Work was busier than normal, and the Monday drag had been real. It had helped a little that Seven had thought it amusing to send Mae texts throughout her day, and not all of them were, well, PG. Mae had to use her powers on a couple occasions to turn off her phone before someone saw what was on the screen. She didn't need to get a lecture for inappropriate work conduct. Although, she had secretly enjoyed the banter.

She had one stop on her way home, a little coffee place near her work. It was a small, one story type place that always seemed obnoxiously crowded. Waiting in line, she looked down at her phone to check the time. She really should let Seven know she would be coming home soon...

"Somethin' on your mind, luv? Maybe I can offer a better distraction?"

Mae looked up, and blinked at the man in front of her. Well, blinked up at him. He was very tall, and very much, on fire? Blue flames danced across his skin, his face, and he had a rather cold expression for someone sporting a smile. As if, this was all a joke to him. Mae felt her brow furrow, and shook her head, putting her phone in her pocket.

"Can't say I need your help. But thanks," she turned her attention forward, and tapped a foot impatiently.

The guy moved so he was back in her line of site, and he returned the glare. "Wut? Not good enough for your taste, kid? Shame. A little distraction could have been fun. Guess I'll have to entertain myself otherwise."

He moved away, and Mae pulled out her phone once more when it buzzed. Seven! She was just opening the text when yelling distracted her. Was that jerk causing more problems?

The text was not what she hoped for. Got groceries! She moved to reply but a call of FIRE! caused her to jump, pushing a button on the phone instead.

Oh, for f***s sake.

The pyromaniac had wandered behind the counter, and was lounging against the counter-top, and the flames were igniting anything within their vicinity. Paper cups, napkins, magazines all went up like so much kindling. Shouldn't there be a sprinkler system? Something to stop the fire!

"Get out of there!" she yelled to the nearest barista, grabbing the younger girl and shoving her toward the exit. There was another hiding behind the counter, and the blue mutant was glaring down at her. Mae snarled, picking up a napkin dispenser and decking the jerk with it. He cursed and fell forward, while Mae grabbed the spare and pushed her after her coworker. How many were left? Were there other customers? It was getting really hot now.

"I thought you didn't want in on the fun, darlin'. Wait, don't run out so soon, you are going to miss the best part."

Mae yelped as a hand grabbed her wrist, but it wasn't burning her. Mae was confused until she realized this maniac could control what he was setting on fire. He was burning the place down on purpose.

"You're...you're crazy," she snarled, and slugged him with her free arm. There were a handful of cuss words and then flames blocked her view again.

"Maybe a bit, but we can discuss it further if you'd like."

Seven didn't have many jobs lined up today, just a few smash-and-grabs to gather the rest of the rent money they needed. Hell, they were back home not long after Mae would normally have made it to work. They started their day by cleaning the apartment, intermittently texting Mae. They found this fun way to mess with her that involved sending definitely not PG texts and the occasional picture. Maybe it'd be a cure for the Mondays, who knew? Besides, Seven was generally bored. 

There was a long period where Seven quit sending messages, mostly to let Mae finish out her day in peace, but the apartment could also use some stocking, so they went grocery shopping, making a point to get things both of them liked. They were getting a lot better about that. Once home, the groceries were put away in their correct place(which was kind of hard to learn when you didn't make the rules. Here, things weren't just right because Seven said so.) Then, they sent one final text message.

~I got groceries!~

Very plain, ordinary and unlike anything Seven had sent that day. They normally didn't text Mae, but since they were dating now, Seven had to find new ways to pick on her, keep her on her toes. Even then this would be a rare occurrence. Then...the phone rang. Odd...Mae was...calling them? She was off work but...Headphones came down, and Seven used their powers to home in on the signal of the call, that way they could only hear Mae's voice and the other end of the call. 

There was....panic. Someone screamed fire? Mae was telling someone to get out of somewhere. Things sounded like **** had hit the fan, and without thinking, Seven made sure they had their brass knuckles, switchblade, and two burner phones they used just for teleporting, then they set the phone on the counter and disappeared, pixelating into then air as they literally rode the radio waves. Literally flying blind, they just followed the sounds of that one phone call, praying to whatever god was out there that'd listen that Mae wouldn't hang up. 

