Music and a Book Keeps You Safe from Drama

[NightShade]

Ivy sat in her room, leaning against the headboard of her bed with a book in her hands and music playing softly. She had not been completely oblivious to what had happened down the hall. It was loud enough that she had heard muffled screaming and could hear better the sound of books dropping in the hall. It had alerted her that something big enough was happening that there was some sort of intervention since she was sure she had heard Ian's voice, but she quelled the curiosity that wanted to go see what had happened. It was quieter now though, so things seemed to be okay. Her interest was able to slip back into her book, so things were alright again, although she still couldn't help but wonder about the school sometimes.

Ivy had never really been one of those people who jumped into things with the rest of the school or really ever got involved with big hullabaloos and all the drama. She was more of a watcher, always on the side, quietly looking on and watching everyone else as they did things. She formed her own opinions of people based on her observations, but she never really shared them. Although she did have some friends and did talk to them, it'd never really been more than that, maybe save for Ricki since she was trying to crack Ivy's shell. When she thought about what she was pretty sure she just heard over her music, she wondered why there were so many people in the school with so many problems. It was high school, yes, and that merited plenty of drama, but it seemed so much more magnified than in normal high school. It was sometimes very tedious, even to just watch.

Shaking her head slightly, Ivy looked out her window and glanced around at the scenery outside it. It seemed like a nice day outside, but it was rather chaotic inside. I guess some things will never change in this school. I'm glad I stay out of it, she thought to herself with a small sigh, sometimes grateful that she was too shy to involve herself with the others. While she normally thought of her shyness as a great big curse that stopped her from doing things she wanted to do, she sometimes appreciated that it kept her from doing other things, including getting caught up in the drama directly. She sighed again and looked back at her book, turning the page as she continued her reading.

A knocking, however, paused her from reading the next page and she sighed, laying her book so that her page was saved before she got up. She hopped off her bed and went to the door, opening it to see Ian there. She gave him a small smile. "Hey Ian, what's up? Wanna come in?" she asked, stepping out of the way so he could come in if he wanted.

[Diesel]

"Hey Ivy babe," Ian said coming right in without hesitation. Her room looked pretty much like a library, but it didn't bug him. He walked right to the bed and made himself comfortable. Because of his healing factor, he wasn't worried about getting poisoned touching her or something that her poison might have gotten on. He felt bad that she kept herself to herself so much cause she was afraid to hurt others with her power, so he didn't mind stopping by and chilling with her.

"Okay so I got my rough draft of the history paper I been working on, and I'm almost finished with the math stuff, but I think I'm gonna wait till Spitfire gets home and have her check it over for me real quick. She does math for fun, you know?" Ian said handing Ivy his paper that he typed up while shaking his head at the absurd idea of doing math for fun. "Oh yea and can you check the astronomy chart thing? It's due next week and I don't know if I wrote the data stuff in right. Man I hate that stuff." He scowled at the papers and made himself comfortable on Ivy's bed.

"You were reading again huh babe? You know, there IS a life outside of books ya know," Ian said picking up a book and sneezing, wondering if he caught some of that poison stuff. Well if he did, he'd get over it quickly enough. "You ever plan on joining the rest of us and stuff?"

[NightShade]

Ivy giggled slightly, looking off to the side as she answered. "I guess...I don't know. Maybe. What are you guys planning to do later?" she asked, thinking it might not be so bad if she joined the others in doing something. It wasn't that she didn't want to join them for the sake of staying out of drama, but she didn't want to accidentally hurt them. Even with Ian, she often kept forgetting he could heal even if he did get poisoned, and it made her keep her safe distance from even him, but when she did remember, she still kept that distance, just in case.

She smiled slightly as Ian made himself comfortable on her bed and laughed a little, stepping over to sit on the edge as she looked over his paper, sifting through it quickly and taking note of some of the things he had to fix. Other than some small grammatical errors and a slight slip on a few facts, it was pretty good. She looked over it again to make sure and then turned towards Ian.

"So, overall, your paper's pretty good. I just noticed some grammatical errors and you might want to double-check one or two of these facts," Ivy said, leaning slightly forward so Ian could see where she was pointing to on his paper, but she kept cautiously away from him in case she were to cough or sneeze or accidentally touch him. The poison that had started to seep in its barely-there green tint was hidden by the long sleeve of her hoodie and it hadn't reached her fingers, so though she was weary, she thought she would be alright getting away with touching his paper without poisoning it.

