Aberrant: Mutant High - Dinner and a Movie

[Atomicweasel]

It was late when Ren reached the stairs to the cafeteria. A sliver of moon peeked out from between the clouds, and the campus had gone quiet. The young mutant pulled his iPhone out of his jacket and sniffed thoughtfully as his thumb hovered over Jamie's name.

What the fuck, he thought. It might be nice to eat with someone else for a change. And Jamie had a fun smile and a wry wit. And he liked looking at her legs. He pushed the call button as he happened to look up at the shattered doors to the cafeteria...

Fucking freshmen.

[Weft]

Jamie was lying in bed in her pajamas, idly thumbing through her study Bible when the phone rang. Curtis was fast asleep, and snoring like a well-unoiled WWII machine gun. Her heart sped up: not a lot of people had her phone number. In fact, just two. The Director, and -

She flicked her phone open. "Ohai!"

[Atomicweasel]

"Hey, Jamie." Ren stood in the shattered doorway of the cafeteria, looking up and down the ruined frame where the door had once stood firm and solid. "Have you eaten yet?"

He passed into the cafeteria and scanned the tables. The place was definitely winding down and Ren stole a quick glance at his watch. They'd be closing soon, but there was still time to grab a bite to eat. "I'm starving." He told Jamie. "Come down here and join me." Ren surprised himself with that bit of boldness. It hadn't really come out like a question at all...and so he blushed and hastily added, "If that's cool."

[Weft]

Jamie grinned. It was funny how he'd just added that last bit as an afterthought, almost taking it for granted that she'd hurry down to eat with him. And...and, she knew a lot of girls wouldn't, but somehow she liked that. "Sure it is. I'm starving," she said, trying not to let any eagerness bleed through. She looked down at her pajama'd self. "...Just give me a second to change and I'll be right down."

[Atomicweasel]

An idea had begun to take form in Ren as he surveyed the busted up cafeteria, lonely and empty but for a handful of students. He grimaced at the food behind the sneeze guard as he walked slowly down the aisle, inspecting the dishes still left at this late hour. Crap. Crap. Crap. Also crap.

"Hey, um. Jamie." Ren drawled lazily, as he batted his hazily formed plan around in his head. "Forget the cafeteria. Meet me, um...meet me outside Hayden Hall. Oh. And wear something nice." he concluded mysteriously.

[Weft]

"Okay..." she said uncertainly. What now? "I'll be right down." She snapped her phone shut, eyeing her drawers balefully. Limited wardrobe and Ren wanted something nice...well, she'd see what she could do....

***

Jamie looked herself over in the bathroom mirror. No makeup, because she didn't trust her hand with it and knew she looked pretty good without it anyway. A long black wrap skirt. High boots. A white blouse with long flowy sleeves and high cuffs. White was a summer colour, but it was as nice as she had. No earrings, because she'd never pierced her ears. No necklace.

It would have to do.

She hurried down the stairs, keeping herself from taking them two at a time because she knew she'd just end up tripping, and set out at a brisk pace for Hayden Hall.

And there was Ren. She smoothed her skirt, prayed she looked half-decent, and waved, walking...much more slowly. Look cool. Unhurried. Yes, like that.

And there she was.

[Atomicweasel]

As Jamie came towards him, Ren flicked away the cigarette he'd been nursing while he waited. He watched it spiral away from him, sail in a bright little red arc and disappear into the snow. Then he stepped towards Jamie and looked her up and down with a critical eye. Jamie could almost feel herself being judged, and Ren's inscrutable Asian face revealed nothing...until at last he broke into a warm grin.

She looks like a pirate. Still, a cute pirate. "You look good, Jaime." He offered her his arm. "Wanna go to Minneapolis?" He'd already started drawing her away from the building, walking slowly around the back of Hayden Hall.

[Weft]

Jamie blinked. "Minneapolis?" she asked, thinking she had misheard and taking Ren's arm without thinking about it. She had to step up her pace a bit to keep up with him, which made her both curious and disagreeable. Why the hell were they going behind the building? Was he planning on gang-raping her or something? "I think it's even colder there..." she trails off. That hadn't been as light as it had been in her head. Damnit. "Explain this Minneapolis business?"

[Atomicweasel]

"It is cold," Ren admits as he looks over Jamie's head and then turns to glance back behind them. When he's satisfied no one is watching them, he draws Jamie over to the warped oak behind Hayden Hall and explains.

"What, did you think you were the only mutie around here who could pop in and out of space as she pleased?" He smirked at her impishly. "You might wanna hold on for this," and then Ren took light hold of Jamie's hips and closed his eyes.