When the materialized mere moments later, they had to get their bearings. They were in the coffee shop Mae frequented, right behind Mae, who...had just slugged some dude who was on fire...Okay that was sort of badass. Really badass. Kinda hot, really. Hot. Fire. Right. Focus, Seven.

"Maybe a bit, but we can discuss it further if you'd like."


"I've got something to discuss, Birthday Candle. What happened, you try to light a fart?" Their eyes narrowed as their fists clenched, one hand clenched around their burner phone. "Mae, grab onto me, we're catching the train out of here," they instructed, taking charge of the situation. 

Blue was bored, and when he was bored, things caught on fire. It wasn't his fault. Okay, it really was his fault. But he had been forced to behave a lot, especially when he was around Juniper. He didn't want to lose that...friendship? Whatever it was, he was good at not singeing her.

The incident at the coffee place had been hard to explain. He was tired one morning, and came here for a coffee. Some little snob had messed up the coffee, and instead of getting caffeine like he hoped, he got the worst black liquid he had ever tasted. He had come in to have words with the brat, and then found himself distracted. The blue-haired girl behind him with the nose ring had seemed amusing, and he took the moment to test the waters.

Shut down, locked out. Well, that was short lived. After a few more comments, he went to the front of the store and found the girl. "So, you and I need a chat about your coffee making skills."

The girl had a moment of confidence and glared at him. "Sir, I have other customers to deal with. Don't make me call my manager---eeeeek! Fire! Holy shh---you are actually catching things on fire over a coffee?"

Blue tilted his head and smirked, "No, I came in here to complain about a coffee. But I'm setting things on fire because the second little piece of work decided to mouth off to me. Maybe you all will learn to think before you speak next time."

BAM!!! Something knocked him over the counter. Off the counter? He watched the barista get dragged away, and sat up, feeling angrier. He had only set a few fires, but now he was mad. Fine. Let the whole place burn. See if he cared!

Angrily he got up and spotted the girl about to head for the exit. He grabbed her wrist and decided they should have a longer conversation. And she punched him. And then, there was another girl. Guy? Blue blinked at the new arrival, bristling as the blue-haired girl beamed. Oh, she smiled at them. This new punk?

"I thought you were shopping honey! Uh, is that...possible?" Mae gestured at a small shimmer near her neck as if asking a question. Blue didn't know what that meant, but he also didn't like getting ignored.

"That's the second time you've hit me, luv. And it'll be the last time!" his fire seemed to change, going from mild and colorful to full heat. There was a scream, and the girl was yanked away from his grip. They disappeared, leaving Blue glaring at empty air. Fine, let the building burn. See if he cared.

Honey. Honey. In all the chaos, and all the bull****, the word honey there really took them away from it all for a second. Goddammit Seven! Focus on the now or all you'll have are memories!

"I was putting 'em away when you buttdialed me, apparently. I followed the signal, so whatever you do, do not hang up that call, okay?" Their voice was firm, but they weren't taking their eyes off Blue. "You better close your eyes and hope, pray, or whatever you wanna do because we're about to find out." Seven grabbed Mae's free hand, with their other hand holding the burner phone. They focused on the slight signal it was giving off and...poof! The flip-phone clattered to the floor and both of them were gone.

But not that far. They managed to make it right outside the door of the coffee shop where at least they were safe. Or not.

"Mae, lose the jacket, now," they said, instinctively reaching for the jacket to help throw it to the ground before the flames spread and got worse. Then, Seven turned back to the building, pulled out the other flip-phone, and looked back to Mae. "Stay put. I'll be back." There was nothing gentle in the way they spoke those words. They were sharp, commanding, and bitter. Visibly, Seven had bristled, tensed, and their switchblade was in their hand, blade already out. Then they took their hoodie off and wrapped it around their face to help against the smoke, then suddenly...disappeared in a show of pixels.

