Bumping into an Old Friend

[Haven]

"Yeah we did, a ton, and I think he's right- more showed up tonight. There's so many new people you'll trip over em." Niki said looking at Aideen and shaking her head. Their quaint little school was becoming a full fledged learning institution and Niki for one didn't care for a crowd. "I hate crowds" she said flatly.

"Oh, but OOohhh" she rolled her eyes up and threw her head back in exasperation "you will never believe all this." She looked back to her friend and past her to her boyfriend and then with a sly grin she looked back to Ember. "Next year you gotta stick around for the cookout. It was completely insane, well I should say Frostbite was insane, but that's probably an understatement."

"We're all hanging out, having a good day.. eating some really fine food. The little kids and the sports dorks were off playing kickball and out comes your number one fan, with these nasty bedsheets in his hand and tells Frostbite she has to clean em cause.. oh hell, wait? Were you here when everybody found out Frosty let the Brock-dog burry his bone in her? Well long story short he tosses her the sheets she goes apeshit and starts attacking everybody and guess who's first on her list?" Niki threw a pair of thumbs in her own direction.

"Dummy starts monologuing and gives herself away, so I had time enough to get a shield up. Then she starts freaking out on everybody.. even her own 'NEW' Paragon team mates so by the time I got my ass over to her.. Clutch, the tall skinny one -you know.. raven black hair? New Mutant? -yea she had her pinned to a tree so the hard part was done. I just put a little exclamation point on the end of her sentence, dotted her 'eyes' if ya get what I mean." Niki winked. "Apparently this was not looked on as heroic, but like I give a shit? She's had a grudge against me for a while now, and far as I care she got what she was askin for."

"What a pig. Throwin away her friends and ruinin our team. Sleeping with that asshole Rumble and for what? I never hated her, neither did Ian, and things woulda been so much better for everybody if she was just honest with herself and her own feelings." Niki's explanation of events was quick and peppered with her view coming from the mean streets as they stepped up the front stoop and walked inside, into the foyer.

As they turned to head up the stairs the threesome came face to face with one Lorelai Kavanagh. "Well, speak of the Devil..." Niki said and looked into the eyes of the one of the sorriest excuses for a human she had ever had the misfortune to know. In her travels Niki had known some low life scumbags, pimps, junkies, child molesters... pity or not, right at that moment to Niki's eyes, Frostbite fit right in.

[Frostbite]

She stopped before she could actually touch them on accident. A hint of disgust crept along Lorelai’s lips as she saw who she had the complete misfortune to happen upon: her most favorite people ever, the stupid albino pimple, her self-righteous boy toy, and the saint. Before, Lorelai never really had anything against Aideen, not even when she started pulling shit, but now, she just couldn’t be bothered to deal with someone who came off as so high and mighty with just a look. Such a fitting little trio, the leader and her two of her biggest worshippers out of many.

It seemed that things would resume to their other set of shenanigans now that dearest Aideen was back. Rumble would surely start going after her again, and her two followers would fight for her honor. Thus was the way of the world, and how stupid it was. Added on top now that Lorelai had done her own little f@#ked up thing, she was sure that dearest Aideen was now filled in as it was such a thing of gossip, her business. She figured the gorilla too nice to blab it out; the white-haired pustule probably informed her about everyting. Oh f@#kin’ well. Not like she gave a shit anymore anyways.

“Why hello, how nice to bump into one of my favorite groups of people,” Lorelai said as she took out one of her earphones, gracing them with the opportunity for her to listen to whatever they had to say with the smile on her face clearly insincere and sarcastic. “So nice to see you,” she said flashing them another fake smile, the pleasant tone in her voice was an obvious mockery of the real thing. She felt like faking being nice to f@#k with them. Probably wouldn’t blow over well, but it didn’t matter. She was gonna do whatever the hell she wanted and that was it. Didn’t matter if she got her ass beat, she’d fight back. No one in the school deserved any real kindness or mercy, or anything remotely nice. It wasn’t a nice school anyway, so she had treat the zoo animals that the teachers dumbly called students accordingly.

[Ember]

The only response that came from Aideen was her elegant eyebrows raised slightly, looking over at Niki with a look that clearly said that she was not at all amused or impressed. Frankly, her opinion towards Frostbite had never been high to begin with, for as far as the fire bender was concerned, there was no one worse that she could have gotten stuck in Limbo with. The impulsive nature that Frostbite possessed was nothing but an annoyance to Aideen, especially in the state of mind she had been in during the time before and during her time in Limbo.