All around them, Jamie saw that a strange glow began to build, centered on Ren, but flowing across Jamie in a warm electric wave that set her skin to tingling and lifted her hair up straight. She saw the snow melt away at her feet in a perfect circle, leaving dry dead grass exposed...and then she saw her toes lift lightly off the ground.

A moment later, Jamie heard a sizzling pop and an acrid ozone smell filled her nose. Her hair settled. Her feet touched hard cement. She was standing with Ren in the middle of unfamiliar street lined with lights and the bright signs of businesses. Cars drove by, bathing both teens in swaths of yellow light. It was bitingly cold.

"See? Minneapolis." Ren told Jamie.

[Weft]

Okay...Jamie was not expecting that at all, though she should have. Even she couldn't teleport reliably this far....She turned her head this way and that, drinking in the sight of a city completely foreign to her after having spent the last few months shut away at school. But she was also getting cold. "Impressive. But do you have a destination in mind? I don't think it's the right temperature for a stroll." She brushed his hands off her hips impatiently, though the grip had sent a tingle through her body, and slipped her arm around his once again. For security's sake, of course.

[Atomicweasel]

"We're going someplace so good. You're gonna love it." Ren hid the disappointment of having his hip-hold rebuffed, and hid it well. He smiled at Jamie abashedly as he looked up and down the street, then began a brisk walk.

"I think we're good. Yeah. No. We're good. We're on Marquette, so it's right over there." Ren pointed up the block, then suddenly paused. "Oh shit! I'm sorry, you must be freezing, here, wait..." he shrugged out of his jacket, all Italian wool, and slipped it over Jamie's shoulders.

"There." Ren shivered. "It's not far at all, we're just a couple blocks up...I guess I missed it by a bit."

He led Jamie down the street, the both of them leaving little trails of smokey mist with every breath. At length, they arrived at an old skyscraper that jabbed up into the frosty Minnesota night. Jamie could make out the letters spelling 'FOSHAY' in the stone, and then Ren was hurriedly moving past her to pull open the glass double doors.

They stepped into a cozy lobby that looked like that of a fine hotel. On the wall to her right, Jamie saw a picture of an enormous bull, hanging testes and all. To her left, the wall bore a series of framed photographs, all of them signed. An elegantly dressed hostess, thin and blonde and squeezed into a cocktail dress smiled at them brightly.

"Yes?"

"Two for dinner." Ren answered.

"Oh, I..." she looked at them more carefully, smiled indulgently. "I'll go and check and see if there's--"

"Berren Weiland and guest." Ren interrupted, looking a little peeved.

The hostess gave them the twice over. "Oh. Alright." She finally answered primly. "Right this way."

The two of them were escorted to a booth with deep plush leather, a stark white table cloth, and long-fluted wine glasses turned face down. The hostess quickly righted the glasses, beamed a smile at both of them and announced, "The waiter will be with you shortly."

Ren watched the hostess go, then turned to smile triumphantly at Jamie.

-------------------

Back on campus, anyone who might be inclined to look out their window at Risley Dorm, might see Ren escorting a young woman through the door. Once inside, Ren swept the young woman off her feet and into his arms, carried her quickly up the stairs and set her down. Though the halls in the dorm were mostly empty, the young mutants having gone to bed, anyone watching might well have remarked that the girl didn't giggle or shriek or seem the least bit surprised. She went on speaking in a normal conversational voice, stood still as Ren set her down in front of his door, and then traipsed inside with him.

Ren shut the door to his room behind Jamie and hurried to pull his desk chair out for her as she went to sit down in the imaginary booth. He sat across from her on his bed and called his favorite delivery place, 'Awesome Thai.'

"Hi, yeah...I'm gonna want an order of pad thai, beef with red curry, um, two thai iced teas, and those cheese puff things. Yeah, six of those--no, you know what? Gimme twelve. Yeah. Yeah...uh, Ren. Lawrence Hunt Academy. Yeah..." Ren scowled at his phone. "Yeah, I'll pay extra. It's Risley dorm, room three two three."

[Weft]

Jamie grinned crookedly, accepting the coat with a warm 'thanks.' And, well...if Jamie would have preferred a pair of warm arms, she wasn't telling.

The restaurant was way classy, classier than any place Jamie'd ever been to before. She ogled the picture of the bull, and his enormous testes, before blushing and looking away. She sat down in the plushy booth, eyeing the wine glasses - at last, something she knew. Her parents had been mild wine enthusiasts, and she'd got her fair share of 'sips' over the years. She looked up at Ren, grinning mischievously. A suspicion was forming in the back of her mind, based on some of the conversation's she'd had recently about Ren's powers and Oneca's odd behavior. "This is quite elaborate," she said nonchalantly. "I'm curious. How did you manage to set all this up from a private boarding school in New York?"

