ax_main | Pyro and Mags, then Pyro and Wanda

Magneto goes to talk to Pyro after his chat with Kitty. Then in comes Wanda, and cuddling happens despite all of Pyro's self-loathing. Don't tell.

Pyro hated this. Not only was he confined to base, but right now, right now, there were people from that fucking school, maybe even Illyana, in the club, and he was stuck in the rec room on his own, since Magneto had told the others to make themselves scarce.

At least his Zippo wasn't currently magnetized shut, which meant he could weave fire through the air as he paced back and forth, biting at his thumb nail and generally hating everything in the universe just then. Including himself, hell yeah.

Ahh yes. Young Mr. Allerdyce was in a mood, wasn't he? Erik stood in the doorway of the rec room as Pyro paced away from him, then cleared his throat. "So, it would appear that your analysis of the girl who calls herself Shadowcat was less than accurate," he observed.

The fire burned harder when Pyro started, then immediately went out, and he turned to Magneto. "She was here?" Fucking Kitty. He was not going to ask whether Illyana had been as well. He was not. Because fuck her, and fuck those texts.

"She was here, yes." There was a trace of amusement in Erik's voice as he eyed Pyro speculatively, both at his reaction to the news and the fact he'd extinguished his flames before Erik could do it for him. Perhaps this had been a learning opportunity all around. "Apparently she found the news that you'd be in attendance too good an opportunity to resist." He gestured for the couch, indicating that Pyro should take a seat.

The last thing Pyro wanted to do was sit down, but then again, right now, if Magneto asked him to jump off a bridge, he'd probably do it. His hands curled into fists, out of tension rather than aggression, and he moved over to the couch, sitting down. So it had been Kitty's idea. Magik had told him how smart she was, so he wasn't surprised, even if it was completely fucked up and he hated them both. And their whole school. And himself.

Hate was definitely a leitmotiv for him just then.

"I must say," Erik continued as if he hadn't paused to wait for Pyro take a seat, walking further into the room, "I quite admire her initiative. And her tenacity. Would you believe, she never once backed down? Quite remarkable, really. I gave her the information she wanted, of course."

Of course he had. Of fucking course. Because apparently being an asshole deserved rewards! ...and that was why Magneto was in charge, and Pyro did as he was told. Because Magneto saw the bigger picture and didn't let emotions get the better of him. "She could've asked," he muttered, because yeah, still pissed.

"She could have, yes. Would you have given it to her if she had?" Erik's eyebrows rose and he went over to take a seat in a chair opposite the couch, giving it a look of disdain even as he sat down. Perhaps he should insist that the youngsters maintain some standards of cleanliness? Except this was their room to use, and he'd wanted them to be comfortable there.

"I'd have asked you," Pyro replied, outrage clear in his voice. What did Magneto think, that he would have betrayed them? He'd been a fucking moron, but he wasn't a traitor!

"And I'd have expected no less of you." As compliments went, it would not, perhaps, seem a glowing one on the surface, but Erik knew how much Pyro sought approval, and was willing to dole it out when warranted. "But you see, she took it instead, so it's a moot point, at best."

"You gave it to her," Pyro replied, because... that was a very important fucking distinction, as far as he was concerned. It meant that Little Miss Perfect's plan hadn't worked. And sure, that was no thanks to him, because he was a moron, but still. It hadn't worked despite him being a moron. Let her chew on that. "Was she on her own, then?" Magneto was making it sound like she had been. He figured Illyana had probably teleported her in, though. He didn't know if that made things better or worse.

No, no. Everything was worse.

Magneto's lips twitched upwards. Ah yes, now they got to the point of Mr. Allerdye's actual issues. "She was. Apparently, her roommate was guilty of nothing more than a lack of discretion regarding her plans, and a disregard for security that Shadowcat appears to find distressing. Does that ease your conscience, somewhat?"

His conscience, not so much. His heart, somewhat. So Illyana hadn't known, and fucking Kitty was even more of an asshole than he had thought. If this was the truth. "Not really," he answered honestly. "I'm still a moron."