In a flash they were back inside, staring at the blue guy. "You wanna threaten somebody you piece of ****? You wanna hurt somebody? Leave her out of it. Come try me on for size you stupid sonofa*****..." they growled, stepping forward and assuming a fighting stance. At 5'9, raised by the streets, Seven wasn't muscular, but with their tee shirt showing their arms, they were fairly toned, and their knuckles had obviously seen their fair share of fights. As did their nose, which looked like it'd been broken before.

Blue had taken the time after the two disappeared to go behind the counter and steal an almost finished coffee for himself. If he was going to sit and enjoy the flames, he may as well grab a drink while he could. He had only managed a couple chugs when someone returned, yelling at him.

Blue blinked, then smirked, setting down the cup.

"Wha'ssamatter? Jealous I hit on your girlfriend? Psh, she seems like too much of a b**** for my taste," he scoffed, throwing the empty cup at Seven. Blue was not a fighter, generally. He was tall, lazy, and while he was faster than most people he tended to hide behind his powers. The person in front of him showed none of that reserve. Heck, they just teleported into a burning building to yell at him.

Blue stayed behind the fire, drinking up the energy from the flames. He had already burned a lot of his clothing off, the rest wouldn't last long, especially because his torso was just sort of nesting in the middle of a fire now. The pants wouldn't last. They never did. He was going to be walking home naked it seemed.

He was hiding behind the counter. Cute. They bent down and picked up their phone, holding it in their hand and trying to listen to the static noises as he talked. There was bound to be something somewhere.

"Oh if you think she's a bitch...you're in trouble." Then the cup flew across the room and hit them in the face, which...did nothing more than piss them off even more. They finally picked up on something, seemed like it was coming from the back. Music! Somebody had been listening to music behind the counter on their phone before things went to hell--literally.

The phone clattered to the ground again, and Seven disappeared, reappearing right next to Blue. In a flash, they rushed at the burning man and their left fist clenched and aimed at his jaw, the right hand gripping the switchblade and attempting to sink it somewhere into him. Hopefully chest, but it was hot, and they were too mad to focus. All they wanted was to make this asshole pay. In blood.

Blue had one big flaw as a villain, and that was their confidence. When you could hide in the middle of an inferno, you didn't always plan on someone joining you there. The stranger joining them was not their usual target. The girl they hit on had been the usual, this was just the pissed off SO that was out for blood.

Blue generally tried to avoid those...

They quickly brought an arm up to deflect the punch, and returned with a swing of their own, slamming a fist into the punk's mouth. They didn't see the knife coming from the other direction, however, and cursed as it buried somewhere into his torso. Hell... Making a grab for hair, he snarled, wishing he had left some clothing intact. There had been nothing to stop the weapon from digging in, and he grabbed it, letting the metal go white hot.

He was immune to heat so there was no way to burn the wound closed. But he could make sure the punk didn't get another cut at him.

"You like to play with fire?" He lifted the knife free, a red blade in his hand now. "Come on, let's play."

Flirting with Mae hadn't been the problem. Hell, setting the building on fire wasn't even the problem. Seven's problems began when Mae's jacket caught fire. Before then, this whole thing was just an inconvenience that they needed to flee. But now...it was an issue. The movement from the punching and the stabbing brought the hoodie down a little, exposing the lower half of Seven's face.

Knuckles connected with their mouth, and after the knife made purchase, Seven felt a hand tangle in their hair, and not in the good way, either. With a hiss, they aimed an elbow at Blue's stomach before spitting a spot of blood onto the counter. Whether the elbow connected or not, they'd look up at him with a smile the likes of which Mae hadn't seen before. While this one was toothy, there was nothing sweet about it. This smile was evil, twisted, and more than a little psychopathic.

They attempted to wrestle themself free, falling to their knees as the smoke got to them and they coughed, but couldn't stop. Eyes started to water as they made a dash for the phone on the floor and grabbed it, yelling with pain as it had grown hot, but it maybe...