"I'd make things easy for you by telling you the right facts, but I'll just point you to the right pages," she said with a small laugh, hopping off her bed to get her history textbook. She flipped to the right page and pointed to them. "Then fix up your grammar some, and then you'll be golden. Let's have a look at the astronomy chart next?" she asked, looking at the pile of papers Ian had brought in and looked to see which in that mess was it. She thought she spotted it, but she'd let him get it instead. She didn't think it was alright to just go in and grab something like that, and she didn't mind waiting. And now that Ian was there, her curiosity was raised again.

"Um," Ivy asked as she handed him back his paper and waited to see the astronomy work, "Can I ask what happened out there? I heard some stuff but I didn't want to get involved....if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine though," she said, speaking somewhat fast because she was slightly nervous about asking. She didn't like bringing down people's moods and making them sad or mad by asking about something that would have that effect. If it bothered Ian to talk about it, she wouldn't press him to know more. She sat back down at the edge of her bed and looked off to the floor near Ian, looking slightly nervous as she waited to see how he would answer.

[Diesel]

Ian had groaned at the fact that he had to look through the books to recheck some stupid fact. Unlike Gavin though, he didn't argue and try and negotiate Ivy doing it for him. He did look up from the 'fact checking' when she asked him about the argument out there. "Ah don't worry about it babe, it was just some shit going down with Frostbite. She ruined her roommate's things and then they got in a fight. I just finally got to lay it into her, which I haven't done before but man she's just acting unreal," he said shaking his head softly. Even though he said he'd stop feeling bad for her, the truth is he couldn't.

Ian saw where she was heading toward and he didn't think she'd find it as welcoming as she hoped. There was no way the Paragons were gonna let her stay on the team, and he knew Riker would cause an uproar if they tried to put her on the New Mutants. He felt bad that it would end badly and that it even had to come to this, but he couldn't dwell on it anymore, it was like they said, she made her bed now she has to lie in it. "It was just a whole bunch of drama. I mean I'm glad it ain't within our team anymore, cause let's face it that was just awkward but still you know?" Ian sighed and finishing making the corrections on his paper that he'd type in later.

"I don't know what happened with our team and all, but gotta make the best of it. We got that new girl Maddy now, oh and Jocelyn! You met her yet Ivy babe? She's mad cool. There," he said holding up the corrections he marked for her approval. "Now check the chart thing would ya babe? I want it over with and stuff, since you know Frost is gonna make us do more shit too for class once she decides to. It's taking forever to get through A Tale of Two Cities. I hate that book," Ian muttered the last part and huffed slightly at the thought.

[NightShade]

Ivy laughed quietly at Ian as he complained about the book Miss Frost had assigned to them. "It's not that bad, you just have to pay a little attention to what you're reading is all. But even still I'll admit it's not one of my favorite books, and that's saying something," she said with another small laugh.

She stopped reaching for the astronomy chart when Ian showed her the corrections he had made to his paper, and she looked them over quickly, pushing up her glasses slightly before giving him a smile and a nod. "You're good with that now. I like how you make it easy for me to correct stuff, Gavin makes it hard to help him since he doesn't wanna do it himself, but I'm tough," she said, playfully making a fist and making what she thought was a tough face. She laughed at herself before shaking her head and reaching over to pluck the astronomy chart from Ian's pile of papers, assuming that since he had wanted it over with that it was alright to just take.

She then looked it over, biting her lip slightly as she looked to make sure things were good, although she thought about the brief description Ian had given her about what had just happened. Ivy had never really dealt with Lorelai, even when she was on the team, but she just seemed to have a lot of problems and she noticed it looked as if it still bothered Ian in the way he had spoken.

Ivy had heard from enough people what had been happening the past few days and she was aware of the problems she was the root of within the team, and she had even watched what happened the day before at the cookout. It was a very safe thing to say that Lorelai was not someone who she would be dealing with, but what she didn't fully understand was why she was like she was. The day she had come to the school she had seemed different, and just seemed to get worse. Alas, Ivy knew she was someone she ought not to dwell on, so she shook off the thoughts and focused on the chart.