Erik's eyebrows climbed. "Do you truly believe that I'd have recruited a 'moron' for my team?" The boy had made a significant error, yes, but he doubted that falling into a pit of self-loathing would in any way benefit him, or the team as a whole. "You made an error in judgement, yes. If you had it to do again, what would you change?"

Fuck, this was awful. Pyro's gaze fell down to his hands, pressed together on his lap. "I'd tell you." It made it all worse that he had considered telling Magneto, but had been worried he wouldn't want him to go, given how little he'd told them about the other kids. It made him even more of a moron.

"That would, perhaps, have been a good place to begin, yes. If only because it would have seemed likely that if the girl could find you, she could theoretically also have located our base by the same means." Erik's expression turned thoughtful. "Now, I ask you. How can we use your...shall we say lack of forethought? to our advantage?"

"She says she couldn't scry this place," Pyro told him, first, because that mattered. Then only did he consider Magneto's question. "I don't know. Did you bug Kitty in return?" That would serve her right. Not with a tracker, obviously, but something to listen in on them?

Ugh, he hated the thought of having to do that to other mutants. Even those assholes.

Apart from Illyana.

Unless she supported Kitty's move.

Fuck, this was such a mess.

"No. Firstly, because Shadowcat would no doubt be on the lookout for such a ploy, and I preferred to send her away with a belief that cooperation between our teams is desirable. In the short term, it's even possible that would be the case." Erik smiled. "Secondly, because I'm well aware of the school's location, and the identity of its headmaster. So your phone's failure to record your location was no true loss."

"Then I don't have a clue," Pyro answered, feeling even more like an idiot. His idiocy served no purpose, other than if the assholes thought they were all as stupid as Pyro. Thankfully, it wasn't the case, and they'd end up underestimating them.

"No?" Erik got to his feet, disappointed. Eileen, he was certain, would have had some idea as to his greater plan - but then, he hadn't selected Pyro for the team for his insight. "I suggest you give it some thought, then, but consider this. You had the forethought to point out potential recruits - for which I thank you, since I believe I failed to do so earlier. I've provided the information they were oh-so-urgently seeking, ensuring that some of them, at least, will think of us favorably - and will have, in the short term, even more reason to despise the humans than they would normally." He shrugged. "At the very least, it will do us no harm. The more mutants aware of The Rights' agenda, the less likely that they will be able to perpetuate it."

"In the meantime, your phone privileges are reinstated." With that, Erik headed for the door.

That was all well and good, but they could have achieved all of those results without Pyro being an idiot. So he still had no idea how to answer Magneto's question. He watched him walk out, wondering how he was even supposed to talk to Illyana about any or all of this. And whether he even should.

Ugh, everything sucked, and half of that was on him. The other half on Shadow-fucking-cat.

"Was he giving you more shit?" Wanda asked as she entered. She was dressed for clubbing, and had been - tight black pants, loose red, gauzy shirt, her hair down over her shoulders but in disarray from dancing. She'd had a good time, the only thing ruining it having been that she'd gone out at least partially because her father had told her to.

Clubbing was so much more fun when she was going against her father. But then, that could be said for pretty much anything.

Nonetheless, she offered Pyro a smile as she tossed him an extra large box of utility matches. "Here. Got you a present." Because yeah, he'd fucked up - but her father'd been a dick, fixing his Zippo so it wouldn't open. Cruel and unusual, or something. Not that that was any surprise, to her.

Pyro caught the box instinctively, then only saw what it was. "I don't say this often enough," he told her, and looked up at her from the box. "But you're the fucking best, Wanda." Using her name was proof that he meant it, okay.

Wanda answered with a smile that was more self-conscious than she'd have admitted to, and waved it aside. "Yeah, whatever. It was a total dick move on his part." She came over and plopped down on the couch beside him, with only slightly more regard to personal space than her brother usually showed. "So, did anyone show?"

Yeah, Pyro never minded her invading his personal space, or at least, very rarely. This was not one of those rare occasions, for all that her question made him sigh in irritation. "Fucking Shadowcat. Magik's best friend. But the boss says Mage didn't have anything to do with it." Which made Kitty the worst person ever, in his book.