Moments later, they were outside, on the ground by Mae's feet where they left the phone, coughing for a bit before they stopped, able to catch their breath, still wearing that wicked grin.

Mae was patient, but even she had a certain amount of stress when they were left outside a burning building and Seven went back inside.

She felt her fists shake, her jaw taught with effort not to yell, not to get upset. Seven fought, all the time. Seven won all the time. But this was fire, this was a whole lot of fire, and it was making her pulse race in a way she did not like.

Her arm was fine except for a small red hand-print around one wrist. There the skin was tender, but with quick first aid it shouldn't blister.

She was okay. Seven was in the fire, and she was not okay with that.

"So help me, Sev, you have two minutes to get your ass out here or I'm bustin' the door down and going after your ass...." she muttered to herself finally. Almost on cue, Seven appeared on the ground in front of her and she breathed again. Then she blinked, and frowned. "He f***ed with your face! Tell me you did more damage to that ***** or so help me, I'll go back in there..." She was threatening to march back and kick the fire mutants butt, while simultaneously scooping her arms around Seven and frantically checking for other injuries.

Inside the building, Blue would have to admit they had gotten the losing side of this. Taking an elbow to a knife wound was not something he would have ever wanted to experience, and there was blood. There was...quite a bit more blood than he had first thought. Pain had caused the weapon to fall, and he could hear sirens in the distance. Like a blue ghost, he slipped out the back, and hobbled toward the only place he could think: Juniper's apartment. But he made a note this wasn't over. They would have a rematch someday, he was sure of it.

Before Seven knew it, Mae's arms were around them and she was checking for injuries, and she wasn't happy. They sat up, looking at her. "Hey, it's fine. Just caught me in the jaw and I bit my cheek. That's all," they said as they stood to their feet, the adrenaline starting to wear off. "Oh, I did. You owe me a new switchblade," they half-teased, coughing a little as they shook their head. Their hair was a mess, face smeared with ash in some places, and they were starting to look tired.

"What do you say we get the **** outta here?" Seven suggested, offering their long arm to Mae before making the trek back to the apartment. It'd been a long day, with more excitement than they'd been expecting. But Mae had been threatened, and while Mae was the dominant one in some areas, Seven was the fighter. And they were protective of their girlfriend.

The ride back to the apartment was uneventful, and once they got home, Seven showered, changed into their sleepwear, and just flopped onto the sofa.

Mae was quiet most of the way back to the apartment. Seven wasn’t the only one who was tired, and Mae felt like a million thoughts were now trapped in her mind. Fire, Seven, the way her powers had booted them outside the shop when they tried to use Seven’s powers. Mae found the groceries where they had been left, and luckily anything that would have needed to be cold was already put away. The rest she took care of, They would still need coffee after all.

Once that was finished, she found the first aid supplies and some aloe Vera. Lathering a decent amount on her skin she flinched as the cold liquid soothed the burn, then wrapped it the rest of the way. It shouldn’t scar, the impact in her mind from
This would last longer.

Escape, powers. Why was that still bothering her? She knew Seven’s abilities didn’t work in the dead zone. The second they passed through the phone it must have gotten shut off. No power. A boat...A boat.

Mae put a hand to her mouth slowly, almost missing when Seven sat next to her. She felt a million walls suddenly go up in her mind. No no no. She turned and wrapped Seven into a rather forceful hug, despite the fact she was still probably covered in soot herself. ”I...am really glad you were there.”

Seven's shower was quick, and when they plopped on the couch their hair was still a bit damp. They had a lot on their mind, a lot to comb through, though it wasn't really bad as much as it was confusing as all hell. Feelings never were their strong suit, and yet...when they found out Mae was in trouble--or anytime she was hurt, really--Seven felt something prickling up in them. When she called them 'Honey' it completely took them out of the tense moment, and it was...nice. Very nice. And then when she threatened to go back in there if Seven didn't give as good as they got. Mae was...awesome. But they didn't know how to convey that. Not with words, nor with actions: What could you do to express that?

