Illyana and Pyro | Post Meeting
Oct. 2nd, 2017 07:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ax_magik posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
ax_mainIllyana and Pyro meet up during the meeting at Xavier's, but their date has an unexpected interruption.
It was dusk when Illyana appeared in the park - just dark enough that the long shadows cast by the trees highlighted her stepping disk while obscuring the person appearing within it from the eyes of any potential onlookers.
Of which, Illyana was relieved to see, there weren't any. Good. She'd be able to stay here and wait for Pyro to show up. She headed over to the bench and plopped down, wishing she'd taken the time to change into something a little more date-like than the blue fuzzy sweater and jeans she'd worn down to the meeting. She just hadn't thought of it. Or much of anything else, really. Hopefully he wouldn't mind.
Pyro hadn't been running, but he might have been walking at a very brisk pace. She'd have gotten there before him, without a doubt, unless she'd fumbled the time thing a bit in order not to have to wait. Whatever, he just wanted to see her, and the sooner the better. He hadn't dressed up either - not that he ever did - wearing his usual leather jacket with a t-shirt and a pair of jeans.
He smiled when he saw her, but toned it down to a smirk because hiding open displays of genuine emotion had become second nature. But he didn't slow down his pace.
And there he was. Illyana smiled - a bright, genuine smile - and got to her feet. She should, she thought, just wait until he got there - tv shows were full of girls who acted too eager, and ended up scaring guys off. Except...
Screw it. A moment later, and she wasn't quite running - but she was definitely closer to it than not.
Pyro's stomach twisted unpleasantly, even as his lungs tightened in that very cool way. It was a weird mix of emotions, and as they came near, he realized he didn't know what to do. He wasn't sure sweeping her up in a long kiss would be welcome, for all that it was what he wanted to do. "Hey," he greeted her, a little awkwardly.
Right. That was not what she'd been hoping for - but for once, she was pretty sure she was right in that it wasn't what he really wanted, either. So instead of backing off, Illyana wrapped one arm up around his neck, urged his head down, and kissed him slowly.
She'd find out soon enough whether or not she was right.
The knot in Pyro's stomach disappeared, and he immediately gave his everything to that kiss. Fuck, this was just what he'd been wanting, for a couple of weeks now, ever since they'd talked it out on the phone after that whole mess. His arms went around her waist, hands resting on the small of her back. When the kiss broke, he kept his forehead against hers, then smiled a little and repeated, a lot more intimate and warm, and real, "Hey."
And she'd very definitely been right. Feeling a little breathless, Illyana met his eyes and smiled back. "Hey. Long time, no see."
"Fuck, yes," Pyro agreed, huffing out a small laugh. He curled his fingers slightly on her back, then stretched them out again, just to feel her. And he'd missed her smell, was that weird? He'd never really paid attention to anyone's smell before - not unless it was more like a stench. "Way too long."
"Definitely," Illyana agreed, her fingers toying with the hair at the nape of his neck. "You're un-grounded then, I take it?"
Her fingers almost tickled, but not quite. He... kinda liked it, and bit on his bottom lip before thinking better of it and taking another kiss from her. "Yes. You?"
She shook her head. "I think I'm going to be grounded for the rest of my natural life," she admitted, then grinned and leaned in to kiss him again. "Fortunately, I don't take it as seriously. I just have to remember to get back before the stupid meeting's over."
"Time travel is the best thing ever," Pyro said against her lips, and kissed her again. He'd ask how much of a mess things were over there later. He had priorities, and making the most of her physical presence was it.
"Mmmhmmm," she agreed, and then, for a long while, said nothing at all. Kissing him was way better than talking right now, anyway.
* * *
Going to see a movie had been a stroke of genius. Not that they had seen very much of it, but that hadn't been the point. Pyro shrugged his jacket back on as they hit the street, then grabbed Magik's hand, pulling her into another kiss. Even after that amazing make out session, he wanted more. So sue him, he hadn't seen her in a couple of weeks. "You wanna go grab a bite?"
"I didn't bring any money," she admitted. Not that it had affected them getting into the movie - did people actually pay to go see those when it was that easy to get in free? - but food would probably be harder. She smiled and kissed him, though, bringing her hand up to stroke down his arm because yeah. Two hours in a movie didn't seem like anywhere near enough to make up for the past two weeks.
