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[x-icarus.livejournal.com]

Still reeling from this weekend, Jay goes for a flight Monday and sees Terry outside. They talk about all sorts of stuff, from the "real world" to pacifist philosophy to Jay's first-rate looks. Yay, Jay actually has a friend :)


It had been a long weekend. Too long in some respects, too short in others. His mind was still jam-filled with thoughts that might have been better left unthought, so after classes on Monday, the first thing he did after discarding his books in his room was to strip off his shirt and go for a fly. Heedless of the cold, he took to the air easily and soared around for a while, trying to let his thoughts randomize.

Terry was doing much the same, albeit on the ground. She hummed an aria without putting much voice before it, mindful of the doctors’ injunction against any use of her power before they gave the okay. She didn’t seem to notice the weather though the wind had whipped color into her cheeks and was tossing her long loose curls about. Walking the paths around the school, kicking piles of leaves and often pausing just to stare blankly into space, she sought to shake the melancholy that had gripped her lately.

Jay passed overhead, and spotted the bright red hair even from so high up. Realizing that it belonged to Terry, he swooped down and landed a few feet away. His body was covered with a thin sheen of sweat from the exertion, and he curled his wings around his sides to keep the wind away. Going outside shirtless was not the smartest idea. "Heya, Terry."

“Hello, Jay.” Terry smiled automatically and flicked a glance over him. “Aren’t you cold?” Her accent was stronger than usual—had been for about a week—and so gave her question a teasing lilt.

"A bit, yeah," he admitted, a small smile growing on his face as he
picked up the accent. "But Ah like the cold. Makes the blood start runnin'. Plus it ain't none too comfortable ta fly with a shirt on. It always gets in the way of these dang things," he said, pointing to his wings.

“Mr. Worthington seems to manage.” Terry pointed out then shrugged. So long as he was comfortable, it didn’t really matter. “What has you flying this morning? Just enjoying the weather?”

"S'noisy up in here," Jay said dryly, tapping his temple. "Tryin' ta shut everythin' up so Ah can actually get stuff done today. And you?"

“’Bout the same. I went with Clarice to her father’s for Thanksgiving. Gave me some things to think about.” Not that that was all that was bothering Terry these days. But it was something she could talk about. “It’s an interesting holiday.”

"Ya'll aren't wantin' ta dye your skin purple are ya?" he teased. "Is her family all purple, too, or is she the only one lucky enough? And Ah hear ya 'bout the interestin'. Family is always a source of specialness." He emphasized the last word with an eyeroll.

Terry laughed. “No, they look like most people. Mostly. Her step-sisters look like those dolls you find in the pink aisle at the toy shop, actually. It’s a bit odd.” She shrugged, “You don’t get to choose who you share blood, unfortunately. Leaves you with some undesirable connections.”

"You're tellin' me," Jay remarked. "Ah've got a freakin' loony bin for relations and Ah swear this weekend was so retarded. Ah could think of a hundred or so things Ah'd rather've done."

“I was happy enough to be away from here.” Terry pushed her hair out of her face. “I needed the change of scene.”

"Ah can imagine. Anythin' in particular that's gettin' on your nerves?"

Terry shook her head, lying and not feeling particularly guilty about it. “Just everything. We can get so caught up in our little world here. It’s good to be reminded that there is more to life.”

"Ah know that's code for somethin', Terry, but Ah ain't quite sure what." Jay shrugged and started walking down the path Terry had started, nodding his head as an invite to join him. It was too cold just standing there.

She fell into step beside him, “Code? Nothing of the sort. I just mean that we forget that the mansion isn’t really how the world works.” She walked quickly, needing to take two steps for every one of his. “I’ve been here so long that it’s hard to remember what it’s like to fight for everything.”

Jay slowed down his pace so Terry could keep up. "No. Here when people die, they just blow up into balls of energy and we can still talk to 'em. Or they don't die at all, they just barely hold onta life and haveta be kept away from any sounds and most physical sensations. In real life, death is death and ain't nobody who can fix it." Yeah, he was bitter, but most people knew that by now.