First she used all her strength and power in an impulsive attack in which there was no need or call for it, and became a burden to the little group that Aideen found herself with. To this day she still did not see the logic of Frostbite having used all her power in the very beginning of their time in Limbo, just to make some hits that did nothing to affect the creatures of Limbo anyways. Why in a place hotter than any type of ice that the ice bender was able to produce could survive in for more than a millisecond without melting would she think it could effect the creatures of Hell? Despite Aideen's intellectual background and knowledge, she had yet to come up with a solution. Furthermore, for the remainder of the trip they practically had to carry Frostbite around because she foolishly overexerted herself despite the warnings of Emma Frost, and slowed them down further by nearly getting Hardlight killed.

Aideen was fully confident that without Frostbite, they could have reached Nightcrawler and Logan sooner and perhaps avoided some of the unnecessary deaths that occurred there. Though the girl had her moment when she 'saved' D'mnchyld from a demon, the girl once again acting without thinking as the demon seemed to have no interest in hurting the gothic girl. Had she focused as anyone should in such a setting, she would have witnessed the curiosity in his behavior rather than the threat of it and not wasted the last of her abilities and have to be carried around, slowing down the group and keeping them from getting through the ordeal and lost them precious time they didn't have. Such offences were unforgivable to the fire bender, and that resentment was now followed by disgust.

As far as Aideen was concerned, it took someone with low self respect and self worth to throw themselves at someone like Rumble knowing how he treats people and having a good idea of his nature. In fact, the mere thought was hard for her to stomach or believe. Brushing a strand of her long thick hair that fell into her face, she looked back over at Niki and Diesel with an almost bored look on her face, having no desire to be in this younger student's presence any longer. She considered herself to be above the company that Frostbite provided, and she would never lower herself to such a level as to even acknowledge such a classless being with a verbal response.

[Diesel]

It was like the worst possible timing for them to run into Frostbite at that moment, and Ian didn't bother to hide his discomfort. He didn't want to deal with her anymore for the day, or period for that matter. Though he still felt bad that all that happened to her, all Ian could really do was look at her and remember Liv after that whole thing that he stopped in the their room. Remembering it all again just made him as bitter as Frostbite's tone. "Yea real delightful to see ya again. Almost didn't recognize ya from the front. Can't blame me since we're all so used to yah running away," Ian spat, putting an arm around both girls while glaring at Frostbite in a very uncharacteristic way for him.

"Gotta excuse me, I got some ladies to take care of." The implication was clear despite the Californian accent, and he figured with Aideen here it was all the more appropriate and painful, since hell, the last thing that anyone saw when they looked at her at this point was a lady. Right now, she was also the last person he wanted to continue looking at after everything that happened.

[Haven]

"Oh, but I recognize her from the front Papi, both her faces." Niki smiled back in a similar way to Lorelai. "You know chika, I never did get to say thanks for the little workout yesterday, and thanks too for screwing up the team." She was more than pissed off about what had happened, but she wasn't getting loud about it. It was a fact that the Acolytes has a tight team, maybe the best team going since so many of them had actual real world experience having gone to LIMBO. That and the way they had almost all bonded over the experience had made them a nearly 100% unified force to be reckoned with .

"Not that we wont get over it, but I hope you learn something from all this shit you pulled girl. It ain't all about you, you selfish little brat." Walking on as Ian gently coaxed her Niki looked disgusted by Lorelai as she said. "You're one nasty foul scum hole, givin it up to that piece of shit. Wha'sa matter with you, you got no self respect? Hope it felt real real good, and you got something really worth it for your efforts kid. Hope you got everything you wanted."

Niki felt bad for the poor thing right then. She didn't know why exactly. Might have been that she had been screwed over before. Could have been that she had known a time when she hated herself and thought the world hated her too. In fact she wasn't all that removed from that point in time. She saw where Frostbite was going and the path was not one that the girl could easily walk. It would probably ruin her for all time and that, in Niki's opinion, would be a shame. The look on her face changed then, from the earlier one that seemed to mirror Lorelai's look, to one of sympathetic disgust. Not pity, but a look that told how she was sorry for the girl's bad choices even though she was repulsed by her. "Cause it looks like it's all cost you more than it was worth."

[Frostbite]

Well, well, well. Look who got all insightful and world-wise. Lorelai’s smile turned into a mean smirk as they started walking past her. “Thank you, Swami. I have seen the error of my ways and am repentant,” she said as she tilted her head to watch the three of them walk in their buddy-buddy manner. Her tone still had that false pleasantness to it, though her words were pure sarcasm. “I’m so glad I was able to get some advice from you, who would know better than anyone else,” she said, putting a hand over her chest as if it really meant something to her. She took a step in the direction opposite of them- the way she had been intending to go in the first place, but stopped to look again. Ian looked so disgusted at the sight of her, it almost made her smile. It was the last thing to ever see on his face, but god did it look well earned, and even slightly funny. It was amusing to see him with a bit of that little bite he aimed at her.

