Crystal - Seeking Help

[elementalista]

Crystal was new to America and new to New York. The only reason she was here was because, well, she didn't know what else to do.

Being a mutant was so, so hard. The situation for mutants was worse where she was from - she was legitimately afraid for her life - but in New York, some mutants lived and loved openly. Crystal wanted to do that. She wanted to be a person.

Online, she had heard about a kind of outreach sanctuary run by young mutants in the heart of the city. All the talk was very vague (it had to be, to protect the place and everyone who might use it), but everyone she spoke to, even in veiled terms, told Crystal that the people there could help her build a life she could love, if she just went there.

So she went.

She hoped that once her family saw that this wasn't futile, they would join her. Even though right now they didn't believe - believing she was more or less signing a death sentence.

But Crystal had to hope for a better life.

The building was nondescript, but Crystal was sure, somehow, that she had the right address.

She walked in, quietly, taking note of all available exit points, just in case.

Comments

[imperfectstorm]

Oh man. Johnny really, really hated it when girls cried. It made him feel angry and helpless and sad. He put his arm around Crystal's shoulders and squeezed gently. "We've got you now, it's going to be okay. We've got you."

[elementalista]

She nodded, wiping at her eyes with a finger. "I'm sorry, yes. Thank you. I'm usually more composed." But she still leaned into that arm (what? he was cute).

[imperfectstorm]

"You don't have to apologize. I cry more when Ben steps on my toe." True statement. Johnny kept his arm around her as they walked the remaining short distance to his apartment. Honestly, it probably made it seem like Johnny was bringing home another conquest and that was good for keeping them from really being noticed.

[elementalista]

Okay, here was a fun way to cheer herself up. Lightly, as they walked, she 'misplaced' her foot, stepping on Johnny's toes. "Oh no!"

[imperfectstorm]

Johnny laughed, glad she'd recovered enough to joke around. "Luckily you weigh a lot, lot less than Ben does." It occurred to him that he might want to give her the heads up about him. Just because someone was from an entirely family of mutants didn't mean seeing a huge guy made of rock wasn't startling. "Have you ever seen pictures of Mount Rushmore? That's Ben, basically. Only less presidential."

[elementalista]

Crystal laughed, too, glad he'd recognized the joke. "Mount Rushmore? The granite mountain with faces? That isn't good for the rock, you know, those carvings." Crystal was intimately acquainted with all the elements. She liked granite.

[imperfectstorm]

"Well Ben had a face before it was made of rock, so it's not his fault." Johnny grinned and pointed to the building they were approaching. "This is it. We can grab some clothes from Tabby for you if she's home. You're close to the same size, I think." Otherwise he was bound to have a couple things of Dom's lying around until they could raid Tabby's closet.

[elementalista]

"I like rocks," Crystal said, with a small smile. "So I will probably like him. And you, you're made of fire?" Clothes weren't as important. Well, they were, but now Crystal was curious about Johnny.

[imperfectstorm]

"He's pretty likable," Johnny admitted, leading her upstairs. He let them into his apartment, closing the door behind them but not locking it again. He'd text Tabby, see if she was home and could bring over some stuff for Crystal. "Basically, yeah. I can change my whole body into low level plasma."

[elementalista]

"You're likable too," Crystal replied, because really Johnny is likable; she was safer, more comfortable, by the minute. That was not something she'd expected. "What does it feel like?"

[imperfectstorm]

"Being likable or being made of fire?" he asked, though he knew which one she actually meant. "And do you eat pizza? If you do, I will order one."

[elementalista]

"Being made of fire." No one ever talked about how it felt, in her experience. "I do eat pizza." And actually, she was really hungry.

[imperfectstorm]

"It's...I dunno. It's weird. I still feel things, but I also don't? I mean, I don't have nerves anymore when I'm a Johnny-shaped pool of plasma, right? But I can still tell what's me and what's not me." He occasionally looked down at his phone as he ordered pizza and texted Tabby, but his focus was really on Crystal. "Flying feels awesome, though."

[elementalista]

A flying fireball. That would be really something to see. But also, who would ever dare? "You fly? But people would see you..."

[imperfectstorm]

"Not often." Which was a major disappointment. "Not in the city, anyway. We've taken trips out to pretty isolated places to try stuff out, though." Like the time they watched Tabby blow a bunch of stuff while they all yelled 'FOR SCIENCE!'

[elementalista]

"You and your friends? Your life sounds..." not awful?

[imperfectstorm]

"Super nerdy?" he offered with a grin. "And yeah. My friends basically are my family, so. Family vacations."

[elementalista]

"Does nerdy mean something I don't know? Nerd is the, studious insult? Because this sounds fun." And free.

[imperfectstorm]

"It is fun. And a little insane. And now you're part of the madness. Sorry?" So not sorry.

[elementalista]

"I'm not sorry." Finally, Crystal let herself look around a little, relaxing into the space. "This is where you live?"

[imperfectstorm]

"This is where I live. Um, lemme show you your room, so you can crash whenever." The apartment was two bedrooms separated by a larger common room with a kitchen and a bathroom off to one side. Johnny led her to the bedroom that was further from the bathroom and pushed the door all the way open so she could go inside. "Anything in the dresser is yours to use. There's toiletries and stuff in the top drawer, and some clothes in the others. If nothing fits, let me know and I can lend you a shirt and shorts to sleep in until we can get you stuff of your own."

[elementalista]

Johnny's generosity was overwhelming. He had been so kind and immediately giving. He was feeding Crystal, giving her a place to stay - in his own home! - and thought she mattered. He was taking care of her when she needed it most. Impulsively, Crystal leaned over and kissed his cheek. "I think you're my guardian angel."