[Atomicweasel]

"Set up? Oh...that," Ren rolled his eyes slightly. "My dad is Ben Weiland." He waited for that to sink in, and, when a minute later it still had not, he broke into an amused smile. "Senator. He's a senator. From here, from Minnesota. I try not to make a big deal or anything out of it, you know?" He shrugged lightly. "But it's pretty boss for getting a table at Manny's."

By now Ren was blushing, looking a little embarassed by his revelation. "Um. That's kind of my dark secret," he leaned towards Jamie across the table to whisper "so don't tell on me, okay?" And there it was, that subtle change in the cadence of his voice. The way it made his words seem as sexual and compelling as a kiss.

Suddenly Ren straightened, a terrified look on his face. "Oh shit! I hope you're not vegetarian. Please say you're not."

[Weft]

Jamie gave a surprised laugh, thankful for a release from the sexual tension that had her leaning towards him in kind. "No, no I'm not. I love meat too much to give it up." Suddenly she realized what she said, and blushed. She was really getting tired of that crap, too. "I mean," she said hurriedly, trying to move on, "I've never been to a place like this, and I don't really think I have enough money anyway - are you paying? - so why don't you just order something for me? I probably wouldn't recognize anything on the menu."

[Atomicweasel]

"Course it's on me," Ren's tone was gently reproving, like that went without saying. He slid his silverware over just an inch, lining up the forks. His eyes slid away from Jamie for a moment as he glanced around the restaurant, possibly searching for their waiter, but when he looked back at her, he fixed her with an unflinching gaze.

A mischevious little grin gave Ren's game away. She could feel his eyes on her as if he were trying to see through her, trying to pin her with his stare like a butterfly to a collection plate. He was trying to fluster her, Jamie saw, but then he smiled and that predatory glint dropped away to be replaced by a look of simple interest. Interest in her.

"You want some wine? We're getting wine." Ren announced, and shortly after that the waiter arrived at the side of their table. He brought with him a cart with enormous cuts of meat, a huge live lobster, and several side dishes which he displayed to Ren and Jamie, explaining each in turn. The theme seemed to be big, and both Ren and the waiter promptly agreed that Jamie needed to have the surf and turf. That meant a colossal tail of Australian lobster and a fine aged cut of filet mignon. On top of that, Ren ordered Jamie the caesar salad to start and a bottle of Silver Oak red wine.

There was a briefly awkward moment then, when the waiter asked to see id, and instead Ren beckoned him closer and whispered something in his ear. Having been treated to just such a whisper herself, Jamie knew that voice was reverbrating in the waiter's bones and travelling through his blood and straight into his gut.

The waiter trundled off with his presentation cart and Ren sat back and grinned his best boyish grin at Jamie. "Magic."

[Weft]

"Wine would be great," Jamie agreed, unfazed by his stare. She hadn't had any in a long time, and it would be just the thing to wet her throat and make this evening go a little more smoothly. "But..." she broke off when the waiter came over, and watched with gradually ascending eyebrows as he worked his voodoo on the man.

That stunt with the waiter could get Ren locked away for a long time if the wrong people got wind of it. It was a foolish risk to take in such a public place - but Jamie was beginning to suspect that Ren hadn't taken a risk at all. It was so difficult to tell...eh. She would play along and see how he behaved himself.

"Impressive," she said with an admiration that was not entirely unfeigned. "You have a very..compelling...voice. Do you sing? I used to, but after...you know," she waved her hand airily and leaned forward, locking eyes with him, "It's not really an option. But I still play guitar, and I'm always on the lookout for good voices."

[Atomicweasel]

"You play guitar?" Ren found that weirdly endearing. He pictured Jamie nestled down next to some fire-place, craddling her guitar on her lap, strumming lazy low chords and humming instead of singing. He pictured her like that, self-conscious about her croaking voice even alone, and it tugged at his chest someplace. He also pictured her in a much shorter skirt. That image tugged someplace else entirely.

"That's really cool." Ren told her, shifting in his seat. "I um, got bullied into choir by my parents when I was little. But that's it. I haven't tried singing at all, since then."

Maybe I could learn though... Ren mused. Maybe we could start a band. He snapped out of his day-dreaming to smile at Jamie.