"Neither have I," Pyro replied, turning them into the next street and, oops, running into a guy in a suit. "Sorry, sir," he apologized to the guy and moved along, letting her have a look at the wallet he'd just pinched before sliding it into his jacket.
It wasn't his fault people made it so easy.
"There's a cool diner a couple blocks away."
It was a place he more often than not went to on his own, but he didn't mind the thought of bringing Magik there.
Illyana grinned. Problem solved. "Sounds good. You're good at that," she observed.
"I got a lot of practice," Pyro assured her. "So, what'd you think of that clown?" He couldn't help but grin as he asked; if she had an actual opinion about the clown, then he'd been doing something wrong.
"Ummm..." Yeah. There'd been a clown in the movie, right? "He was...clown-like?" she guessed, looking sheepish.
"Completely," Pyro agreed, playing along before frowning dubiously. "I think." He was in a hell of a good mood, which rarely happened. He was just going to roll with it.
Illyana couldn't help it - she started laughing, then tilted her head in against his shoulder. "Jerk," she complained with absolutely no conviction. "You actually had me wondering if you'd been watching the movie."
Pyro chuckled, genuinely surprised. "Really? 'Cause it's kinda hard to watch anything with my face in your neck." His hands where they'd been? Sure. Not that he would have wanted to. His face in her neck? Not so much.
"Yeah well." Illyana's face warmed and she grinned a little. Because yeaaah, that would've been tough, wouldn't it? "What can I say? I was distracted." At least partially by his face in her neck. And where his hands had been. And where hers had been, for that matter.
Actually, if everyone in the theatre had suddenly gone running for the exits, she wasn't altogether sure she'd have noticed that, either.
Pyro grinned, the expression making him look younger than he usually did. "That makes two of us."
"I think I like knowing that." Illyana grinned back, and turned her head to steal a quick kiss. Actually, she liked knowing that a lot.
Pyro smirked at her after the kiss, then glanced back to make sure the guy from earlier hadn't realized what happened. No sign of him, so it was safe to get the wallet out and check how much they had to play with. He let out a happy whistle at the cash in there. "Today is our lucky day." They could definitely go somewhere nicer than the diner, but he liked the diner. He felt comfortable there in a way he wouldn't in a posh restaurant, or whatever.
He spotted a dumpster in a side street and nodded for Illyana to come along. "Let me just dump this." He divided the cash between two pockets of his jeans, then wiped the wallet clean of prints with his t-shirt and threw it into the dumpster. "There, all good."
"Why -" Whatever Illyana'd been about to ask was cut short abruptly as someone grabbed hold of her arm and yanked, nearly hard enough to pull it from its socket.
"So, this is where you're hanging out now?" an all too familiar voice said from over a foot above her head a he stepped from the shadows. S'ym. Damn it, she'd been so sure she had more time before he found her... "Can't say I think much of it - no wonder you keep popping in and out, in and out again. Dumb, that - might've had a longer stay here if you'd just learned a lesson from Ashake and stayed away. Anyway, wave goodbye to your little friend, Darkchylde. The boss has been looking for you."
Illyana just froze there, trembling. She should say something. Do something - for all that her magic wasn't as strong on Earth, it was still hers. Instead, she just cowered, trying to tug her arm out of S'ym's vice-like grip. Just like she'd done at age ten or eleven, when it had all begun.
Holy shitwad, what? Pyro scrambled back a couple of steps in shock. Sure, he was battle-ready, but there was a difference between going into combat when you expected it and suddenly being faced with... whatever kind of fucking demon that purplish mountain of muscles, fangs and claws was. His back to the dumpster, Pyro watched with wide eyes, even as he pulled his lighter out of his pocket.
Fuck, was he glad he'd just fueled up.
He flicked it on, then set fire to the dumpster behind him. He didn't have his wrist device, and he couldn't afford having to flick his Zippo on each time. The dumpster would take some time to burn up, giving him all he needed in the meantime.
"I like the little lizard ones better," Pyro told Magik, right before hurling a fire ball at the massive demon when it turned to him.