Suddenly Seven was snapped out of their train of thought by a forceful hug. That girl had a deathgrip and probably didn't even know it. But Seven was unbothered, returning the hug, albeit a little more gentle, but still firm. Strong. "I'm glad too. I've never really been one for the comic book hero type of entrances, but...I'd do it for you anytime. Though you showed you can handle yourself. Really. That was badass. I heard you getting people to safety, and I popped in just in time to see you deck that guy." They let their hand rest on the back of Mae's head, toying with their hair a little.

"Though I gotta say....that was kinda hot." They were trying to be cute, but they noticeably cringed at their unintended pun. That was freaking horrible. "How...how are you holding up? I mean...your day kind of turned into one of mine for a little while."

Seven wasn't big on words, but today, they were saying all the things Mae really needed to hear. She loosened her death grip a little as she listened, curling up a against Seven like a cat. Well, a large cat. Maybe she was more like some type of lynx or wildcat that thought it was a house cat?

She chuckled when Seven complimented her behavior, sighing.

"You are much more the comic book hero than I am. I just, did what I could with powers that honestly are not very useful in those sorts of situations. Heck, I made it more dangerous for you by being there. You're lucky you could even teleport with me, since my powers shut everything off..." she shivered slightly at that memory. While she had been relieved Seven was there, it was also a bit frightening. What if they hadn't been able to teleport at all? Would Seven have stayed? Mae didn't like the idea of them both getting hurt because her powers.

She smiled a little though, despite the anxiety she felt. "Hey, I've always been able to at least throw a punch. You just always seem to catch me when I'm a hot mess instead of just hot." she returned the cringe-worthy puns, and kissed Seven on their cheek.

How was she holding up? Mae looked away, feeling bothered again. "I'm...okay. The excitement wasn't so bad. Honestly, most buzz I ever got in a coffee shop. But, I feel like I remembered something that I didn't ever want to know. It's not the fire itself..." She had a distracted look and went back to her cuddling. She wasn't even sure if she was ready to deal with what her mind was processing.

Before Mae, Seven wasn't used to any of the cuddling, the sweetness, or the cute nicknames. Hell, at first Seven's use of nicknames were to pick at her, but over time...they became more affectionate. Now, as Mae loosened the bearhug she had them in and curled up against them, Seven looked down at her, running a hand through her hair.

"If anything I'm more of a villain than a hero," they said with a sigh. "I honestly wouldn't have given a flying **** about any of that if you hadn't have been in there. It did what we needed it to. Got us out of there. Not as far as I woulda hoped, but...I can work with a few feet of teleportation. S***y puns aside...you pretty damn badass. And...as far as looks go, your alleged bad days run circles around my good ones." They leaned into the kiss, then listened as Mae spoke.

"I'm not good at supporting or comforting or all that ****, but if you wanna talk about it, I'm here. And if not...I'm still not going anywhere." They leaned down and kissed her forehead for emphasis.

Mae made herself comfortable, positioned so she could look at Seven's face while still being held. She reached up and gently touched the spot where they had been hit, at least feeling glad it didn't seem like it would leave much of a lasting mark. It was selfish, but she really didn't like things hurting Seven's face. A cut on the arm, even the torso, those could go away faster. She didn't want to see any long term damage to someone she cared about, and injuries to the head? Those seemed harder to heal.

"No one can be a hero for everyone, I'm glad you're one for me at least. Maybe that just makes me a little greedy...but after having been disappointed in the past, I don't care if I am a bit self-interested now."

She ran her fingers across Seven's arm, tracing down toward their hand. It was sort of soothing. She didn't do it light enough it would tickle, because that would ruin the moment.

"I'll talk about it, eventually. I just, I don't want to jump to conclusions right now." she paused, realizing how much soot she still had on her, and made a face.

"F***, you just had a shower and now you look like you cuddled with a chimney sweet. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that honey!" The phrase slipped out for the second time that day, and she blushed, putting a hand over her mouth. "Oh, I'm sorry, I did it again. I never really asked you how you felt about things like that."