"Let me compare this one to mine. I'm not saying I'm totally right with it, but I did get what we were supposed to do with it," Ivy said, hopping off her bed again and dug into her backpack where she had last left it. It was in the right folder, so she found it quickly and compared the two, seeing that things actually matched up pretty well. When she finished, she slid it back into its place and went back to sit on the edge of her bed, ever keeping a safe distance. "Well, you're on the right track with it, so keep doing what you're doing and you should be good," she said with a smile, holding out the chart for him to take back as she thought of the new additions to their team. She knew about Maddy because she had seen her the day before. She seemed pretty cool, and so had Jocelyn. She was so bold, something Ivy sometimes wished she was.

"Jocelyn's the blue girl, right? She's really pretty. I haven't met her per se, but I saw her in English class. She's so bold to have gone up to the Hellions like she had, I almost wish I was brave enough to do that. Or brave enough to do anything, really," Ivy said with a shy laugh as she tucked a lock of her red hair behind her ear, thinking about how much of an entrance she had made and how noticeable she was for it. Ivy hoped that someday she'd move away from her shyness, although it was so much easier said than done.

[Diesel]

"Hey," Ian nudged Ivy gently with his foot since he was now just laying on her bed and chilling out. "Don't talk like that babe. You don't give yourself enough credit you know? Just cause you don't jump in the line of fire and save kittens from burning building don't mean you ain't got no courage. You came here didn't you? It's just as dangerous to come here as it is to stay out there where the world hates mutants, but you chose to come here and learn insteada stayin' out there and still hiding and stuff. That takes a lotta guts babe," he said with a slight smile at her. He didn't like any of his friends thinking less of themselves than what they really were, and he knew that there was some solid stuff to Ivy that she just didn't give herself credit for.

Ian sat up in the bad and blinked for a minute, pretty positive that he got some of her poison on him at this point since he was getting hot and a little dizzy. It wasn't that bad though, he had a feeling his healing factor was getting used to Ivy's poison, cause it seemed like every time he recovered faster and faster. He didn't wanna let Ivy know that the poison got to him cause he knew that it would hurt her feelings, so he tried to make himself look as normal as possible.

"Thanks for looking my stuff over for me babe, I'll email my paper tonight to double check it and stuff. Sound good?" Ian grinned at her and stood up, going over to her window and throwing it open to let the fresh air in. "Man it's hot in here babe, I don't know how you deal with it." He chuckled trying to play it off and everything on why he was sweating a little bit before he moved to sit back on the bed. "So everything's good then? Awesome! I'll bring it back before it's due so I don't screw up. We got any other assignment that I totally forgot about or are we good? I suck at these things, it's probably why I should write things down," Ian said with a silly grin as he felt his healing factor kicking in big time.

[NightShade]

"I think you're good," Ivy said with a laugh at Ian's grin, giving him a small smile. "I'm sure you'll be fine. You have the right idea with the chart and if you keep it up, you won't even need to have me double-check it," she said, trying to sound encouraging, but laughed again. "You really should get a little agenda book though, I know I'm good for knowing the assignments, but what if I'm not around? What will you do without me?" she asked, joking for the most part and laughing at herself slightly for what she thought was a lame joke. She sort of wondered how he fared when she was in quarantine for so long, but she figured even if she went back in he'd be fine. He had plenty of other people willing to help him. It was impossible for him to not have someone to help him out.

"But yeah, send your paper with the corrections if you want to and I'll look it over again," she added, starting to worry slightly that Ian might've already gotten poisoned just by sitting on her bed. It wasn't really hot in her room at all, and she knew some of the effects her poison had on people. Her stomach did a couple twists hoping he didn't spring open the window because of that, but she didn't want to cause worry by thinking it was the case, although she might have seemed a little nervous and slowly inched away a couple times as discreetly as she could while letting the long sleeves of her hoodie completely cover her hands.

"And uhm, thanks for saying I'm brave. Maybe I am cause I'm in this school, but compared to the rest of you, I don't know. You can all do so much and aren't afraid to be yourselves...I'm just too shy," Ivy said, almost mumbling as she looked off towards the floor, feeling sheepish and biting her lip again. Though she didn't really take it as truth even though Ian had said it, she still liked that he thought to tell her otherwise anyways. He was too nice for that. Ivy was never really one for high confidence, self or otherwise, and it showed. It was hard to convince her of something that she didn't believe about herself, and it was only on rare occasions that she felt even remotely confident or even just felt good about herself.