S'ym pushed her away to turn his attention towards Pyro, and Illyana faceplanted into the ground nearby. She pushed herself up onto one hand and turned to see what was happening, just as the fireball struck S'ym in the chest, forcing him backwards.
Unfortunately, it didn't stop him long. Still smoldering and apparently oblivious to it, he regained his footing and started towards Pyro. "Big mistake, kid."
lllyana's eyes narrowed, and she reached out, channeling her magic into a blast that hit S'ym sidelong, slamming him into the wall of the building. It felt good - so good, it'd been way too long since she'd been able to just cut loose with it - but she didn't have time to think about that, now. Instead, she took advantage of S'ym's temporary imbalance to push herself back to her feet.
"Are they all this annoying?" Pyro kept mouthing off, as he threw another, bigger fireball at the demon, whether or not it was going to do much to him. He figured he could just keep distracting him while Magik threw the real firepower (ha!) at him.
Despite herself, Illyana let out a chuff of laughter. "No. S'ym's in a league of his own.". She could feel blood running down her leg from where she'd fallen and her head was spinning, but she regained her feet just in time to see the second fireball hit S'ym, who let out a roar of anger.
"Noe you're pissing me off, kid. I don't want you, just the Baby Boss."
"You can't have me!" Illyana shouted. The burning dumpster caught her attention, and she shouted out syllables not heard on Earth in millennium. The fire blazed up, green and purple intertwined. "Try that!" she yelled to Pyro. Maybe it would at least buy her the time to focus and summon a disk.
Pyro's breath caught in his throat for a second when she did something to the fire, something that made it blaze in a way he'd never felt before. He stared at it, eyes wide in pure amazement at the sensation in his chest, the way it made him feel like he could do anything, and snapped out of it just in time to see the blow coming. He tried to jump back, away from it, but didn't manage to dodge it altogether.
Turned out that the massive demon was as strong as he looked, and Pyro's back hit the dumpster. Something in his chest hurt each time he took a breath, where the demon's fist had landed, but Pyro was going to ignore it for now. Now he was pissed off, and this fire felt like the best thing he'd ever tasted. He raised a hand to help himself direct it straight at the demon coming for him, and this time he didn't just make it a single fireball, but a volley of them.
S'ym let out a scream that mingled fury and agony as the fireballs hit, and Illyana smiled. Within moments, the flames spread to cover him, wrapping him in a cocoon of flame. "Have fun with that, S'ym," she called out as she summoned a disk he was too distracted to avoid, watching a moment longer as he disappeared before turning back to Pyro. "Can you put it out?" she asked, hoping she was right and he could. "If you don't, it'll just keep burning." Through the dumpster. Through the concrete, through the walls of the adjoining building. Part of her wanted to standby and let it go.
"Do I have to?" Pyro asked as he pushed off the dumpster, taking a couple of steps and turning back to face it. He had a hand instinctively cradled over his busted rib - he knew that pain well - but all of his focus was on that beautiful, amazing fire. "Because it feels like the best thing in the entire world right now."
It was beautiful. Illyana couldn't argue that, and stood watching it for a long moment before limping her way over to Pyro's side. It was already burning its way through the dumpster, and part of her just wanted to see what it would do next. Spread to the building, maybe? Ignite the road? She shook her head, trying to remember why that wouldn't be a good thing, and reached over to put her hand on Pyro's arm.
"I'm not fireproof," she pointed out. It was the best reason she could think of, right now.
"I wouldn't let it burn you," Pyro told her, moving his hand from his rib to rest it on her back. He watched the fire for a few more seconds, then slowly, reluctantly put it out.
Once it was out, he turned to Illyana and kissed her, long and hard.
She returned the kiss with equal ferver, one hand moving to his shoulder while her other arm wrapped around him. Because of the fire, and the magic, and the way the latter was still burning inside her, making her feel like she could do anything. Until her leg buckled, and the magic began to drain away, leaving her feeling lost and exhausted. "I think I need to sit down," she admitted reluctantly.
Pyro needed to like, go down on her or something - if she would let him - but that clearly wasn't the idea here. The pain in his ribs didn't detract from that, on the contrary. But she wasn't doing well, so he forced himself to start thinking with something else than his dick, and moved to her side to slide an arm around her neck in support. "The diner isn't far. You think you can make it there?"