[Weft]

"You really should," Jamie said seriously. "You have a fine voice; I bet you'd be a natural. And yeah, I've been playing guitar for a while. My - " mom, she thought, but she hadn't spoken of them since the fire and she wasn't sure she could. She felt the familiar lump rising in the back of her throat and forced herself to continue, though the words now felt hollow. "I mean, I could've chosen piano, but guitar is just cool. Lot more possibilities with a guitar. You can't sit at a street corner begging for change playing piano."

[Atomicweasel]

Ren nodded at Jamie. He hadn't missed her stammer or the way her eyes suddenly got bright with emotion before she mastered herself, but he didn't want to press it. Not yet. So, he smiled at her mischeviously and said, "Do you know what? I want you to play the guitar for me. It doesn't have to be tonight...but, yeah, I definitely wanna hear you play."

He tapped his fingers over the table-cloth, licked his lips and looked like he was about to say something, but just then the waiter chose to arrive with the wine. He poured a little into Ren's glass, watched the young mutant take a sniff, taste it, and give him a nod of approval, and then he poured the rest, filling with both glasses with a generous measure and leaving the bottle at the table.

"I don't really know shit about wine," Ren confessed to Jaime--a fact she'd already discerned from the way he held his glass, cupping it rather than holding it by the stem alone. "I just pretend like I do. So you'll have to tell me if this is any good..."

[Weft]

Jamie swirled her own wine contemplatively. "I imagine it would be, given the caliber of this place..." but assuming this Ren's illusion, it might be utter crap. She took a delicate sip, pursing her lips in thought. "I'll play for you, sure," she said, picking up the thread of the previous conversation as she analyzed the wine. "Most of the stuff I do is in kind of a folky style, though I can do some rock too if you hand me an electric guitar." She grinned sheepishly. "When I was younger I basically wanted to be Pat Benatar."

[Atomicweasel]

"Pat Benatar, huh?" Ren chuckled. Hit me with your best shot...fire away...something like that. "That's...cool," he grinned at her widely. "Just please tell me you don't like country/western."

The wine tasted wonderfully. It had a full smooth body, a crisp aftertaste...for someone who claimed not to know anything about wine, Ren certainly knew how to make it seem real. If this was, as Jamie suspected, an illusion, it was truly elaborate one. She could hear the music playing in the background of the restaurant, Schubert, she thought, the voices of the other patrons murmuring through their own conversations, the clink of forks and knives on dinner plates. She could smell the mouth-watering scents of the kitchen wafting in through the dining room, the rich aroma of the wine in her glass. She could feel the firm leather of the booth beneath her thighs, the growling in her stomach. It all looked, smelt and felt so real...

The arrival of the waiter at their table brought an added layer to the fantasy Ren had woven for her. The man placed a succulent looking dish of lobster tail and a simmering round of filet mignon before her. He delivered an equally homongous and appetizing ribeye to Ren and then left an enormous plate of mashed potatoes--oozing with bacon and cheese and sprinkled with chives--in the center of the table.

He smiled cheerfully at Ren and Jamie. "Anything else I can get you guys?"

Ren looked over the food, up at the waiter. "Didn't she have a caesar salad coming?"

"OH...goodness yes." The waiter turned apologetically towards Jamie. "I'm so sorry!" He made his eyes go comically wide, smiled regretfully. "Should I still bring that out?"

[Weft]

"Actually, I do," Jamie said, cocking her head and giving him a stare that said quite plainly do you wanna make somethin' of it? "I have pretty high standards, though. I'm not a Nashville girl. But there really are a lot of good alt-country bands, and of course I'll always be a fan of Waylon Jennings, Gram Parsons, Kenny Rogers, et cetera."

And she might have continued in that vein but for the waiter approaching, and the mouth-watering aromas he brought with him. The wine was great, the food looked great - if this was an illusion, it was an extraordinarily elaborate one.

Jamie raised her eyebrows at the waiter's slip. "No, it's fine," she said quickly, giving him a reassuring smile. "I doubt I'll manage to eat all this anyway." God, this was strange. A little slip like that...was it a calculated move to make this seem more real to her, or was it simply the sort of mundane slip-up that happened even at the best restaurants? Impossible to tell, she finally decided. She'd confront Ren about it after this date ended, if she was going to at all.

She flashed Ren an appreciative grin. "Goodness, this looks good. It's gotta be cool having relatives in high places."

[Atomicweasel]

"It's not all that," Ren assured Jamie as the waiter took his leave with a look of relief.

"I mean, yeah, you get the perks that come with it," he waved vaguely in a gesture that seemd to encompass the restaraunt as a whole. "but it can be kind of a pain in the ass too. Like, like..." He trailed off, cutting into his steak thoughtfully, "I dunno. Like something more is always expected of you. Like good is never good enough, you know?" Rancor had made its way into Ren's silky voice and he fought it back with a tight grin, a self-depreciating shrug. "But I guess everyone hates their parents. Right?"