"Well, that's something." She'd had to admit, she'd wondered herself whether or not Pyro'd been played. Granted, he wasn't exactly the most trusting person, ever - but in some ways, he wanted to be. "What'd she want? Just to tell you to fuck off and die?"

"Yeah, actions speak louder than words on that one, I'm pretty sure," Pyro remarked. He'd gotten the message loud and clear without Kitty needing to spell it out in so many words. "She wanted to get our intel on the Right. Which, you know, she could've fucking asked for. What is it with these assholes?" He was still pissed at the whole of them, minus Magik, maybe.

"No clue. Though the part where you said they'd been told we're 'terrorists' probably factors in," Wanda reasoned. "I mean, who negotiates with terrorists?" She rolled her eyes. "I should've blasted the little bitch through the wall, whether she was the one who took out Pietro or not." Smiling a little, she added, "Still can, if you want." After all, Pyro was one of theirs. If the girl wanted to take him on, she was going to get more than she'd expected.

"Fuck her," Pyro answered, with feeling. He shook his head. "'Sides, Magneto gave her the intel she wanted. Show of good faith or whatever."

"What the fuck is he planning now?" Wanda asked, more hypothetically than because she figured Pyro actually knew.

"No clue," Pyro shook his head. "I'm not on his list of favorite people right now, so..." Rather than check whether the old man had re-magnetized his lighter shut during their little talk, he cracked a match on the box and grew the flame into a decent size, letting it burn in front of them, warming their faces. He was silent for a beat, and then he added, "He said I could get in touch with Magik again, though."

Not that he was sure that he wanted to. It just felt like a recipe for disaster, right then.

"Huh." Honestly, Wanda hadn't seen that coming. Saying screw it to the concept of personal space, she shifted over closer and wrapped her arm around his back companionably. "Do you want to?" she asked quietly. Okay, fine, she wasn't the big sister Eileen was to the younger kids (honestly, not only was Fatale nuts, but she drove her nuts), but Pyro'd been "hers" since the day he'd shown up. She was willing to give it a shot, for him.

Pyro leaned into the touch thankfully, focusing on the warmth of both Wanda and his fire, now. "I don't know. Kinda feels like this was a big warning." But he also really liked her, and she had seemed to like him, and when the fuck did that happen? "She hates me right now, anyway."

"Maybe." Wanda wasn't about to lie to him, after all. "Maybe not. You don't really know." She squeezed his shoulder and raised her eyebrows, her lips twitching upwards. "Unless you blew off what he said and borrowed my phone while I wasn't looking. Or got someone else to call her." Which she doubted. Her father had said no contact - Pyro wasn't about to go against that.

"No, she texted," Pyro replied with a frown. "I didn't text back, obviously," he added in a hurry. "I was too pissed, Magneto was right, I'd have blown it." He leaned a little more against Wanda, unsure where the physical affection was coming from - she wasn't usually like that with him, just her brother - but not about to turn it away. "She thinks I just used her to spy on them."

Wanda rolled her eyes. "Honestly, if she has any brains, she had to figure you were going to report on what you saw there," she pointed out. With a quirk of a smile, she reached up and tilted Pyro's head in against her shoulder. Yeah. She'd figured - he was fucked up enough over this he needed contact. She didn't really get that, herself - but she understood it enough, from Pietro, to know it was a real thing. And she knew Pyro well enough to know that while he wasn't as bad about it as her brother (fuck, no one was as bad about it as her brother) it was a thing for him, too.

"Well, yeah, but she thinks that's all I was there for," Pyro replied, gladly inclining his head. Besides, Wanda smelled nice. He let out a little sigh, a small part of his tension easing from the touch. "Maybe I should just let her think that. Easier on everybody, you know?"

"It doesn't sound easier," Wanda disputed. "It sounds pretty asshole-ish."

"I am an asshole," Pyro pointed out, straightening up again, because he couldn't talk about it while leaning against Wanda after all. He didn't deserve her comfort. The flame hanging in the air in front of them had toned down while he had, but now it burned brighter. "She'll probably be better off if she realizes that now."

