asgardmeridiem | [open] if you don't shut your mouth, you're gonna feel the floor.

Entry tags:

[open] if you don't shut your mouth, you're gonna feel the floor.

Who: John Allerdyce and, perhaps, you.
What: Crossing the line and getting his ass fired.
When:Night 267
Where: Baldr, either at the bar or wandering.
Rating: PG-13 for John's mouth and potential violence, will mark up if needed.

[They knew that he drank on shift. They knew that he mouthed off customers and occasionally even told them to get right the fuck out of the bar. But they were strapped for employees, so they held onto him.

Until he got extremely loaded on this particular evening and started - or attempted to start - a fistfight with his boss. The large, burly man had just enough colour to be angry, so he joined in gladly, and it got to the point where Pyro had to pull his knife. One long cut up his boss's bicep later, Pyro's ass was out on the street.

You can find him:

A) Standing in the open doorway of the small bar, hollering abuse at the owner/bouncer who just threw him out, his arms and face badly bruised and a slight list to his walk;

or

B) Wandering through Baldr with a fresh bottle in his hand, a steady stream of muttered annoyance trailing behind him. There may be shadows of bruising left, but they'll be hard to make out in the darkness.

It's hard being Pyro, damnit. So much manpain, so little time.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[connor smirks at him]

You've still gotta blow off some steam, it looks like. I'll go easy on you.

I could turn you into ashes in a split-second back home.

[Worthless threat, since he's not back home, but he has to reassert some kind of dominance when he's learned full well that he can't fight worth a damn. He'll do it, absolutely, but he's been overpowered by everyone but trolls. Even Euri scored a point on him.]

I believe it. Back home I could do a lot of things.

[connor has been training constantly since he got to asgard, especially since his breakdown a month in. over being weak. weak for a human, at that. he could almost certainly beat pyro to the ground in under a minute, but that's not what this is about. this sort of thing is about giving someone back a feeling of control, like they aren't as helpless in asgard as they started out. it's not the same, but it's something, and he's seen it help people.

this guy is all talk, and it's going to get him into more and more trouble. unless, maybe, he doesn't have to put up such a front? finds an outlet from his anger?

this could be a good idea or a really bad one... connor's made plenty of each.]

Yeah?

[He drops some of the posturing, genuinely interested. By now, he knows full well that it could be anything from werewolves to magic to time-hopping, but he still hopes to find mutants he might not have known back home. Potential converts.]

Yeah.

[they fall into step and connor considers what to tell him. for now he just shrugs.]

I wasn't fireproof, though.

Lucky for me, not many people are. [His laugh is good-natured, if a little dark.] Pyrokinesis. I need a source, but once I've got one, it'll do whatever I want.

Huh. Do you think you'll ever be able to summon it yourself? Needing a source might get inconvenient.

[he's curious! everyone he's met with an ability like that could create their own x y z. except for gwen, but electricity is everywhere.]

[He pulls out his distinctive lighter, flipping it open and lit with a practiced hand.]

This works for now. Has for years. An ember or a spark is enough, anyway - I lit a guy's jacket on fire with his own cigarette after he ripped this off for a light. [He sounds like he's reminiscing about his favourite pet, fond and cheerful.]

That's a serious temper.

[he doesn't sound like he's judging, not at all. just stating a truth.]

[He arches his eyebrows, trying to take a read on the statement and failing.]

I've taken enough shit in my life. Not taking any more. That's all.

In my experience? The important part about not taking shit is making sure you're not just giving it back.

[still no judging, he just lived with anger for too long and realized... it didn't help anything or anyone.]

You don't get it. People like me, we'll get shit everywhere we go. No matter what we do. Every day there's a fight, and you don't just forget that.

And before you say it, losing my mutation here didn't make me human. Say that and I'll finish you, however I have to do it.

Shit begets shit. Except then there's more. [he tilts his head, confused] And uh. No. Losing an ability doesn't change what you are.