He stabbed into a juicy bit of steak and watched Jamie while he chewed on the morsel.

---------

Back in his dorm room, Ren found himself growing flustered as he looked at the young girl seated across from him. He'd dragged his trunk over to use as a table, and having paid the delivery-boy his thirty dollars, had arranged the food from Awesome Thai to match, as best he could, the layout of the table at Manny's. Of course the food piled onto Jamie's plate was not exquisite surf and turf, just pad-thai and beef curry. And the napkins were paper and the silverware was plastic. Not for the first time he longed to be able to taste his illusions, to live them as Jamie was living hers now. But that wasn't what was bugging him.

Why was he spilling his guts to this girl he'd barely met, Ren wondered. Why did she suddenly matter to him? They didn't even have anything in common. She probably hates techno and rap. Ren thought. She dresses like she buys all her clothes at TJ Maxx. And yet he still found himself irresistably pulled to the sweetness of her pixie face, drawn into the mystery of her green eyes.

He could reach over right now and slip his hand into her blouse. Squeeze her boob. She'd never know it. So why didn't he? Not that he was some frat-boy date-rapist, but something kept him from even slightly wronging Jamie, from hiking up her skirt to oggle her panties, or just running his hands over her thighs. What he wanted, he found, was to be nice to her.

So, he sat back and rubbed his jaw as he watched Jamie, smiling to himself as she carried on her conversation with his imaginary double. He'd tricked her, but it didn't have to be nasty trick. It could be a nice one.

---------

"So, do you like it?" Ren asked Jamie.

[Weft]

But I guess everyone hates their parents.

Jamie froze. She nearly dropped her fork. She felt paralyzed, like someone had grabbed her by the neck and ripped her spine out. Her stomach felt like she'd been eating broken glass.

Ren was asking her something, but all of a sudden he seemed very far away.

Right?

She could have saved them. She could have ported back in, if she hadn't been so tired and scared and confused and lightheaded from the smoke. She could have warped them out, and they wouldn't have died. But they did. And it was all her fault. What good was being a mutant to her? She was still practically a murderer, wasn't she?

Maybe she didn't love them as much as she thought she did. She had convinced herself she loved them, but it was easy to love somebody when they were gone, when they couldn't judge you. When they were alive it was...

Like something more is always expected of you. Like good is never good enough.

Jamie realized, quite suddenly, that she was going to cry. And she didn't want Ren to see. "Bathroom," she choked out through her constricted throat. "Stomach." She wriggled out of her seat, dashing in the first direction she saw, and thank Jesus God and the Blessed Virgin Mother there was the bathroom right ahead of her. She rushed in blindly, scrambling into a stall and fell heavily on the seat as a lone, ragged sob burst from her chest.

Back in his room, Ren could only watch as Jamie began weeping in earnest.

[Atomicweasel]

Ren had to scramble to his feet just to keep Jamie from running herself into his walls, or tripping over his desk, or otherwise injuring herself as she bolted from her chair. It was a testament to his illusion's wicked pervasiveness, to his terrible power, that he was able to keep her fantasy world coherent. He managed to grab her arm and run her in a circle, twice, before she went to sit and he manuevered her to the bed.

It might otherwise have been hilarious, had not Jamie begun to bawl her heart out as soon as she was seated.

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. Fuck. Ren watched her nervously as she sobbed brokenly into her hands. What the fuck was that? That is not an upset stomach... So, then, it was something he had said. Jesus, fuck...but what?

Ren held one hand over his mouth, the other on Jamie's shoulder, though it could not be felt by her and was no comfort to the girl. He felt a tightness in his chest as Jamie finally quieted down and sniffled through the last of her tears.

---------

Jamie stood in front of the mirror in the empty bathroom. It was a good thing she hadn't worn make-up, because her face would've been a mess. Her eyes were red-rimmed and puffy from crying, her nose runny. She splashed some water on her face, dried herself with one of the cloth towels neatly arranged on a towel rack, and took another look. Better. But it would still be obvious to anything but a total tool that she'd been crying.

Her appetite ruined, she returned to the table where she found Ren anxiously waiting. "Could you take me home, please?" she asked him, with a barely noticeable quivering of her lower lip.

To his credit, Ren simply nodded somberly and stood up out of the booth. He leafed through a billfold, dropping four crisp hundred dollar bills on the table, held out his jacket for Jamie and walked with her out of the restaurant.