Terry sighed in agreement. “Here crime means you were a victim or a hero and not that you should be in jail. That the worse you are the more mollycoddling you get. Here it’s only real death if you sacrifice yourself to get everyone else out.” She shrugged, “Like I said, it’s not real here.”

"Ah swear Ah'd run away in a heartbeat if it weren't for Mama," Jay said. "Ah can't stand it here sometimes, y'know? Ah don't like none of the people, 'cept you, of course, and a couple others. And Ah don't like being a mutie. If Mama weren't so dang set on me graduatin' from this here place, Ah'd've packed up a long time ago. Ah don't like this fake."

Terry smiled, pleased that he liked her. “Don’t be sorry you’re a mutant. There isn’t a bloody thing wrong with it and fuck all to anyone who says there is,” she said with great conviction. “Much as I hate how holier-than-thou they can be here, it’s still a good school. Weird as fuck but not a total loss.”

"Well, it ain't just any old school where ya can have freakin' Alison Blaire as your music teacher, y'know? And Ah ain't sorry that Ah'm a mutie." Jay couldn't even bring himself to say the word 'mutant,' as he had heard the epithet used much more often at home and thought it applied to him better. "Ah just don't like it. If this place has anythin' on the real world, it's that Ah don't haveta hide these monstrosities. But Ah think Ah'd give it up if Ah could have Ke . . . if Ah could have certain things in mah life back that Ah lost 'cuz of 'em."

“We all would. If it meant that Dr. Grey would be alive or Alison was all right, then I think we all would give it up. It’s neat that I can sing like I do but I could live without worrying that I’m going to shatter someone’s eardrums.” Terry spread her hands in an open shrug. “But we have to live with what we have.”

"Now you're just spoutin' Xavier's crap," Jay said none too fondly. Obviously, the school's philosophy hadn't yet sunk in. "Ah mean, Ah certainly ain't for that Magneto fella's idea 'bout killin' all the normals and that. But from what Ah've heard from X and the others, it just seems all so naive. People hate us for who we are, and we can't change that shit. It's a lot like bein' a faggot, actually."

“Or Irish.” Terry shook her head. “It’s not my problem if some lack-brained eejit won’t accept what I am.” Her encounter with just such an idiot still smarted. She’d spent a great deal of time cursing herself for letting him get to her. As a result, her tone was scathing and bitter. “We’re not going anywhere no matter how much they might want us to.”

"It will be your problem when they wake up one mornin' and decide they wanna kick the shit outta you." Jay was thinking about the Cabots now. Even after all this time and all the talking he did with people this weekend, it still hurt. If he got anything for this ordeal, it was a victim's complex.

“Or when they invade the mansion and shoot you in your bed?” Terry countered. “Should we just hide then, Jay? Be as non-offensive as possible and pray they leave us alone?”

"No, Ah know they ain't never gonna leave us alone. Ah really don't know what ta do in this world." Jay shrugged again, his shoulders sagging as if already defeated. "And Ah ain't sayin' that we should just bend over and let 'em do what they want with us. Ah guess Ah'm just sayin' that Ah don't see normals ever really acceptin' us no matter what we do. And Ah have no idea how we got onto this subject in the first place."

“Neither do I.” A little voice inside Terry’s head pointed out that it may have had something to do with her preoccupation with the topic. “I don’t know how to fix anything. But let’s talk about something else, all right? Alison is going to teach me how to play the guitar. She’s lending me Faith.”
"She is? That's cool. Ah think you'd make a great guitarist. Continuin' with the harp or givin' it up for the axe?"

“Continuing. I’ve been playing too long just to give it up.” She smiled. “Besides, I like the harp.”

"Guitarist, harpist, and one person harmony." Jay grinned at Terry. "Y'all don't need a band, do ya? You've got everythin' done on your own."

“I’m working on it. I want to try piano once I’ve got guitar down.” Terry tossed her head and mimed playing on keys. “Maybe I'll become a music teacher. Beats picking locks.”