"Yeah." She wrapped her arm around his waist for stability, but didn't think to lean into him for support. She could make it. It wasn't like it was the first time. "Are you okay?" He looked alright - far better than she did, she was sure - but she knew from experience that S'ym packed one hell of a punch.
"Busted rib," he answered, and of course her leaning into him made it hurt more, but it wasn't his first rodeo either. "It only hurts every time I breathe." He smirked at her as they walked, to show her it was a joke. "I'm good. How are you doing? You were fucking amazing."
"So were you." Illyana felt her face warm but looked over and smiled, though she loosened her arm. Broken ribs were the worst. "I'm okay. Not the first time S'ym shoved me around, probably won't be the last. Gimme a bit, and I can probably help with the rib. If you want me to, anyway."
"I don't actually like being in pain, so sure," Pyro agreed, amused at the idea of turning that down. It sucked that she was used to that fucker banging her around, but hey. He got it. It was what it was. "You help your leg first, though. Won't the fire have killed that asshole?"
"I doubt it." Illyana wrinkled her nose. "I sliced him in half, once. He put himself back together, like he'd pulled up a zipper." She smiled faintly. "Thinking back, it looked pretty funny - I didn't really think so at the time. I'm guessing it'll be a while before he recovers from this, though."
"And he can just find you any time?" He had no idea how the demon had found her this time, but he didn't like that he had.
"I don't know." Illyana chewed at her lip, wincing a little as she hit a spot she must've bitten down on when she fell. "I thought it would take him longer. Or that maybe Belasco'd just written me off. Except...yeah. Wishful thinking." She grimaced and looked down at the ground, though she kept walking. She should have known better.
"So this is gonna happen again," Pyro stated, his expression full of concern.
"Probably." Illyana looked over at him, her expression resigned, and shrugged. "Belasco's not giving up, if he's sending S'ym after me. Look, if you want me to go, I will. This isn't your problem."
"What? No," Pyro replied immediately, frowning at her. "I want you to leave your school and come with us. You don't have to wait around for the next time that asshole comes looking. We could go on the offensive."
If she was part of the team, he was sure that Magneto would okay it. They helped each other out. And with their combined firepower, there was no way even the king of Limbo or whatever would survive.
"I-" It was, in a way, the last thing she'd expected him to say, and for a moment, Illyana just stared, surprised and more than a little touched. Given that he'd just fought S'ym, and actually knew more or less what he was offering - and was sporting a broken rib or two for his trouble - it meant more than he could possibly know. She turned towards him, reaching up to tilt his face down to kiss him, slowly. Ultimately, though, she pulled back. "I'll think about it, okay? I know you think they're all assholes, but I've got friends there." A few, at least.
"Yeah, so you say," Pyro stated wryly. It was telling that mentioning her 'friends' was more likely to ruin the evening than a fucking demon attack. But since he did not want it to ruin anything, he kissed her again instead of pressing. "You think about it."
"I will," she said with full sincerity. She smiled a little. "Except if you keep kissing me, it makes it really hard to be objective. Just so you know." Which was also nothing but the truth.
"If you're saying I have a chance to kiss you over to our side, I'm all for trying," Pyro assured her with a smirk.
"Could work," she admitted, grinning back at him. "You should definitely not give up on that tactic."
"Noted." He turned to get them walking again. "But let's get you seated first. It's just there," he nodded at the diner across the street.
Illyana nodded, then glanced over at him with an awkward expression. "How bad do I look?" Her jeans were ripped, she knew that, but that was no big deal, other than the blood. On the other hand, she'd faceplanted on the pavement. She doubted it was a good look for her.
"You've... looked better," Pyro settled on, fingers ghosting over the bruise starting to come out on her jaw. "'s cool. We can just tell them some cops roughed us up. They're cool." They had a soft spot for street kids for sure.
"They must be, if they'll go for that." She offered a faint smile and a shrug - if he wasn't worried about it, she wasn't really either - then started across the street.
Pyro's hand was on her back again as they crossed. It wasn't his fault if keeping some form of physical contact with her was instinctive at this stage, okay? "Also, they have the best fucking cherry pie ever."