“Ian, dear, I’m surprised you see ladies here. Oh, I know I’m no lady, but I still don’t see any,” she said, her smirk mixing into that false smile as she looked again at the two chicks under his arms. One was rather self explanatory. She was so white you could see every speck of dirt on her, and it left so much to the imagination what other stuff was on her that so happened to match the skin tone and hair. Lorelai’s mouth twitched as she thought of the multitude of things that it could mean, and then let out a breath of a laugh. Yes, Haven would know best of the shit she was pulling. She’d done it herself, and every single aspect of it was taken into account of that. And then she looked at the pseudo-deity on Ian’s other side.

She hadn’t even spoken to her. Lorelai could guess why. Miss Aideen was too good to say something to someone as low as she. Of course, but then again many didn’t make the Dream Team, so it didn’t really occur to her to care that the Blessed Holy One didn’t try to verbally sting her either. She certainly didn’t look like a lady either. As far as Lorelai was concerned, a ‘proper lady’ didn’t look disheveled, nor did she wear skin tight leather like a common prostitute looking for a good paying night. A ‘proper lady’ looked exactly the opposite of that, dressed in all the nice looking and frilly shit and was the opposite of what both of them looked like.

“I guess your eyesight’s as bad as ever,” she said, her voice light as she shrugged her shoulders as if it were something that couldn’t be helped. “But then again, you did have a bad track record. Me, then those two? Ah, well. Love to help ya, but not my problem,” she said, shrugging again as the fake smile on her face grew slightly cruel looking as she turned to let both herself and them continue on their merry ways.

[Haven]

"You tryin to make it your problem or somethin?" Niki said spinning around still in Ian's grasp to put Lorelai on the spot. "So you don't wanna learn, huh? Well I don't mind another class in 'shut the hell up. You know, I almost felt sorry for you too bitch." Niki said as she stepped around to get right up in her face. "You almost had me ready to apologize for all that went down. But you are just one nasty @#$%in thing and you ain't ready to accept it. All you really want's another ass kickin, and I'm more than willin to help you out with that honey." She said reaching up to grab her by a handful of hair and feeling an ear in there as well.

"You had to be a backstabber, had to be a selfish little girl." Niki said yanking straight down and pulling Lorelai to the deck. "I know you think Ian an me did you dirty but you ain't seen dirty yet. Pass judgements and shit on me and my friends? I'll show you how a lady takes out the trash- bitch!" Niki stepped around behind her and forced her face down onto the bottom step. "I usually like a curb for this but what the hell.." she muttered as she worked the girls jaw open and onto the corner of the stair as she twisted her arm up behind her and drove a knee into the small of her back to make her compliant. "Oh hell with this.. no. No, I ain't goin out like this, you ain't worth it." Niki said standing up and glaring down on Lorelai.

"You think I stole your man? Yeah whatever- if you wanna believe that shit. But it aint like that. You and him were done, you just didn't know it." she glanced at her two friends then, the looks on their faces were enough, they didn't need to exchange any words. "He's his own person, just like I am, and like you need to be. I don't care if you get this or not but I'm sayin it so I feel better bitch.. everything that happened to you, you brought on yourself. Even this." she used her foot to roll the girl over by her shoulder and look her in the eyes "I don't care who you're tryin to be, yer only you bitch and you're so used up you ain't shit to no one anymore."

"Remember.. you still got your teeth only cause I was feelin generous. I didn't want it to come to this, shit, I even hoped you would just take a damn look at yourself, maybe see where it all went wrong for you.. like I did.. but noo you had to get all wise ass. I left those teeth in yer head so the next time you smile at me it better be cause you mean it. I never wanted to be your enemy. Hell you don't rate to have me as an enemy.. so get smart chika. I'm done with you." Niki stepped away from the girl as she lay on her back at the foot of the stairs. She knew better than to turn her back on the bitter blue haired girl, but she hoped this time Frostbite wouldn't make matters worse for herself.

[Frostbite]

It was no longer a wonder how Haven ended up on the Dream Team; she was just as stuck up as Aideen. She was just more verbal about it. It seemed as if cleaning up her act just a little bit and dating Ian and being Aideen’s pet was enough to semi-redeem her in the eyes of most of the school. She still had a rotten little temper and was still too happy to start fights. No different than she had been before. She still looked rotten too; the albino in her was misleading. Oh, she was just so tough, wasn’t she? Letting Lorelai keep her teeth? For f@#k’s sake, she acted like she was some all powerful bitch or something. No, no, that was Aideen’s thing. But Haven was definitely working in on it and ride on her coattails.