"Naw, you've gotta go land yourself a record deal, Terry. Be the new Alison Blaire, 'cept Irish. Iffn you're all about standin' up the The Man, then music's your avenue. Start a new genre of mutant music." Wow, that actually sounded appealing. He'd meant it as a joke, but the idea wasn't that bad.

“Or I could do that. Want to be my back-up singers?” Terry grinned at him. “We’ll be two mutants against the world. All the kids who think it’s cool to rage against the system will love us.”

Jay raised an eyebrow and mock-glared at her. "Excuse me? Back-up singer? Joshua Travis Guthrie is nobody's back-up singer. We can do a duet, though. Or whatever we'd call ourselves given all our voices."

“Okay, but I get top billing.”

"No. Jay comes before Theresa."

“But Cassidy comes before Guthrie.” She batted her eyelashes at him, “Besides, ladies first.”

"If anythin', beauty should come first," Jay teased. "Sorry, darlin', but Ah beatcha by just a smidgen there."

She elbowed him in the ribs, “You should get your eyes checked, lad." She giggled, "Someone’s been lying to you about how pretty you are.”

"Ah do hope you aren't insinuatin' that Ah ain't pretty, 'cuz Ah can think of plenty of people who'd disagree with that. And unless we've got those funhouse mirror ya see at the fair, then Ah ain't bein' delusional."

“I’m saying you aren’t prettier than me. And I have plenty of people who would agree with that.” She flipped her hair dramatically and smirked at him. “Not that you aren’t pretty, in a farm-boy sort of way.”

Jay stopped and put his hands on his hips to give Terry a good long look at his bare torso. "This is a mite more than farm-boy pretty."

Terry faced him and gave him a long, slow look-over then shrugged. “You’re all right, I suppose. You’ll be prettier when you fill out a bit.”

"Ya mean if Ah get fat? Then you'll be prettier than me, and that ain't happenin'." Jay stuffed his hands in his pockets and continued walking. "Ah'm a perfect specimen, minus the feathers."

“I mean when you don’t look like a pole. If you grow up a bit and look like Mr. Worthington or your brother,” Terry blushed the tiniest bit as she mentioned Sam, “Then, aye, you’ll be pretty.”

The look of disgust on Jay's face wasn't fake. "Like Sam? Ugh, shoot me, please. He is not prettier than me, not by a long shot. Mr. Worthington, maybe, but definitely not Sam."

Terry turned a little redder. “Well, you wouldn’t think so seeing as he’s blood.” Time to change that topic. “My point is you’re too skinny to be really attractive. And I still get top billing.”

The blush was too pronounced to ignore. "Do ya really think he's good lookin'?" Jay asked, concerned. Over the fact that she thought Sam was more so than Jay, or just that she found him attractive at all, he wasn't entirely sure of himself. "It's not like Ah'm one of those heroin chic models. Ah just got a crazy metabolism so Ah don't gain much weight."

“I’m not saying I have a crush on him or anything!” Terry protested, not that he’d even implied it. “But he has a nice body. Easy enough to notice that during the summer. You’ll get there in a few years, I’ll bet. You’re still just a boy.”

"I hope you know how insultin' that just was," Jay said, half-teasing. "Really. It hurt. Ouch."

“I’d offer to kiss it better but I know I’m not your type.” Terry laughed. “So you’ll have to recover all on your own.”

Jay laughed along with her. A characteristically short laugh, because he wasn't into drawing out too much mirth, but a laugh nonetheless. "S'a good thing that Ah heal fast, then. Hmm, Ah guess bein' a mutie isn't so bad afterall."

“It does have its upsides.” Terry agreed. “It’s getting a mite chilly. We should head in. Or at least find you a shirt.”

"Inside. Ah think Ah'm in need of a shower before Ah attack that mountain of textbooks of mah desk. Thanks for the talk, Terry."

“Anytime, Jay.” She hugged him impulsively then beamed up at him. “We’ll fight about billing later.”

"There's nuthin' ta fight about," he said calmly, taken aback by the hug but returning it. "Ah get top."

“In your dreams.”