Disclaimer: Violence and implied child abuse.
It was dusk when Illyana appeared in the park - just dark enough that the long shadows cast by the trees highlighted her stepping disk while obscuring the person appearing within it from the eyes of any potential onlookers.
Of which, Illyana was relieved to see, there weren't any. Good. She'd be able to stay here and wait for Pyro to show up. She headed over to the bench and plopped down, wishing she'd taken the time to change into something a little more date-like than the blue fuzzy sweater and jeans she'd worn down to the meeting. She just hadn't thought of it. Or much of anything else, really. Hopefully he wouldn't mind.
Pyro hadn't been running, but he might have been walking at a very brisk pace. She'd have gotten there before him, without a doubt, unless she'd fumbled the time thing a bit in order not to have to wait. Whatever, he just wanted to see her, and the sooner the better. He hadn't dressed up either - not that he ever did - wearing his usual leather jacket with a t-shirt and a pair of jeans.
He smiled when he saw her, but toned it down to a smirk because hiding open displays of genuine emotion had become second nature. But he didn't slow down his pace.
And there he was. Illyana smiled - a bright, genuine smile - and got to her feet. She should, she thought, just wait until he got there - tv shows were full of girls who acted too eager, and ended up scaring guys off. Except...
Screw it. A moment later, and she wasn't quite running - but she was definitely closer to it than not.
Pyro's stomach twisted unpleasantly, even as his lungs tightened in that very cool way. It was a weird mix of emotions, and as they came near, he realized he didn't know what to do. He wasn't sure sweeping her up in a long kiss would be welcome, for all that it was what he wanted to do. "Hey," he greeted her, a little awkwardly.
Right. That was not what she'd been hoping for - but for once, she was pretty sure she was right in that it wasn't what he really wanted, either. So instead of backing off, Illyana wrapped one arm up around his neck, urged his head down, and kissed him slowly.
She'd find out soon enough whether or not she was right.
The knot in Pyro's stomach disappeared, and he immediately gave his everything to that kiss. Fuck, this was just what he'd been wanting, for a couple of weeks now, ever since they'd talked it out on the phone after that whole mess. His arms went around her waist, hands resting on the small of her back. When the kiss broke, he kept his forehead against hers, then smiled a little and repeated, a lot more intimate and warm, and real, "Hey."
And she'd very definitely been right. Feeling a little breathless, Illyana met his eyes and smiled back. "Hey. Long time, no see."
"Fuck, yes," Pyro agreed, huffing out a small laugh. He curled his fingers slightly on her back, then stretched them out again, just to feel her. And he'd missed her smell, was that weird? He'd never really paid attention to anyone's smell before - not unless it was more like a stench. "Way too long."
"Definitely," Illyana agreed, her fingers toying with the hair at the nape of his neck. "You're un-grounded then, I take it?"
Her fingers almost tickled, but not quite. He... kinda liked it, and bit on his bottom lip before thinking better of it and taking another kiss from her. "Yes. You?"
She shook her head. "I think I'm going to be grounded for the rest of my natural life," she admitted, then grinned and leaned in to kiss him again. "Fortunately, I don't take it as seriously. I just have to remember to get back before the stupid meeting's over."
"Time travel is the best thing ever," Pyro said against her lips, and kissed her again. He'd ask how much of a mess things were over there later. He had priorities, and making the most of her physical presence was it.
"Mmmhmmm," she agreed, and then, for a long while, said nothing at all. Kissing him was way better than talking right now, anyway.
* * *
Going to see a movie had been a stroke of genius. Not that they had seen very much of it, but that hadn't been the point. Pyro shrugged his jacket back on as they hit the street, then grabbed Magik's hand, pulling her into another kiss. Even after that amazing make out session, he wanted more. So sue him, he hadn't seen her in a couple of weeks. "You wanna go grab a bite?"
"I didn't bring any money," she admitted. Not that it had affected them getting into the movie - did people actually pay to go see those when it was that easy to get in free? - but food would probably be harder. She smiled and kissed him, though, bringing her hand up to stroke down his arm because yeah. Two hours in a movie didn't seem like anywhere near enough to make up for the past two weeks.