The Blessed Holy One seemed uninterested when Lorelai looked over to Ian’s other side. See, Aideen was all high and mighty, but even Lorelai could see she didn’t have to prove it like her wannabe Mini-me had to. There was an annoying little pain in the small of her back, but as she was now just laying on the bottom of the stairs she made herself relatively comfortable and put her hands behind her head and crossed one leg over the other. Haven’s threats didn’t scare her. Honestly, Haven never scared her. She was just like a cockroach or something. A thing that wouldn’t like, die and kept coming back. She could beat her up, but that was about all she could really do. None of her little tirades meant anything, nor did the ‘advice’ she gave her. Everything she talked about now was just stupid; Lorelai no longer gave a f#%k about any of it, so it affected her all the less. Why Haven still thought it mattered was beyond her.

She inhaled a deep breath as she closed her eyes for a moment. She let it out, feeling rather content. Haven had turned her back on her. Lorelai assumed she was just waiting for a cheap shot, or some reason to knock her teeth out. She wanted to do it, Lorelai just had this feeling about it. Well, she wasn’t going to do anything…at least not directly. Under her head, one hand touched the cool stair of the foyer. A clear, thin layer of ice crept across the floor, springing up in different patches where the three would probably end up walking on.

“At least I’ve learned well where I stand now, I suggest you do the same, cause I’m concerned you’re not fully aware. Just sayin’” she said, her voice light and content sounding as she still laid where she was put on the stairs and floor. Her eyes were still closed and her position looked as if she were comfortably sunbathing. Man, was it great to not give a f%@k anymore!

[Ember]

After the long day that Aideen had, she certainly didn't need to witness something like this. Niki had always been short tempered and quick to defend her friends, admirable as it was, Aideen had too long of a day and too tired to deal with this nonsense. After the run in with her Uncle, nearly losing her relationship with Wolverine because of it, stressing out over her misunderstanding about the inner workings of a romantic relationship, getting into a bar fight, seeing Logan get shot twice, nearly breaking down in the woods, and then coming home to be greeted by Onyx acting stranger than she'd ever seen him, watching a spoiled brat with no morals throw a temper tantrum was not the ideal way to end her day.

"Alright, I don't have time for this," Aideen said softly, bringing a hand to her head as she started to feel the weight of the day fully on her shoulders, despite the fact that for the blissful moments with Logan took the burden away. She had not wanted to come back to the school to begin with, and now that she was the span of events in her first half hour home were nonsense. "I had a long drive, and rather than watching a temper tantrum, I would prefer to go to my room and unpack." She looked from Niki to Ian and then glanced at Frostbite lying across the stairs like a complete brat. Her and Katana are right on par with each other on their maturity level. Why did I come back again?

With a sigh of slight agitation, Aideen turned on her heel and started walking down the hall to the stairs that led directly to the girls dorm instead of going around. The whole thing was just too ridiculous for her, and petty insults from a girl who slept with that low life was almost laughable if she had not had such a crazy day. She wanted to be in her room and away from people and try and remember why she had to remind herself and Logan about responsibility when they were in spontaneous enough of a mood to run off.

[Cyclops]

Weekends are just way too short. All in all it wasn't the worst cookout weekend ever, at least nobody wound up in traction... yet. Scott grinned as he walked quickly down the hall from his office. He'd thought for a moment, as he finished up some evaluations on the potential prospects Ironclad was considering for tutelage, that he had heard yelling coming from the foyer. So before things got carried away he decided to check it out.

The way the children were behaving this year seemed to him something akin to a dog never being taken for a walk. They had lots of pent up rage and frustration with one another that had no obvious outlet. There was a distinct lack of respect and it occurred to him that if the kids had more opportunity to tire themselves out constructively there would be far less fighting in the halls and on the grounds of the school.

As he turned around the last twist in the hall and the top of the stairs opened up before him he could have sworn he saw Ember for a moment. This is good the rest of the Corsairs are back, maybe she knows where Mason is.. Taking a few quick steps down the stairs he saw Frostbite lounging on the floor, hands behind her head, and wondered how comfortable that spot was there before he looked back to call out "Ember have you see-EEE-Yyy-AANN-!-!-!"

His voice raised and turned into a panic of sorts as his feet, moving quickly down the steps, shot out from under him and he tumbled grunting as his body bouncing off the ice and wood made a *thumpa-duh-fwuppah-pluh-pluggh*sound all the rest of the way down. He landed next to Lorelai in a similar position, though his arms and legs were slightly sprawled at his sides. His head, raised for only a moment as he grunted in pain and tried to get his wind back, dropped onto the top step with a thud. His eyes were tightly pinched shut and his ruby-quartz glasses were askew on his face.

With herculean effort he raised a hand and straighted his glasses as he thought how comfortable the place he found himself was and that it would be he himself who wound up in traction. "Frostbite?" he asked softly and with a rasp in his voice as his words strained out of him. "Why is there ice...on the stairs?"