ax_main | Pyro and Jeanne-Marie, BH party

Jeanne-Marie sucks it up and apologizes to Pyro. It doesn't go terribly!

It wasn't long, even in the low light and neon glow, before Jeanne-Marie spotted Pyro. She waited until he was near the hilarious kiddie pool cooler/fountain thing and approached--from the opposite side, so if he wanted to turn and walk away, he had a chance to escape.

Not that she wanted him to. Except she kind of did. Except she didn't. She took a deep breath and the last few steps before plunging her hand into the ice and pulling out a can of coke.

Pyro scowled as he watched Jeanne-Marie walk over to casually grab a can from the kiddie pool. He had a beer in hand, but he was drinking it so slowly it had lost its chill by now. When she straightened up and their eyes met, he had to ask, "You here to glare at me for breathing some more?"

So, yeah, Magik had told him she'd apologized to her, but he wasn't sure whether she'd done that before or after he'd told Mage about this party, and inviting people. Maybe she was an asshole, but an asshole who'd wanted an invite. He was done giving Magik's friends the benefit of the doubt, after Kitty.

She deserved that--and more. "No. To apologize for glaring at you just for breathing," she said as she cracked open the drink. "I'm sorry, Pyro. It was mean and unnecessary of me."

"It was bullshit," he agreed. He liked his way of phrasing it better. "What made you reconsider?" He still wasn't sure he believed her apology, but maybe if she explained that, he'd make up his mind.

"I spent the evening being annoyed when I thought of it," she admitted, slightly amazed the conversation wasn't over already. He must at least be interested, which was a good sign. "And then the next day I started to feel like there was something wrong. I thought back on what I'd said and done and it didn't feel satisfying or good. It felt like I'd made a mistake--and hurt my friend's feelings. Not to mention been rude to a guest. I prayed and thought about it and knew I should apologize."

Prayed? Pyro was shit at hiding what he was feeling, and this time was no different, incredulity plain on his face for a second, before he moved on. Whatever. If God told her to be less of a dick, who was he to contradict the old bearded guy? Or whoever it was she prayed to. "You all made her feel like shit," he said bluntly. 'Hurting her feelings' sounded way too small for the loneliness he knew Magik had felt. "You're the ones who ended up being dishonest, but she ended up being the social outcast. Your 'school' sounds fucking amazing."

Internally, Jeanne-Marie bristled. But she'd been preparing herself for a reaction much worse than this, and so managed to bite down on the worst of what she wanted to say. That Illyana had brought a potentially hostile stranger into their safe place--they, who'd never known a safe moment in their lives, and she, who of all people should know why that meant Xavier's was a sacred space for them. That Illyana wasn't without fault, and at least Jeanne-Marie and others had acknowledged their part in it.

That wasn't what she was here for, though, and she certainly wouldn't explain herself to this boy she hardly knew. Regardless of him, Jeanne-Marie had forgiven Illyana for any thoughtlessness on her part, whether she'd asked for it or not. She put it away and reminded herself to pray on any lingering fear and resentment later.

After another sip of her coke, she felt composed enough to reply, "Don't judge us too harshly. Many of us, when we make a mistake so terrible that it hurts one of our friends, try our best to make amends.

"Which doesn't mean she must forgive. But if we've shown her we're worthwhile friends, there must be more to us than our mistakes."

"Yeah, I fucking hope so," Pyro confirmed. That wasn't in question, but since Magik seemed to be forgiving every-fucking-one, including the perfect Kitty fucking Pryde, someone had to remember how much they had hurt her. It didn't help that he had been actually looking forward to meeting more mutant kids, only to get as good as slapped in the face by every one he'd talked to at that school.

It wasn't like he was unused to people being assholes to him, but because of what he'd found with the Brotherhood, he'd expected better from other mutants. Which made him a fucking moron, he was aware.

His feelings were still all over the place, the way they usually were.

"So you want, what, my forgiveness too? Or did just you wanna say sorry?" He wasn't sure why Jeanne-Marie would give a shit about his forgiveness, or what the point of saying sorry was if she didn't. He wasn't sure why she was talking to him at all, really.

"I was rude to you when I should've been welcoming. An apology was owed." Jeanne-Marie raised an eyebrow. What was he asking, precisely? Why did anyone apologize? "What you do with it, now it's given, is entirely up to you."

"I don't know why you're talking to me at all," Pyro bluntly replied. He didn't trust any of the potential reasons he could come up with - and actively distrusted some of them, especially after the tracker bullshit.

"Why I'm apologizing?" She thought she'd explained that, but... maybe not well enough? "Or why I'm still standing here after apologizing?"

"Both, either." He didn't know if it was about her, and Magik, or about pulling another Kitty. "Look, last time I met any of you, one of you zapped me and the other one planted a fucking tracker on me. Conversations with you don't lead me to great places." Magik didn't count, of course.

"I can't argue with that," she admitted. She wasn't surprised he wasn't interested in a friendly chat now, but maybe part of her had hoped... anyhow, she had no one to blame but herself. Then she frowned. "Someone zapped you?"

"Yeah, 'cause I didn't wanna worship at her altar," Pyro confirmed. He'd let Jeanne-Marie figure it out on her own; from what Magik said, there was no one else quite like Dragoness at school.

Zapping and a sense of self-importance? Well, technically Jeanne-Marie ought to have forgiven Tamara, since Shen had, but she was still praying on that one. "Ah. Tamara." Her frown stayed in place. "No, I most certainly see your point, then. All I can say is that I am truly sorry--and we are not all as flawed as I am."

Pyro looked at her curiously. "You think you're all that horrible?"

"Horrible, I don't know," she admitted a little hesitantly. "But flawed, yes. I have a lot to work on."

"You're probably the least horrible of your school I've met, apart from Magik," Pyro pointed out. Hey, it was true.

Coming from him, Jeanne-Marie couldn't help thinking he was damning her with faint praise. But it was the first partly positive thing he'd said since this awkward conversation had begun, so she simply smiled and nodded. "Thanks. I think." Then she gave a little laugh. "Who knows, though. Maybe you'll meet someone else not-horrible tonight."

Pyro shrugged. "I'm just here for Mage." He wasn't really looking to meet any more of them.

"Fair enough." Jeanne-Marie smiled slightly. That, at least, she was very happy to hear. His affection for Illyana was real enough. What else should matter, to her friends? "I don't suppose you'd want to dance?"

"I don't dance." Not even for Magik, so he wasn't about to do it for Jeanne-Marie.

"Then I'll talk to you later, Pyro," Jeanne-Marie said with a slight smile.

Pyro nodded. "Sure. Enjoy the party." It was said neutrally, but he meant it - it was his own sort of peace offering.

The smile turned into something real. Jeanne-Marie nodded and wandered toward the dance floor, Coke in hand, feeling far better than she'd expected when that conversation had started. Maybe they could be friends, someday, after all?