complete flatterer I have to admit that your skin is pleasantly soft to the touch. Thank you for letting me kiss you." He then leaned back against the post of the dock with his shoulders relaxed. There weren't many moments as simple for him as this one, nor as tranquil, and he wanted to make it last.

Crystal smiled, then looked at her empty glass again. "Thank you for asking first, even though a kiss on the hand was not what you meant. Especially because of it, I suppose. Not everyone acts like a true gentleman. Some people just do not respect the fact that people have different customs and beliefs. Kissing might not be regarded as a... a big thing by many people, but to me it is not something to be taken lightly. I have not had much experience with either kissing or dating."

Lex noticed Crystal eying her empty glass and though that it was time for another round. He wished he had telekinetic powers for a moment, to grab the cooler and bring it over to him, but knew that it would probably end up in the lake. That would be a waste of good alcohol. "My pleasure," he said, wondering why she was so inexperienced. He decided that she must not want a relationship, or was very particular about who she let herself be involved with. As a princess she probably had to be picky. "So, the question I suppose is..." He trailed off for a moment to figure out exactly what to say, "would you care to elaborate, possibly over another round?"

Crystal didn't have telekinetic powers, but the ones she did have had uses that could be mistaken for telekinesis. "Another round would be wonderful," she said. After a slight test to determine the weight of the cooler, she moved it over to them. The landing might not have been perfect, but the cooler and its contents stayed safely on the dock rather than winding up in the middle of the lake. "I have only dated one person," she said simply. "I was in a relationship with Forge for two years, and he was the first man to kiss me. Some people at clubs have expressed interest of a physical nature, but I do not go for those sorts of random encounters. I want to be in a relationship where being involved with someone means something; I do not want to be with a different person every night." She lowered her voice to a whisper even though no one else was around. "That would be scandalous!"

Lex couldn't help himself, he let out a hearty chuckle as he reached in for the bottle of wine to pour her another drink. "Yes, yes it would. However, I'm sure that you would be able to keep any man you wanted for more than a night." He winked, as the blood red liquid poured into her glass. He was very careful not to spill any, he knew he would feel terrible for ruining such a nice dress. Then he realized what she had said, "Forge, eh, I remember him as being a little off-standish but I assume that's because I'm not a real technopath and I probably bugged him about making me some toys to train my powers with. I'd still like to see some of them get made if possible."

After he'd finished pouring her glass Lex used the retrieval of his own drink as an excuse to move closer to Crystal. He closed the lid of the cooler and leaned against it, leaving his arms wide in a very inviting position. If she wanted to move closer he would definitely let her, but he knew that his position looked more like a man who was relaxing than one who was inviting a beautiful woman to join in a friendly embrace. "Neat trick, by the way, I remember your file saying that you manipulate air particles. Do you think you could excite the air above the lake a little to get some electricity built up? I'd love to show you a trick I just came up with."

"I can do a lot of things with my gifts!" Crystal announced proudly. "Some aspects are not particularly useful, and as some are more useful than others I tend to focus on those, but I have always liked learning to do new things with my ability. I can even create lightning, although I do not do this very often as I do not usually have a use for it." Talking about or making lightning reminded her of using it against Logan years ago and how she had felt after her talk with Scott. Of course, she'd also messed around with his ability to breathe, and that she had done to people after that.

Crystal took a sip from her newly filled glass, then regarded Lex with a mixture of amusement and concern. "You realize the last time we used our powers together we both suffered from a loss of powers, do you not? I spent nearly two weeks in the Medlab, remaining unconscious until my powers returned. You do not have any fears associated with trying this trick?"

A shiver ran down Lex's spine, in all honesty he didn't remember that it was Crystal who had allowed him to create such a massive EMP. The thought of knocking his powers out again did scare him, but he felt that he could handle this situation since it would be on a much smaller scale. "Honestly, I'm terrified. I lost my powers for almost a 8 months, up until earlier this year, but that won't stop me from testing my limits. I feel confident that we can handle just a little bit of excitement, I mean I'm not going to try to knock out New York's power grid so I think I can handle it." For some strange reason he was perfectly comfortable with what he was about to do. He wondered if Crystal had any idea what he was going to attempt. "I'm sorry that you were affected so much last time," his voice was perfectly sincere, "if you don't want to do it we don't have to."