"Neither have I," Pyro replied, turning them into the next street and, oops, running into a guy in a suit. "Sorry, sir," he apologized to the guy and moved along, letting her have a look at the wallet he'd just pinched before sliding it into his jacket.
It wasn't his fault people made it so easy.
"There's a cool diner a couple blocks away."
It was a place he more often than not went to on his own, but he didn't mind the thought of bringing Magik there.
Illyana grinned. Problem solved. "Sounds good. You're good at that," she observed.
"I got a lot of practice," Pyro assured her. "So, what'd you think of that clown?" He couldn't help but grin as he asked; if she had an actual opinion about the clown, then he'd been doing something wrong.
"Ummm..." Yeah. There'd been a clown in the movie, right? "He was...clown-like?" she guessed, looking sheepish.
"Completely," Pyro agreed, playing along before frowning dubiously. "I think." He was in a hell of a good mood, which rarely happened. He was just going to roll with it.
Illyana couldn't help it - she started laughing, then tilted her head in against his shoulder. "Jerk," she complained with absolutely no conviction. "You actually had me wondering if you'd been watching the movie."
Pyro chuckled, genuinely surprised. "Really? 'Cause it's kinda hard to watch anything with my face in your neck." His hands where they'd been? Sure. Not that he would have wanted to. His face in her neck? Not so much.
"Yeah well." Illyana's face warmed and she grinned a little. Because yeaaah, that would've been tough, wouldn't it? "What can I say? I was distracted." At least partially by his face in her neck. And where his hands had been. And where hers had been, for that matter.
Actually, if everyone in the theatre had suddenly gone running for the exits, she wasn't altogether sure she'd have noticed that, either.
Pyro grinned, the expression making him look younger than he usually did. "That makes two of us."
"I think I like knowing that." Illyana grinned back, and turned her head to steal a quick kiss. Actually, she liked knowing that a lot.
Pyro smirked at her after the kiss, then glanced back to make sure the guy from earlier hadn't realized what happened. No sign of him, so it was safe to get the wallet out and check how much they had to play with. He let out a happy whistle at the cash in there. "Today is our lucky day." They could definitely go somewhere nicer than the diner, but he liked the diner. He felt comfortable there in a way he wouldn't in a posh restaurant, or whatever.
He spotted a dumpster in a side street and nodded for Illyana to come along. "Let me just dump this." He divided the cash between two pockets of his jeans, then wiped the wallet clean of prints with his t-shirt and threw it into the dumpster. "There, all good."
"Why -" Whatever Illyana'd been about to ask was cut short abruptly as someone grabbed hold of her arm and yanked, nearly hard enough to pull it from its socket.
"So, this is where you're hanging out now?" an all too familiar voice said from over a foot above her head a he stepped from the shadows. S'ym. Damn it, she'd been so sure she had more time before he found her... "Can't say I think much of it - no wonder you keep popping in and out, in and out again. Dumb, that - might've had a longer stay here if you'd just learned a lesson from Ashake and stayed away. Anyway, wave goodbye to your little friend, Darkchylde. The boss has been looking for you."
Illyana just froze there, trembling. She should say something. Do something - for all that her magic wasn't as strong on Earth, it was still hers. Instead, she just cowered, trying to tug her arm out of S'ym's vice-like grip. Just like she'd done at age ten or eleven, when it had all begun.
Holy shitwad, what? Pyro scrambled back a couple of steps in shock. Sure, he was battle-ready, but there was a difference between going into combat when you expected it and suddenly being faced with... whatever kind of fucking demon that purplish mountain of muscles, fangs and claws was. His back to the dumpster, Pyro watched with wide eyes, even as he pulled his lighter out of his pocket.
Fuck, was he glad he'd just fueled up.
He flicked it on, then set fire to the dumpster behind him. He didn't have his wrist device, and he couldn't afford having to flick his Zippo on each time. The dumpster would take some time to burn up, giving him all he needed in the meantime.
"I like the little lizard ones better," Pyro told Magik, right before hurling a fire ball at the massive demon when it turned to him.
S'ym pushed her away to turn his attention towards Pyro, and Illyana faceplanted into the ground nearby. She pushed herself up onto one hand and turned to see what was happening, just as the fireball struck S'ym in the chest, forcing him backwards.
Unfortunately, it didn't stop him long. Still smoldering and apparently oblivious to it, he regained his footing and started towards Pyro. "Big mistake, kid."
lllyana's eyes narrowed, and she reached out, channeling her magic into a blast that hit S'ym sidelong, slamming him into the wall of the building. It felt good - so good, it'd been way too long since she'd been able to just cut loose with it - but she didn't have time to think about that, now. Instead, she took advantage of S'ym's temporary imbalance to push herself back to her feet.
"Are they all this annoying?" Pyro kept mouthing off, as he threw another, bigger fireball at the demon, whether or not it was going to do much to him. He figured he could just keep distracting him while Magik threw the real firepower (ha!) at him.
Despite herself, Illyana let out a chuff of laughter. "No. S'ym's in a league of his own.". She could feel blood running down her leg from where she'd fallen and her head was spinning, but she regained her feet just in time to see the second fireball hit S'ym, who let out a roar of anger.
"Noe you're pissing me off, kid. I don't want you, just the Baby Boss."
"You can't have me!" Illyana shouted. The burning dumpster caught her attention, and she shouted out syllables not heard on Earth in millennium. The fire blazed up, green and purple intertwined. "Try that!" she yelled to Pyro. Maybe it would at least buy her the time to focus and summon a disk.
Pyro's breath caught in his throat for a second when she did something to the fire, something that made it blaze in a way he'd never felt before. He stared at it, eyes wide in pure amazement at the sensation in his chest, the way it made him feel like he could do anything, and snapped out of it just in time to see the blow coming. He tried to jump back, away from it, but didn't manage to dodge it altogether.
Turned out that the massive demon was as strong as he looked, and Pyro's back hit the dumpster. Something in his chest hurt each time he took a breath, where the demon's fist had landed, but Pyro was going to ignore it for now. Now he was pissed off, and this fire felt like the best thing he'd ever tasted. He raised a hand to help himself direct it straight at the demon coming for him, and this time he didn't just make it a single fireball, but a volley of them.
S'ym let out a scream that mingled fury and agony as the fireballs hit, and Illyana smiled. Within moments, the flames spread to cover him, wrapping him in a cocoon of flame. "Have fun with that, S'ym," she called out as she summoned a disk he was too distracted to avoid, watching a moment longer as he disappeared before turning back to Pyro. "Can you put it out?" she asked, hoping she was right and he could. "If you don't, it'll just keep burning." Through the dumpster. Through the concrete, through the walls of the adjoining building. Part of her wanted to standby and let it go.
"Do I have to?" Pyro asked as he pushed off the dumpster, taking a couple of steps and turning back to face it. He had a hand instinctively cradled over his busted rib - he knew that pain well - but all of his focus was on that beautiful, amazing fire. "Because it feels like the best thing in the entire world right now."
It was beautiful. Illyana couldn't argue that, and stood watching it for a long moment before limping her way over to Pyro's side. It was already burning its way through the dumpster, and part of her just wanted to see what it would do next. Spread to the building, maybe? Ignite the road? She shook her head, trying to remember why that wouldn't be a good thing, and reached over to put her hand on Pyro's arm.
"I'm not fireproof," she pointed out. It was the best reason she could think of, right now.
"I wouldn't let it burn you," Pyro told her, moving his hand from his rib to rest it on her back. He watched the fire for a few more seconds, then slowly, reluctantly put it out.
Once it was out, he turned to Illyana and kissed her, long and hard.
She returned the kiss with equal ferver, one hand moving to his shoulder while her other arm wrapped around him. Because of the fire, and the magic, and the way the latter was still burning inside her, making her feel like she could do anything. Until her leg buckled, and the magic began to drain away, leaving her feeling lost and exhausted. "I think I need to sit down," she admitted reluctantly.
Pyro needed to like, go down on her or something - if she would let him - but that clearly wasn't the idea here. The pain in his ribs didn't detract from that, on the contrary. But she wasn't doing well, so he forced himself to start thinking with something else than his dick, and moved to her side to slide an arm around her neck in support. "The diner isn't far. You think you can make it there?"
"Yeah." She wrapped her arm around his waist for stability, but didn't think to lean into him for support. She could make it. It wasn't like it was the first time. "Are you okay?" He looked alright - far better than she did, she was sure - but she knew from experience that S'ym packed one hell of a punch.
"Busted rib," he answered, and of course her leaning into him made it hurt more, but it wasn't his first rodeo either. "It only hurts every time I breathe." He smirked at her as they walked, to show her it was a joke. "I'm good. How are you doing? You were fucking amazing."
"So were you." Illyana felt her face warm but looked over and smiled, though she loosened her arm. Broken ribs were the worst. "I'm okay. Not the first time S'ym shoved me around, probably won't be the last. Gimme a bit, and I can probably help with the rib. If you want me to, anyway."
"I don't actually like being in pain, so sure," Pyro agreed, amused at the idea of turning that down. It sucked that she was used to that fucker banging her around, but hey. He got it. It was what it was. "You help your leg first, though. Won't the fire have killed that asshole?"
"I doubt it." Illyana wrinkled her nose. "I sliced him in half, once. He put himself back together, like he'd pulled up a zipper." She smiled faintly. "Thinking back, it looked pretty funny - I didn't really think so at the time. I'm guessing it'll be a while before he recovers from this, though."
"And he can just find you any time?" He had no idea how the demon had found her this time, but he didn't like that he had.
"I don't know." Illyana chewed at her lip, wincing a little as she hit a spot she must've bitten down on when she fell. "I thought it would take him longer. Or that maybe Belasco'd just written me off. Except...yeah. Wishful thinking." She grimaced and looked down at the ground, though she kept walking. She should have known better.
"So this is gonna happen again," Pyro stated, his expression full of concern.
"Probably." Illyana looked over at him, her expression resigned, and shrugged. "Belasco's not giving up, if he's sending S'ym after me. Look, if you want me to go, I will. This isn't your problem."
"What? No," Pyro replied immediately, frowning at her. "I want you to leave your school and come with us. You don't have to wait around for the next time that asshole comes looking. We could go on the offensive."
If she was part of the team, he was sure that Magneto would okay it. They helped each other out. And with their combined firepower, there was no way even the king of Limbo or whatever would survive.
"I-" It was, in a way, the last thing she'd expected him to say, and for a moment, Illyana just stared, surprised and more than a little touched. Given that he'd just fought S'ym, and actually knew more or less what he was offering - and was sporting a broken rib or two for his trouble - it meant more than he could possibly know. She turned towards him, reaching up to tilt his face down to kiss him, slowly. Ultimately, though, she pulled back. "I'll think about it, okay? I know you think they're all assholes, but I've got friends there." A few, at least.
"Yeah, so you say," Pyro stated wryly. It was telling that mentioning her 'friends' was more likely to ruin the evening than a fucking demon attack. But since he did not want it to ruin anything, he kissed her again instead of pressing. "You think about it."
"I will," she said with full sincerity. She smiled a little. "Except if you keep kissing me, it makes it really hard to be objective. Just so you know." Which was also nothing but the truth.
"If you're saying I have a chance to kiss you over to our side, I'm all for trying," Pyro assured her with a smirk.
"Could work," she admitted, grinning back at him. "You should definitely not give up on that tactic."
"Noted." He turned to get them walking again. "But let's get you seated first. It's just there," he nodded at the diner across the street.
Illyana nodded, then glanced over at him with an awkward expression. "How bad do I look?" Her jeans were ripped, she knew that, but that was no big deal, other than the blood. On the other hand, she'd faceplanted on the pavement. She doubted it was a good look for her.
"You've... looked better," Pyro settled on, fingers ghosting over the bruise starting to come out on her jaw. "'s cool. We can just tell them some cops roughed us up. They're cool." They had a soft spot for street kids for sure.
"They must be, if they'll go for that." She offered a faint smile and a shrug - if he wasn't worried about it, she wasn't really either - then started across the street.
Pyro's hand was on her back again as they crossed. It wasn't his fault if keeping some form of physical contact with her was instinctive at this stage, okay? "Also, they have the best fucking cherry pie ever."
Disclaimer: Violence and implied child abuse.