Jamie's silence as they walked down the street felt colder to Ren than the frost-bitten Minnesota night could have felt to her. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't think of how to make it right. She was upset and hurt. And it was his fault. He didn't have to know how it was his fault...he simply knew from looking at her that it was.

They turned into an empty alley, and Ren once more took light hold of Jamie's waist while she crossed her arms over herself and turned her face away from him. The same crackling burst of energy that had brought them to Minneapolis now took them away.

---------

For the second time that night, Ren found himself carrying Jamie in his arms, navigating the stairs as quickly as he could without dropping her, while she kept wriggling and moving like she was still walking. He finally got her down the stairs, set her on her feet, and escorted her back to Hayden Hall, leaving their unfinished meal behind.

---------

There was a shimmering pop and Jamie found herself standing back under the big oak tree behind Hayden Hall. Ren let go of her, guiltily noting the sadness in Jamie's eyes.

"Jamie, let me walk you back to your dorm."

[Weft]

Jamie wanted to say no. She felt gutted. She wasn't at all sure she wanted to see Ren ever again, though she wasn't angry at him per se - but somehow it sucked up energy to look at him anyway.

On the other hand, he hadn't known. Whether in her head or in the real world, he'd wanted to show her a good time. The comment hadn't been meant to hurt her. He was just trying to make conversation.

She struggled there for a moment, shifting from foot to foot under the oak tree. What it really came down to was: part of her didn't want to drive Ren away over this. And it wouldn't be that much of a burden, walking with him. Maybe. Hopefully.

Jamie nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, that'd be nice."

[Atomicweasel]

Resisting the urge to reach out and touch her, to put an arm around her shoulders or just hold her hand, Ren walked along at Jamie's side. The two of them ambled out from under the hanging eaves of Hayden Hall, plodding slowly through the snow.

Ren held his tongue until they'd almost crossed the quad, just watching Jamie and trying to read her dark unhappy mood. He wasn't Sherlock Holmes, he wasn't even Curtis Shane, but Ren was no drooling retard, and by now he'd begun to work out the answer to two plus two.

"I said something shitty, right?" He placed his hand tentatively on Jamie's elbow, struggling to say something more. Maybe her mom's got Leukemia. Maybe her dad's a raving alcoholic and he touched her...fuck.

Finally, Ren just rubbed the back of his neck and waited on Jamie. If she wanted to tell him, she would.

[Weft]

"Yeah," Jamie said softly, making no motion to shrug off his hand, but not reciprocating either. She swallowed and tried not to focus on what she was saying. "My...my parents..." her voice broke. God damn it. "There was a fire. That's when I...manifested. As a mutant."

She didn't look at Ren. She didn't know what expression she'd see on his face, but she didn't want to look because she was terrified it would be pity. And she didn't deserve pity.

Jamie took a deep breath and forced herself to continue. "I manifested with spatial powers, as you know. I ported out, onto the street about a block away. It was just an unconscious thing. I wasn't trying to port. And...well, I was already half-conscious, you know. With the smoke. And I didn't know what was happening. But...but if I did, I mean, if I had, I could've...." she broke off. She'd got most of her crying out (she thought) but something still felt raw inside.

For a few moments there was silence, and then, when Jamie thought she'd mastered herself, she said, "So, what I saw tonight. Minneapolis. The restaurant. Did that really happen? Or did it just happen in my head?"

[Atomicweasel]

Ren's usual squintiness gave way to a deer in the headlights look. There it was. Dropped with all the subtlety of a rhinocerous. Ren felt a little bit like Hiroshima must have felt. How the hell did she know?

Since he'd developed his powers, Ren had been able to get just about anything he wanted from people, made them believe whatever he liked, made them see what wasn't there, made them feel what never was. And he had, using people like puppets for his own amusement. Sometimes the puppets broke. A little or a lot...but Ren couldn't help himself. It was too much fun. Only lately, it hadn't been. Lately, it had begun to feel like getting kicked in the teeth.

"It was fake." Ren admitted quietly. He didn't shy away from Jamie or look away. "It was all fake." He shrugged, resigned. He opened his mouth, his whole story set to spill out of him, wanting to tell her every rotten thing he'd done. Wanting most of all to tell her about Max. But he didn't. He couldn't.

Ren shook his head. "Jamie, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry about your parents." He wanted badly to comfort her, wanted her to be okay. He went to hug her, but she turned away, her shoulders hunched.

"Okay." Ren murmured. He stared hard at the snow at his feet, thinking it would be nice if the earth chose that moment to swallow him whole.

[Weft]

He was really sorry. Heh.

Jamie wasn't sure what she was feeling. One part of her wanted to walk away and never see him again and one part of her wanted to turn and scream at him that didn't he understand it was her fault they were dead? and one part of her wanted to burst into tears all over again, and cry in his arms.

