Skye was still getting used to living in New York, and living on her uncle's pull out couch was a nice gesture, it left a lot to be desired when it came to personal space. However, in a rare bout of solitude, Skye found herself home alone; Blaine had just left to go to the gym, and to her utter shock, Lee didn't actually live with them. Then again, she was also shocked to find they weren't married, but really that was none of her business.

Since she was alone, she opened up one of her suitcases, revealing that it had several VHS tapes in it, along with her DVD and CD collections. Her focus, was the tapes. How thankful she was that Blaine had a VCR...

Popping one of them in, she sat on the couch, which was currently not pulled out, and then she pressed play. The recording started right at the introductions. On the screen, was a fresh-faced, clean shaven, Blaine, dressed in a pair of black shorts with green pinstripes, and nothing else. His tattoos were on full display, and aside from less scars and wear and tear, he looked roughly the same. She sat on the edge of the couch, even though she'd seen this multiple times. Hell, she loved them so much, her grandparents made her her own copies.

The bell rang, and her brown eyes were glued to the screen, despite knowing almost every move of every fight.

Lee had been curious about Skye, why her father had sent her to live with her uncle that she hadn’t seen in 13 years, what her powers were since Lee still didn’t know, and how much control Skye actually had. Because that’s all Lee could think of being the reason she had left home as she had. Blaine’s siblings had reached out to him at Christmas, seeming to want to reconnect, so it wouldn’t be simply because Skye was a mutant. That left either what her powers were, which didn’t sound right to Lee, she hadn’t noticed anything weird other than the colour changing hair and light up hands. Or, a lack of control.

But as had been the case that first night, Skye had trouble dealing with the hours that she and Blaine kept with working at the bar, so Lee still hadn’t had a chance to talk to the girl. That was going to change, though.

They had sparred a few days ago, but Blaine was already back at the gym. That worked out well in this case, though, because everything at the boutique was well taken care of and Lee didn’t really need to be there that afternoon, so Lee had made her way over to Blaine’s apartment.

Unlocking the door and making her way in, Lee heard what sounded like a fight on the TV. But it was Skye sitting on the couch. ”Don’t tell me you like watching those, too,” Lee said as she hung her coat up and took her boots off. ”I thought I was going to get a bit of a reprieve from them with you here.”

She jumped when the door opened, her hair turning green and lighting up the dim room in an eerie green light for a split second, but then she saw it was Lee, and her hair returned to the content indigo as she focused on the TV.

"I don't think Uncle Blaine even knows I have these," Skye murmured. "I'm not into professional fighting unless it's him," she explained, realizing she was standing where she couldn't see what Skye was watching. "My grandparents recorded every fight they could get their hands on. Though most of it was on local TV...small town, semi-pro and whatnot. Have a seat, I'll restart it. You know you wanna see your boyfriend in action, right?" She smiled over at her as she hit rewind, then hit play again.

Lee frowned as she saw Skye’s hair, and the light, changing colours. Was it emotional, she wondered? Or maybe based on wants and desires? Either way, as her hair went dark again, Skye seemed to be more relaxed.

Slowly, Lee made her way into the living room as she heard Skye explaining. And as the girl continued, Lee smiled. ”I’m sure that Blaine would probably like to hear about that,” Lee said as she sat down. ”He’s been wondering for years what the family thinks about him, how they feel. Knowing that his parents not only taped all of his fights, but kept them all this time.”

But then Skye was rewinding the video, sure that Lee would want to see Blaine in action. Lee laughed slightly. ”Pretty sure I’ve seen that,” Lee replied. ”But it’d probably be easier to focus on when I’m not trying to dodge his punches.”

"I was wanting to surprise him sometime. But I'm still adjusting to your wacky sleep patterns," she said with a soft smile. "Our family is supportive--well....his side, anyway--but they just...aren't sure what to do. They love us, but don't really understand the whole mutant thing," Skye explained as Lee sat beside her.

Then, she gave her a funny look. Uncle Blaine hasn't fought in years..." she murmured, then her eyes widened at the older woman's next comments. "Wait...you fought with him? I don't quite understand...Do you train together, too?" she asked, her eyes bright with curiosity.

Lee laughed when Skye said she was trying to adjust to their sleep schedules. ”You have no idea,” Lee said, smiling over at Skye. ”Your uncle sleeps normally compared to me. Right now, I tend to get about two or three hours a day, in the middle of the afternoon.”

As Skye continued, Lee nodded. ”It might not seem like it to you, but despite them not understanding, you’re lucky. A lot of mutants don’t even have that much. I know I didn’t.”

But after she said that she’d seen Blaine in action, Lee turned her attention to the TV. Blaine had mentioned before that despite not feeling pain, he knew he was getting slower; this fight was when he was younger, Blaine would probably say back in his prime.

”Uh huh…” Lee said softly. Sure Blaine hadn’t fought in years. But then she heard Skye’s exclamation when she realized that Lee had actually fought with Blaine. Looking over at Skye, Lee was a little confused. ”Where did you think all these bruises we have came from? But I’ve started going to the gym with him. Though, it took a while for him to believe I could handle sparring with him.”

"Well...I kinda need a full ten hours. If not twelve. But this whole being in a new place is still sorta wearing on me so I'm more hyped up than usual," she said with a small shrug.

"They tried....they really did and that means the world to me. It's my...well the woman that birthed me who had the problem..." she muttered the last part.

She blushed a little. "Well...I kinda figured I didn't want to know," she murmured. Then she turned the TV up a little as the fight started. It was one of Blaine's first, and he opened with the same intensity, but he was even quicker on his feet, actually able to kick at chest level back then. A feat he opened up with.

In fact, after only a minute and a half, the fight was over, despite Blaine sporting a bleeding forehead. "Most of them are this quick. And very few aren't wins. He really had what it takes, I think."

Lee’s eyes shot over to Skye when she said how much sleep she needed. ”I wish…” Lee said softly. The last time that she had slept that long, no, the only times she had slept that long since figuring out how her powers worked had been times when she had crashed after being awake for too long.

”Not all parents deserve their children,” Lee told Skye gently. ”It’s possible she’ll come around, but even if she doesn’t, you’ve got the rest of your family, and your uncle here. And I guess me, since you’ve decided that simply dating your uncle makes a woman your aunt.”

But then Skye turned the TV up and the fight actually started. Lee watched, enthralled at how quick and lightly Blaine moved in the ring. He was good.

And just as suddenly as the fight had started, it was over. Hearing Skye’s words, Lee looked over at the younger woman again in shock. ”Most of his fights were that quick?” Lee asked. ”Highly trained fighters, like your uncle, rarely lasted more than a couple minutes fighting him? Damn...”

She shrugged, pondering a moment. "Of course I don't know, but I remember learning in school that lacking one sense causes some of the others to pick up the slack. So maybe since he can't feel pain, his...I don't know maybe it makes him stronger than someone with the same build and training. But...I don't even understand his mutation, to be honest. He just can't feel pain? And I only really got that much from watching his last fight. Don't eat before that one, though. Trust me....it's pretty rough."

She paused, biting her lip a moment as she thought, looking over at Lee, her hair turning blue as she thought on her next words. "My...mother" she hissed the word mother as if it dripped with poison as she spoke it, "became distance when my powers surfaced. At the time, my hair just changed color, and I got pulled from public school to private. Then....they got more potent...and I was pulled from there, and finished with homeschool and tutors. My mom divorced my Dad and she...she wasn't nice while I stayed with her. My dad's job went sideways, and we lived in a pretty crappy apartment together. I couldn't keep a job, and I decided to try to reach out to Uncle Blaine. My Dad tried, but....he couldn't do it on his own," she said, pausing a little as she slumped on the couch.

Blue light flickered from her palms.

Lee shook her head. ”Not really,” Lee said, thinking about what it was that Skye had said. ”Mind you, I haven’t been hit by anyone else with his kind of training, but I’d say that your uncle hits about the same, or maybe a little bit harder, but he doesn’t have super strength.

But as she heard Skye continue speaking, talking about what she knew about Blaine’s powers, Lee shook her head, a frown on her face. The girl really hadn’t been told anything about her uncle other than the fact that he was a mutant, had she? ”It’s not just pain,” Lee said softly, the frown still on her face as she leaned back against the couch, her eyes turning back to the TV to see some of the post-match coverage. Then she nodded to the screen, indicating the fight they’d just watched. The very short fight. ”He can’t feel. Not that cut, not the blood or sweat on his skin, not the official’s hand when he was declared the winner. Nothing.”

As Skye started talking about her powers emerging, Lee looked over at her again, the frown still on her face if for a different reason. Except that her parents actually tried to keep Skye in school in some way, made sure that she still got her education, the story sounded rather familiar to Lee.

But Skye had brought up her own powers, as well as the mention of them getting more potent. This was the perfect opening, Lee thought. ”And just what are they?” Lee asked, genuinely interested. ”Believe me, I know powers can grow and change, but what would have caused them to pull you out of school completely?”

Skye nodded slowly. "It was just a theory; I mean I remember that pain is a good thing. Let's you know when something is bad, or when you should stop. Uncle Blaine doesn't have that, so theoretically...it's like a gun without a safety."

Then, her hair flashed purple as she flushed a little when Lee described Blaine's powers. "He can't feel...anything?" She paused a moment. "Well, that explains how focused I've seen he can be," she mused, then blinked a moment more. "Uhm....question. If he can't feel at all...then how do you...." She let the question hang as purple light emitted from her hands in little flickers.

Then the subject got to her powers. "Well, for the most part, it's just the hair and the light. It depends on emotion. When they first surfaced, I was moved to protect me. But then...my hands flickered light after getting asked about my hair. That turned into bullying. The next thing I knew, there was this loud bang and a flash of blinding white light. The light didn't bother me, but it disoriented everyone in the area, and it left me weak and my ears were ringing. And that's the day I got kicked out of school..." Her voice trailed off as she looked at the screen.

”Exactly,” Lee said when Skye expanded on her theory. And that was exactly it. Blaine’s inability to feel pain had helped him become as good of a fighter as he was, but it also made it that much more dangerous for him. Because he didn’t know when he was hurt, when he pushed too far.

>>”He can't feel...anything?"

Lee shook her head. But then Skye continued on, and her question caused Lee to blush even as she was staring at the TV. ”That…” Lee whispered, the slight frown still on her face. ”Is very complicated, and something we’re still working on.”

At least talk of Skye’s powers was far less awkward. Looking over at Skye as she spoke, Lee listened intently, carefully. Then she smiled slightly. ”My powers...grew a little explosively. It ended up throwing my husband, now ex, 15 feet through the air into a wall.

“What did you feel like right before it happened?” Lee went on to ask. ”When it came out? It can be controlled, we’ll just have to work on it.”

She gave a slow nod, silently acknowledging the answer. And she thought she had it bad. All she had to deal with was a lightshow.

"I accidentally got scared during....you know...once. My now ex fell off the bed, unable to see or hear for a few minutes...It was...pretty bad." She blushed lightly.

"Well," she started, thinking. "The first time I was embarrassed...another time I was depressed, another I was angry....scared...." Her voice trailed off. "So....I guess it's just extreme negative emotions, I guess?"

Lee bit the inside of her cheek. Somehow, she didn’t think that Skye would be very happy if she laughed at her confession of when one time she’d...exploded. ”I can see how that would be....awkward,” Lee allowed, then gave the younger girl a slight smile. ”But that’s just another reason to make sure you get some more control. Until you find someone completely comfortable with you, and even then I’m guessing that would be a mood killer, that’s probably something you want to avoid happening again.”

Her hair changed colour, and she produced light, based on her emotions, and then she sometimes had bursts of bright light and sound when she had intense negative emotions. ”I think things like that happen to most mutants,” Lee told Skye gently. ”I know fear and anger still increase my siphoning, and I’ve got better control over my powers than I ever thought possible at your age.

“I wonder how well sunglasses and ear plugs would protect from what you can do…”

"It's connected to emotion, and I'm almost always feeling some kind of emotion...even if the happier ones don't cause the explosion, or whatever it is..." She paused as her voice softened. "Not too many people are fond of a lightshow during sex," she blurted, her voice quiet. When she realized what she'd said, the purple light intensified a little, going from a flicker to a slow pulse.

"I'm not sure, actually. I mean, it might help, but I've never tried," she murmured softly.