"Oh, it is fine," Crystal assured him. "There are only the two of us this time, and last time we combined the powers of four mutants together, and we were attempting to do much more than whatever it is we are about to try to do now, whatever that is. As long as we leave the docks and buildings undamaged, it should be fine. With all of the work that has been going on recently, I am fairly certain that people would frown about the destruction of the boathouse."

"No destruction, cross my heart." He spoke as he lifted the bottle in a salute, "Now if you would excite a small ball of air about 3 meters in diameter above the lake I will show you the results of a theory I just came up tonight while sitting here looking at your beautiful face." He didn't bother to explain that it had come as an epiphany when he had told her that she could keep any guy she wanted, it would be too difficult to explain the way it connected in his mind. He would simply show her. "Also, if you're not immune to electricity you might want to move a little closer to me so I can extend my natural protection to you."

"I cannot say that I have ever placed myself in a situation where I would find out whether or not I am immune to the effects of electricity," Crystal said with a laugh, "and I suppose that tonight should change that." When it was up, her air shield was able to form a protective barrier between herself and whatever it was that would otherwise cause her harm, but she did not walk or fly around with walls of air surrounding her at all times, and if Lex could keep her from danger it seemed silly to try to set one up, especially when she'd be using her powers to interact with his. She scooted a bit closer to him. "Is that close enough? I do not know how far your reach is."

"Skin to skin contact is the best way though I could probably try to make a bubble if you're more comfortable with that." He smiled, he was being honest. He knew that he wasn't immune to electrical feedback and that he more or less used his own electromagnetic charge to insulate his body from unwanted shock. It was like wearing an invisible layer of rubber, except that it wouldn't ground him and if he caught feedback it could disrupt the field and affect him. He closed his eyes briefly and attempted to push the field away from him while maintaining it's stability, he could get it to go about a foot, but then it became unstable. He'd have to experiment on that in his own time. "Probably better the closer you are to me, honestly."

Crystal nodded and moved closer until their bodies touched. While she was not one of the mansion residents who couldn't touch someone without hurting them, she wasn't into the random touching that so many people seemed to be into. However, she wasn't entirely against the idea of any sort of contact, she just didn't seek it out or appreciate someone touching her without any sort of warning. Lex had given warning, both now and when he said he wanted to kiss her, so physical contact wasn't an issue, and there was a valid reason for it right now. She looked up at the open space above the lake, selected a spot, and carried out Lex's request. "There," she said, pointing to the area.

"This is going to tingle a bit," he said. He tuned her electromagnetic field slowly, and when he was sure that she was safe he turned his attention to the area she was pointing to. He could sense the charged area, the system of excited particles, and molded it to be a perfect sphere. He polarized the outside to make sure the electricity would stay within it and then gently pointed to the area. "Is that it?"

The area of charged air began to glow softly, shimmering with a light that materialized from inside of it. It was like staring at bottled lightning, except that Lex was keeping the amount of energy in the system low so that they could watch it without any physical discomfort.

Crystal felt energy wash over her as Lex extended the reach of his "natural protection" to include her. This was very different from when she included others in the safety of her air shields; people sensitive to changes in the air might be aware that a change had been made, but people on the inside didn't feel any different then they had before. Of course, they were protected by the air walls, not the actual space that they were standing in, and here she was actually feeling the actual use of Lex's powers. Looking at the light, she smiled. "It is very beautiful."

As soon as Lex knew that he could contain the energy he began to experiment with it, flashes of color danced around the ball. They started as indistinguishable detonations of color, but slowly transformed into shapes within the mass. It was as if he had created two separate elements that were chasing one another around the inside of the ball. He imagined it to be like the motorcycles that they put inside of a giant mesh cage, and it gave him an idea: could he split the ball with a lighting bolt and let the energy wash out in an explosion of color. Not without risking her life, or the boathouse, he admitted to himself. So he kept up the display occasionally taking his eyes off his work to see how Crystal was reacting to the show.

If Crystal had stopped to think about it, she might have reconsidered the position she currently found herself in. But at the moment she was not thinking as clearly as she usually did, and she was thinking more about the pretty lights in the sky than she was about the fact that she was basically cuddled up next to Lex. And so she just sat there, watching the pretty colors move this way and that.

Lex felt very comfortable, sitting with Crystal and he was content making the colors dance and morph within his ball. He thought about moving his hand to her shoulder once, but decided that he was better than that. If she had wanted to be close to him, truly close, she would have been able to do so. He was perfectly content just being himself, and letting her enjoy the display. He looked over at her and smiled, friendship could be such a sweet thing.