She grabbed two of those parts, strangled them, and hid their corpses deep inside where they would never, ever come up again. And when all that was left was an empty calm, featureless and cold, she squared her shoulders and turned around.

"I don't know what to say to you. You invaded my mind without asking....you....saw me." Not the most coherent thing she'd ever said, and she wasn't sure if he understood, but now the words were pouring out in a torrent and she couldn't have stopped them even if she'd wanted to. "I mean, what were you doing while I was in a trance? Stroking my cheek? Humping my leg? How the hell should I know? I just...I don't know. But I need some time away from you, okay? Please? Give me a few days. I'll call you. Don't call me. Please."

[Atomicweasel]

Were it possible for Ren to blush any brighter, he would have. What the fuck do you say to that? Nothing. Because she's right and you're an asshole. Ren tightened his jaw against the rising lump in his throat and managed a nod. And he kept on nodding, rocking back and forth on his heels until he finally got his feet to moving and started walking away from Jamie.

He hadn't gotten more than a few steps when he spun around and called after her. "Jamie, I'm really, really sorry. I shouldn't have done it...but I was just trying to show you a fun time, honest. I didn't..." he shook his head again, left it at that and with a shakey sigh, turned back again and kept on walking.

In the snow, Ren could see the footprints they'd both made walking this far together. He thrust his hands deep into his pockets, scowling ferociously at those fading tracks that had marked their steps. When he'd got back to Risley dorm, he pressed his forehead against the hard cold brick, drew in a long deep breath and screamed out.

"FUCK."

[Weft]

The next couple of days were a mass of confusion for Jamie. She ignored her roommmate, spending her time in bed reading, periodically nipping down to the cafeteria for a bite to eat. She wasn't sure how she felt about Ren, or how she felt about the whole dating experience. He'd seen something inside her that she didn't usually flaunt, and it felt like being vulnerable.

And he'd been sorry. She saw that well enough. He'd been kind of a sleaze to her, but mostly he'd just been an unknowing sleaze, and he wouldn't have jackassed if it wasn't her for own weird emotional crap.

So did she want to see him again? Yeah. She kinda did. She liked his easy, effortless confidence, the way she could make him blush, the way he seemed intent on pleasing her. And it was an illusion, and that was kind of creepy, but she was pretty sure he hadn't humped her leg or whatever. And it had been a really thoughtful illusion.

Sigh.

No use putting it off. She grabbed her phone on the morning of Day 2, and punched in his number. Ring, ring.

[Atomicweasel]

Ren spent alot of time in the gym over those next two days. He subjected himself to punishing routines that left him sore and groggy and altogether worn out--swimming lap after lap without pause, maxing out his weights with arms and legs that felt like jelly, and jogging endlessly on the treadmill while Brother Ali pumped rhymes into his head.

Bone tired and exhausted he would drag himself back to Risley and slump into bed. His nights were spent playing a lot of chess with Sasha, who chided him for his lack of focus and soundly beat him every game.

He avoided the cafeteria, making his meals in the little kitchenette of the dorm. He avoided the library. He avoided the chapel.

He'd managed to convince himself that he was over Jamie. It was no big deal. They'd only gone out once. Her mysterious allure would fade.

His phone rang just as he was finishing his morning run. He fumbled with the treadmill controls, finally getting it stopped in time to put the iPhone to his ear and breathlessly blurt, "Yeah, hello?"

"Hey, it's Jamie."

Ren blinked. She called? She called. Course she called! A shit-eating grin broke out on his face as he sank down to sit on the treadmill. His blood was pounding happily in his ears, but he tried to keep his tone calm, serious, and not let on just how pleased he was to hear her croaky voice.

"Oh, hey. I wasn't expecting to hear from you..." he answered carefully.

[Weft]

Jamie smiled ruefully. She believed that, if anything. "Yeah...um, about the other night. I just...I needed some time to get my head together was all. I don't hate you forever or anything." Her voice, while hesitant, became a little teasing. "In fact, it was kind of fun up until...you know. Your powers are pretty amazing. Maybe, I dunno...we could do it again sometime. Sans the mind-screwing." She bit her lip. Now she was in the fun position of hoping she hadn't totally fucked it all up with her little 'outburst.'

[Atomicweasel]

Sans the mind-screwing, huh? Ren thought about that. He could spend his time chasing after the Onecas of the world--who were out his league and at best might regard him as a passing fancy or novel amusement to pass the time--or he could try his luck with a girl like Jamie, who came off sweet and honest and eager for affection...in her repressed and timid way.

