ax_main | Vex and Pyro (12/16)

Vex chats with Pyro during the twins’ birthday shindig.

Vex was lost on the dance floor during the most recent roundup to the lady’s room so she missed the moment Illyana left, but she spotted Pyro unattended quickly after. Before he could wander off she wove her way over, smiling brightly. “Hey, Pyro. Having, fun?”

"I think I should be asking you," Pyro replied with a half smile, sitting at a table with his beer, dutifully waiting for Mage's return. She might hit the dancefloor again, but it wasn't like it was a hardship watching her dance. "It's your birthday party."

“I’m having a wonderful time. The best surprises in a long time.” She smiled warmly. “What are the chances of you joining us out there when Yana gets back?”

"I'd say slim to none, but that would be a wild exaggeration," Pyro assured her without missing a beat. "You wanna rest your feet a bit, though..." he offered, and gave a slight push to the chair across from him with his booted foot, an invitation.

“Spoilsport.” She winked and slid into the chair.

"It doesn't feel like I'm spoiling anyone's dancing," he pointed out with an amused smile. He was surprisingly relaxed, for an evening out with friends of Illyana's. That whole group was all right, and they were tight in a way that made him think of the Brotherhood.

“Well, I can’t fault you if you’d rather voyeur.” Vex stretched her legs and kicked them up on the chair next to Pyro’s. “I’m glad you came.”

"Why's that?" he asked curiously, proof that he was relaxed. Usually, he would've asked distrustfully

“Yana likes you, so I like getting to know you better. And the school is shite for that since there’s so many people underfoot. We should do this more. Go out. Run wild.” She smiled. “With or without this many drinks.”

"Hey, the drinks are totally welcome," Pyro stated with a half-smile, but he agreed with her. With or without. "But yeah. It's not like we're staying long-term."

“Shame and not, I guess. Cool that you’re here, but is it weird at the school?” Vex asked.

"I fucking hate it," Pyro confirmed without missing a beat. "Apart from the part where I see Mage every day."

"Do you take classes or anything when you guys are home? Or... Honestly, I don't know what you guys get up to on a normal week."

"No classes, no," Pyro answered with a shake of his head. "Just - working on our powers, and a whole lot of jerking around."

“Sounds messy,” Vex said wryly.

"Feels great," Pyro retorted without missing a beat.

She snorted softly. “Can you confirm something for me? Maximoff twins—single, or no? Either of them.”

Pyro chuckled. "Wanda's single. Pietro's officially single, but really not. Who are you asking for?" That just made him realize, he didn't even know if Wanda liked girls.

Vex waggled her fingers. “I’m the curious sort.”

Pyro smirked at her fingers waggle, then shook his head. "They're good people. Maybe it's a twin thing. I haven't met any twins who were assholes so far." He'd thought Jeanne-Marie had been one, but then she'd turned out surprisingly decent. "Present company included." Not being an asshole was completely a compliment, coming from him.

"You're sweet," Vex said with a wink. "Although Illyana says referring to you as broody, teddy bear is going too far. Silly, I think. Bears are the best."

Sweet. Pyro wasn't used to being called that, but calling somebody not an asshole probably was his own version of sweet, yeah. He could go with that. His gaze dropped to her pendant at her words. "Of course you'd say that." Still, there was a big difference between calling someone a bear and a teddy bear, and he wasn't going to pretend he'd like to be referred as a teddy bear. Or broody, for that matter. That sounded like some dark romantic hero bullshit.

Vex smiled. Broody was a word she often associated with her brother, and John was also good with a nice, steady ambiance. She hoped the Brotherhood stuff didn't go south quickly. Liking Illyana's boyfriend would be preferable. "Are you calling me predictable, darling?" Vex asked with feigned dismay.

"Anyone calling me a teddy bear is definitely not predictable," Pyro retorted, and took a sip.

“I have great affection for rough edges. We’re all rather unpolished gems.” She tapped Pyro’s knee with her boot. “I’m grabbing a drink. You almost ready for another?”

"Yeah, but -" he finished his drink and pushed up to his feet, "you tell me what you're having. It's your birthday."

Vex touched a hand to her heart. “Thank you, darling. Whiskey sour?”

"Sounds fancy," Pyro stated, but he was already turning to go get it for her. He watched with interest as the bartender fixed her drink, and eventually walked back over with a lowball and a beer. He was very much not fancy. "Here," he told her as he set the glass down in front of her, and reclaimed his seat. "Happy birthday."

“Thank you, Pyro.” She beamed at him. “You’re a sweetheart.”

First teddy bear, now sweetheart. He winced a little at the word, then told her, "Don't spread that around."

“Promise I won’t,” she said with a grin. “If anyone asks, you’re just terrible.” She winked.

"Total asshole," Pyro confirmed without missing a beat.

She stretched her leg under the table and nudged his knee. “No clue why Yana says such nice things about you.”

"She has terrible taste," he explained.

“I know.” Vex touched a hand to her chest. “The company she keeps is appalling.”

"Case in point," Pyro agreed, index finger circling to indicate their company tonight. But he dropped the act. "What's your story, anyway? All of you, I mean. She said you ran together back in England?"

Vex nodded. “Vax and I went to the city after Mum died. We found everyone there.” She took a swallow of her drink and tucked her legs up on to the bench. “Vax’s powers showed up first. As far as I know. I mean, Percy doesn’t like to talk about his shadows.”

"He does shadows too?" Pyro asked, looking in the direction of the kid. He really didn't know anything about him, apart from the fact that he sounded like a fancy jerk. But he figured there was more to it than that, given the company he kept - and he had gotten them all fake ID.

“You’d have to ask him,” Vex said, tone gentling. “We all have plenty of metaphorical shadows to stuff away. It’s probably suiting Vax learned to walk through them.”

"I don't get people who don't embrace their mutation," Pyro said bluntly. It was the simple truth. He just didn't understand them.

“What if your mutation hurts people?” Vex asked. “And I’m not talking accidentally burning someone, but literal killing with a touch. Or how about not wanting anyone knowing your business, mutation or not?”

"That's not the same as not embracing it," Pyro replied with a frown. "It's just - embracing it privately."

“I think you’ll find a great deal of private embracing from us. I love what I can do, but I’m not about to risk one of us getting arrested again. Who has time for that?”

It wasn't a question she was expecting an actual answer to, Pyro told himself when he might have answered it. "To each their own," he settled on instead, pretty damn diplomatically, if you asked him.

Vex lifted her drink. “We’re all a bunch of weirdos anyway.”

"The best fucking weirdos," Pyro confirmed, tilting his drink against hers.