"Bullshit." Wanda turned towards him. "If you were an asshole, I'd have told you waaaay before this. You're just afraid she's going to tell you to fuck off." She shrugged. "At least be honest with yourself. This isn't for her, this is for you."

Pyro glared at the flame for a few seconds, doing his best to ignore the weight of Wanda's gaze. Fucking fine. It didn't mean he wanted to say it out loud. It was so pathetic - he was so pathetic. He'd thought he could have it all - the team and the girl - but he was too fucking stupid to handle any of it correctly. And if he had to choose, to hang on to just the one good thing... The flame grew a little more dull as he muttered, his voice thick with emotions he was hoping Wanda wouldn't hear, "I'll always choose the team. You know that, right?" They were family, the only fucking family he'd ever had, because none of the ones that had been called that had ever deserved the name in any way, shape or form.

"Well, yeah." Wanda figured that went without saying. "But in case you haven't noticed? Not a fuckload of girls around here. And I can't see you with Eileen." Much as she liked the other girl? No. Match made in hell.

Pyro looked back at her, 'what the fuck' as clearly written on his face as if he had said the words. "Fuck no." He loved her dearly, but for one thing, he would never say so out loud. She might rearrange his insides if he did, and he liked his insides the way they were. "But whatever. It's not like you need to be with someone to be happy."

"It doesn't hurt, though." Wanda shrugged. It wasn't like she hadn't considered the problem herself. For all that the guys outnumbered the girls here two to one, there wasn't a single one who did a damn thing for her, and dancing with flatscans got old, fast. "Anyway, stop overthinking and tell me this. What do you want?"

"I want to go back in time and not be a fucking idiot," Pyro replied, looking back at the flame and leaning his elbows on his thighs. Maybe he should reach out to Magik and try and see if she'd help him with that, but he somehow doubted it. Plus the mechanics of it were already giving him a headache. He pushed a hand back through his hair. "I really like her," he said in a whisper. He wasn't sure whether he wanted Wanda to have heard it.

Wanda reinstated her arm around his shoulders, leaned forward, and craned her neck to see his face. "So? Call her. Preferably tomorrow, because waking her up probably wouldn't get you any points." She shrugged. "Either it'll work or it won't, whichever. But at least you'll know."

Pyro rubbed his hand over his face, thinking it over - and then deciding not to. He could go to bed, and he'd see how he felt when he woke up. Alone. Ugh, he was turning into such a fucking idiot.

He looked back at Wanda, an apology in his eyes. "I didn't even get to talk to Pietro Jr."

Wanda shrugged. "Whatever. We'll get the story there eventually." She wanted to know, yeah - but right now, she wasn't all that worried about it. She rubbed his shoulder, then patted it and got up. "I'm gonna go crash. You gonna be okay?" Her eyes met his, warning him just what would happen to him if he lied to her.

"Always," Pyro replied anyway. It wasn't really lying. 'Okay', in his book, wasn't all that high a standard. He had a roof over his head, and there was food. If you included the fact that he had a team - even if he had just fucked up - he really was doing better than okay. He stood up as well, killing the fire with a thought, her box of matches in one of his hands. He was going back to his room, too.

It made him sick to think fucking Kitty might have been there. He was just going to trust that she hadn't. It wasn't exactly a place of interest, anyway. But it was his.

Wanda studied his face, grimaced, and nodded. He'd be okay. More or less, at least, and he wouldn't thank her for pushing it. "Don't burn the place down with those," she warmed, lips quirking up just a touch. "I live here. And tomorrow? Make room in your schedule - you're going to the bookstore with me. I need to stock up again."

"Gonna have to clear that with the old man," Pyro pointed out in a mutter. Honestly, he'd be fucking glad to go to the bookstore if it meant he could go out again.

"Pretty sure I can convince him it's a worse punishment than hanging around here," Wanda assured him. With the way everyone went on about her bookstore trips, it shouldn't be that hard.

Pyro shrugged. "Whatever you want."

Wanda rolled her eyes, wrapped her arm back around his shoulders, and started off towards their rooms. One of these days, maybe the little moron realized that what he wanted mattered just as much, but it sure as hell wasn't going to be tonight.