"Gee Jamie, I dunno!" Ren teased back briefly, "Nah, of course let's do it again. Sans. The um...do you skate?"

[Weft]

"Skate?" Jamie said blankly. "Like..what? Roller skate? Or ice skate? I can roller skate. Kind of. I guess. Never ice skated before." Skating would be...well, whatever. She didn't really care about the skating. But it was an opportunity. "What were you thinking of?"

[Atomicweasel]

"I was thinking the lake." Ren answered. He reached up to snag his towel down from the handbars of the treadmill and wiped the sweat from his brow. "Can you borrow some ice-skates maybe?"

He draped the towel over his head and pulled himself to his feet. "I've just gotta get cleaned up and then I come pick you up or you can meet me there, we'll skate around a bit and then we'll be starving and we can grab some lunch." As he spoke he paused to stand in front of the wall mirror, looking himself over critically.

"How's that sound?"

[Weft]

"Borrow some ice skates? Yeah, maybe. Sounds great; I'll meet you there." And on that note, their conversation ended. Jamie hopped out of bed, threw on a pair of shoes, walked out the door and down the hall to Corentine's room. She rapped her knuckles on the door three times and hoped Corentine didn't have company.

Corentine Rouhette was one of the relatively few French mutants at the school. Like many mutants, her parents had done their best to get her as far away from them and their good name as they could. New York seemed just the place. Corentine had manifested with the power to breath two noxious fumes, her 'grey breath' and her 'black breath'. The grey breath was, as its name suggested, a cloud of smoky grey which billowed from her mouth and served as a knockout gas. The black breath was considerably more deadly.

The door opened a crack, revealing a tousled-headed blond girl leaning against the door frame, her modesty only preserved by a sheet wrapped loosely around her slim figure. Corentine eyed Jamie blearily. "Yes?"

Jamie frowned. She'd been hoping to get Corentine alone, but that had been extraordinarily difficult over the holidays. Apparently the other girl had payed off her roommate to bunk down with a friend for a week or two, while Corentine got the run of the dorm and the sharing of it with her lover. Aside from being one of the only French mutants at school, she was also one of the few openly gay girls, and Jamie had apparently caught her in a moment of passion.

"I need some skates," Jamie said carefully, face heating up as this realization sank in. "Ice skates. Do you have some you think I could borrow?"

Corentine blinked slowly. "Yes," she said faintly. "Sure. I guess. We are about the same size, aren't we? Wait here." The doot shut. There was a sound of shuffling, and voices, and then Corentine reappeared, a functional pair of skates clutched in her hand. "Not the newest pair, because I have not been in a while, but they work, and they should fit you well." Corentine was only an inch taller than Jamie, despite being a junior, and built along similar lines.

Jamie accepted the skates, grinning. "Thanks," she said warmly, wondering how many times she was going to fall on the ice today.

"Sure, sweetie," Corentine said, distracted. "Have fun." The door closed. Jamie had enough sense to scamper off in the direction of the lake before she could hear any embarrassing noises.

[Atomicweasel]

Jamie reached the lake first and had to wait a few cold minutes for Ren to arrive. She was heaving another impatient sigh when he finally came jogging out from the tree line and trotted over to the lake. He was wearing dark jeans and a white long-shoreman style turtleneck, which, knowing Ren, had to be cashmere. A fancy looking blood red wool scarf that probably cost as much as some kids' entire wardrobes and a black knit cap with a crimson band across the center completed his outfit.

"Sorry, I was getting showered," Getting dressed seemed the more likely excuse. Stil, the ruddiness the cold had put into his cheeks, the unexpected suggestion of shyness in his smile, made him easy on the eyes. "You got your skates? Let's see." He crouched to take a look at Jamie's skates, made a face. "Yeah. No. They're okay." Ren finally concluded.

He plunked himself down on the cold park bench next to Jamie, offered her another reconciliatory smile, and started tugging on his own skates...predictably expensive looking and all black and chrome.

"This is gonna be fun." Ren declared. He patted Jamie's knee and bounded off the bench, clunking along easily in his skates. At the edge of the lake he turned and beamed a grin at her, holding his hands out for her to join him. "Come on."

[Weft]

"I hope so," Jamie muttered to herself, tugging on her skates. She was wearing a red sweater vest, dressy plaid shirt underneath, and a pair of blue jeans. Simple fare, but she liked it. And she was fond of sweater vests.

She made her way out on the ice tentatively, not really having any experience with this sort of thing. "I hope you know what you're doing," she said more loudly, "because I sure don't." She wobbled towards Ren, arms held out for balance, and almost ran into him, managing to catch his hand.