She didn't say any more, however, figuring Ian wouldn't want to spend more of his time trying to prove her wrong about herself, and knowing he probably had a bunch of other better things to do than sit around and talk with her and go over homework. Sometimes she thought it was all she was good for because it was her thing, being the smart one. She thought she would try to join in more, but somehow she didn't think that even then she might fit in.

"So, um, what are you gonna do next? If it's fun, maybe I could join?" Ivy asked to change the subject, biting her lip and feeling sheepish again. She felt odd asking to join in and all that, and figured that either way she'd end up just staying in her room and reading a book, or maybe writing something if inspiration struck.

[Diesel]

Ian grinned widely, actually feeling accomplished and thrilled that Ivy even asked him if she could hang. Generally he had to beg her, or get Ricki to drag her along, so in the rare times that she asked, he always felt like it was a bit of a victory. "I'm actually gonna grab Liv, the new chick and have her take care of a busted lip. But hey what about later on? Gavin's got a date with Blondie but I was thinking that a couple of us could hang and watch some movies, or maybe play some video games," he said leaning against the door frame with a big grin as he thought about the stuff they could do later. "I dunno, we'll play it by ear and stuff. I'll come and grab you before dinner and we'll all go and eat together and all that stuff."

He was grinning so widely at this point that he thought his face would hurt. Yea Ian would admit, things were kinda crappy and crazy at the school, but he'd be one seriously sullen dude if he let it get to him all the time. He liked his team, and his friends and found that time was a lot more productive when he focused his attentions on them. "Oh and thanks again for the help with all this, I know I can be a pain, but my Pop said that if I get anything below a B-, he ain't letting me get the car when I come home for the summer. And I'm tellin' ya babe that's gonna suck big time if my boy Eric don't got his car by then."

"Jus' so ya know babe, no one can be brave all the time, but it's when that time comes when it really matters that makes all the difference. You'll see one day," Ian said softly smiling at her as he opened the door with the armful of books. "So we hanging later on? For sure?" He had a silly, childish look of hope on his face as he looked at the little redhead, even giving her the big puppy eyes for effect.

[NightShade]

Ivy couldn't help giggling at Ian's happy reaction, and since it was so funny to her, especially the puppy dog eyes that made him look both funny and adorable, she just settled for nodding. "Yeah," she giggled out, happy that she made someone happy. She knew it wasn't that big of a thing, asking to join in, but it was sometimes harder than someone more outgoing than her would expect. Most of the time whenever she did ask to join in, she ended up just sitting somewhere and watching other people have all the fun. It was alright, although sometimes she wished she had enough guts, or whatever it was, to join in with them without feeling odd.

"Go help Liv," Ivy told him after she stopped giggling so much. She knew he would have something to do, and it only made sense he was going to help someone. It reinforced the fact that he was far too nice to everyone, not that it was a bad thing. It just made him extremely likable, and that was something that made Ivy feel a little shaky. Crushes were not something she thought she could afford in the school, and one of the last things she wanted because she knew how they would turn out- for her, bad. Just bad. "I'll probably be here later, so yeah," she said with a little shrug and a sheepish laugh. It was probably best she stay there, so she wouldn't miss being dragged out to join Ian and a couple of the others to all hang.

"If, uh, you need help with anything else later, let me know. I don't mind," Ivy added, somewhat quieter than she was before, but she smiled. She gave him a small wave before he left, trusting that he would close the door after him so she could fall back into her own little world again. Once he was gone, she moved from the edge of her bed and plopped down, laying her head on her pillow as she glanced at the ceiling. She stared for a minute, wondering if she'd change someday. She always thought she'd be better if she were less like she was and more like she wasn't, but as easy as it sounded in theory to go and do things, it was harder to actually do them. At least today she offered to go hang with her friends, which was more than she did in a while.

Biting her lip again, she heaved a sigh and reached for the book she had been reading before, propping herself up so she could read it some more. Every so often she found herself looking at the door, and she couldn't help but feel somewhat surprised at herself that she was excited to go hang out with Ian and some friends later.