Rahne and Maya

[xp-wolfsbane.livejournal.com]

Rahne's a little nervous about being alone with Maya and, in an attempt to avoid it, manages to do the complete opposite. It ends well, except for Xavin's poor controller.

"Die, scum. DIE!" Maya crowed, watching the member of the enemy team fall on the TV screen as she pumped the controller in the air in victory before moving herself onward.

She'd been playing for about an hour now, and the steady repetitiveness of killing online sprites was beginning to calm the simmering rage that always seemed to burn just below the surface of her mood. She could even be called somewhat calm at the moment - an event in and of itself lately.

Out in the hallway, Rahne was hovering near the door to their shared room of suites. She hadn't realized Maya had been around - her senses were super neat but the hall and the room reeked of their smells because of the time they spent there. There hadn't been much to give her a heads up until the yelling. Which seemed to follow Maya around.

Rahne twisted the bottom of her shirt and thought about going somewhere else. But she wanted to go to her rooms! Just ... just because Maya was angry and scary most of the time didn't mean Rahne couldn't be in the same room. Right? Briefly, just until she got to her own rooms. And shut the door.

A deep breath and she slipped into the suite.

Maya had her implants turned on but the combination of the noise from the screen and her own voice made it impossible for her to hear Rahne's entrance to their shared suite - she continued to watch the screen, eyes tracking the fast paced FPS action. It seemed that the mike she was using modulated her voice, making it impossible to tell her gender simply by listening.

"Suck it, numbnuts!" she cried, pushing her sprite around the corner of a building and picking up a particularly valuable drop before another of the enemy team could grab it. She shot him to add further insult to injury and continued on around another corner.

What were numbnuts? Was that something she wanted to google but, ultimately, shouldn't? Maya yelled at the TV again and Rahne winced. She realized that she could escape to her room and the other teen would probably never even notice. That was probably for the best. It would certainly make her life a little easier and way less stressful.

Rahne sighed. But it was rude and mean to sneak through and not at least say hello. Grimacing slightly, she slammed the door a little harder than she normally would have so that Maya could hear it if she had her implants turned on. By the time the door was completely shut, she'd summed a hesitant smile.

Maya jumped, her mutant power launching the controller from her hand and putting her in a defensive stance before she'd even realised what was going on. There wasn't a lot she could do after that except shout an ineffectual warning for Rahne to get down and hope that her aim was off.

"Look out," Maya called.

Her aim was pretty spot on, unfortunately. Fortunately, something in the environment had alerted Rahne that something was going to happen. Maybe it was the sound of the air changing right before the controller was thrown at her head, maybe it was something else, but whatever it was, the teen did the only thing she could.

She dropped like a brick to the ground and wrapped her arms around her head as the controller it the door behind her and broke apart.

Well, Rahne thought, wondering why the carpet smelled so funny, at least she'd gotten Maya's attention?

Maya moved so fast you'd have thought she had a train to catch as she moved across the room to crouch at Rahne's side, reaching out hesitantly as if to touch the other girl before drawing her hand back in resignation.

"I didn't mean that," she said, eyeing the controller mournfully. Xavin was going to kill her, it was his console afterall and she'd only been borrowing it. "Um, sorry?"

Rahne peeked out from between her arms and slowly rolled over onto her back once she saw that Maya's hands were thankfully empty. "Nay worries," she said, the shakiness in her voice betraying her attempt at a casual response. Rahne quickly added, "I mean that! I totally get power issues, though..."

She sat up slowly and winced at the rug burn on her arms. "I didn't think yer powers did that?"

"Considering we don't really know _what_ my powers really do yet, I suppose they could do almost anything," Maya replied, offering Rahne a hand up. "Well, maybe not shooting fire from my eyes or turning into a penguin. Were you trying to get my attention for any particular reason?"

Gripping Maya's hand, Rahne let her help her up from the floor and she tried not to look at the controller or the door. "Oh, ah ..." Now she couldn't help but laugh a little. "I was trying not to startle ye. Um..." Rahne blushed but she was still laughing a little bit. "Whoops?"

"Having a power that makes me a hazard to people who try to catch my attention is a pain in the ass," Maya noted with a slight scowl. "Although, that Haller guy thinks he should be able to help me at least. You don't have to stick around if you don't want - I know I kinda freak you out."

Maya smiled a little at the last - she'd not exactly apologised to anyone for her behavior when she'd first arrived beyond Wade and Marie-Ange, and she probably wouldn't unless someone asked her directly for one. She was much happier simply modifying her behavior - as much as she could, then saying a lot of words that basically meant nothing.

Rahne instantly turned a bright red at Maya's words and she couldn't help but feel terrible. The other girl wasn't wrong - she did freak Rahne out. But Maya wasn't supposed to know that! "I'm ..." she started and then stopped, knowing that lying was a sin and, anyway, it wasn't like Maya hadn't figured it out.

So instead, she bent down and scooped up the probably busted controller. "I'm easy to read, aye?" Rahne asked with an embarrassed smiled. "Maybe ... maybe I can stay? I think if I get to know ye better, I'll be less, ah, freaked out?" She handed over the controller, wondering how terrible she'd feel if Maya said she didn't want to spend time together. A fine turnaround from Rahne's initial thoughts and feelings when coming in...

"Sure - gonna have to get one of the smart techie types to fix this thing anyway - you got anything you like wa tching, or you just wanna hang out? We could make some sandwiches maybe?"

Maya hadn't realised how peckish she was till Rahne had interrupted the game but now she'd drawn attention to it her stomach rumbled noticeably.

That got Rahne's attention and she perked up. "Aye, that'd be great! I haven't eaten in an entire hour and I'm so hungry! Do ye think they still have the roast beef? Or maybe turkey. Or..."