What do you mean by mutation?

So what do you do when humans want to register you like criminals, or try outright genocide? Try to talk it out?

[As quickly as he's snapped that, he's mollified by Connor's genuine confusion.]

Tell that to most of the people here. Especially the werewolf asshole.

[At the question about mutation, he visibly puffs up, his pride showing through.]

It's a new gene, the X-Gene. We've evolved past humans, which is why they're so pissed off. And scared, mostly, because they don't get to be top dog anymore.

If it's possible, but I don't know anything about your life. I'd be an ass if I tried to tell you what you "should" do. Anyway, one thing at a time.

[he has a sneaking suspicion that the werewolf asshole is isaac......... but skipping it for now]

So you're like a different species?

[they're a full district over, now, even with pyro's limp. walking along~]

Paraspecies, but different enough. You can see it in some of us, once the mutation manifests. If you see a chick with blue skin, scales and yellow eyes, she's one of us, and you'd best not piss her off.

[A little smirk. Even with all the differences her younger age brings, he can't help but like Mystique.]

So you won't say what you can do, but I've spilled it all, so your turn. What are you?

I quit trying to piss people off. It's like smoking, I think... every now and then you really want to anyway.

[connor smirks back, willing to talk now that he knows a little about this guy]

No one knows what to call me, so it has a half dozen names and none of them are complimentary. My parents were vampires, basically just demons animating corpses... a kid isn't a thing that should happen, you know? Especially since I'm alive and biologically human except I have all their abilities. At home, at least.

[he lifts his fingers and ticks things off, his lightheartedness fading away as he continues]

Speed, strength, sight, smell, hearing, healing, reflexes, endurance, I could take a pounding, I could go without sleep, I was never sick... Imagine what it was like showing up here.

Edited 2013-05-24 04:04 (UTC)

[Vampires. He wasn't too far off. And he'd been wondering if there were any of those around for awhile.]

Literally losing senses. [He shakes his head.] It's so messed up. They want us as soldiers, apparently, but half of us are weak as shit because of what they did to us. Took our best weapons.

I know. I barely held it together, to be honest. But all we can do in the end is use what they gave us, maybe learn something new.

And I'm guessing you can't even throw a punch because you only ever used fire.

[the arena looms ahead of them now, and there's a spark back in connor's eyes when he looks over at pyro.]

Think it's time to learn?

Hey, I could beat a kid down when I was eleven. [He laughs, a bit dully. It's true - he's been relying on fire for too long.

At the offer, though, he looks at Connor in surprise.]

What's in it for you?

Uh huh. And that was before your powers showed up?

[connor puts his hand on the gate but doesn't open it; he turns to look pyro in the eyes. for the first time pyro might realize how tall he is, how much muscle is on his arms despite a narrow frame. something about his manner and smile has made him seem less threatening, until right then.]

You make me a promise.

[Another little laugh at that, which never reaches his eyes.]

Not until I know what it is.

You keep an eye on that anger.

It builds and builds and if you don't let the steam off sometimes... [he waves a hand at pyro's lingering injuries again] Somebody gets hurt. You can regenerate. Most people can't. There are a lot of people here who don't want to take any shit but can't hold their own like they do at home. I don't like seeing people hurt. You learn to hold your own here, maybe you'll feel more in control, who knows. Maybe I'm being an idiot and you'll go around pounding everyone, but I don't think so.

I just want you to promise that you keep an eye on it. You get too angry, you find a sparring partner and blow it off. More skill, more control, and nobody gets stabbed who doesn't absolutely need to be.

[He considers that for a moment. It sounds a lot like the kind of speech he would've gotten at Xavier's - control, control, control. But back then, he had no choice but to agree, right? Nothing's saying he's got to do what this guy says, and all he's saying in the first place is to keep an eye on it. If Pyro slips up, well, he's new to this.

Finally, he nods.]

Alright, fine.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/2

2/2

Re: 2/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject