Blue waited with surprising patience as she got him food and covered a place for him to sit. Once he was sure he wouldn't trail soot further, he sat, soon greeted by the cat who thought he would pity it. Obviously, Blue had never offered the animal anything in the past, and clearly wouldn't do so now. He hungrily ate what he was given, ignoring the little creatures attempts to paw at his legs.

He must have been nicer than the past, because he didn't even raise the temperature around the animal to shoo it away. He was going soft. Or he was just really tired. One or the other.

"I'm not hurtin' where I was stabbed, just...tired. Dunno how I c'n sleep so much as still feel tired, but I hear blood lose c'n do that." He took more bites of eggs, brushing a little bit of soot off his plate.

"I...thank you." he said between bites. The words were hard to say, but this was the closest to dying he had experienced. If she hadn't been home, and hadn't helped, he would have just been a flame extinguished into the night. "I know I'm not the easiest person to get along with. But you're a good...friend."

"I wouldn't know. I've never lost that much blood before." a little her and there from various scrapes and cuts, but never like stab wound to the chest amounts of blood. Her eyes trailed a little to the browning patch of blood on her floor.

Her eyes darted back to him with her eyebrows slightly raised as he thanked her, and she blinked. She supposed that, considering how they had met and how there had been some tension at first, he might feel that way. The truth was that she had fallen into a comfortable pattern with him and didn't really mind his personality at all. She like it, even.

Well, perhaps just the parts of it she got to see with her own eyes. She wasn't too sure about the 'setting someone on fire' aspects of it. Then again, it wasn't as if she hadn't contemplated murder a few times in the last few years, so who was she to judge?

"I mean, I wasn't gonna just let you bleed to death on my doorstep, regardless of how I felt about you." Her forked pushed her eggs around a little on her plate, but she controlled her emotions enough not to frown.

"... And I like the side of you I get to see just fine. Sassy bits and all. We don't have to agree on everything to hang out and be cool with each other." The friend thing was just as new to her as it was to him, but in a different way. He wasn't on anything from what she could tell, or at least it wasn't causing him to slowly spiral out of control. They drank together, sure... sometimes copious amounts, but it was a far cry from what she had been first introduced too.

"I.. have a lot to make up for in the friend department. I didn't used to be so good at it. Still don't think I am, really, but i'm trying. You just got to experience it first, apparently."

She took another bite, then paused and pointed her fork at him. "Don't make a habit out of getting stabbed, though. I can only buy so many rugs."

Blue had no idea how awkward conversations like this could be. He never had any. Heck, this may have been the first apology he had ever said. He couldn't remember ever genuinely feeling thankful for someone. It was weird. He didn't like it. He finished his food and moved to put the plate away. He wondered how this would look if someone walked in. He was still naked, after all. A naked panda. A flaming naked panda.

Yeah, this whole friendship thing was weird.

"If you have a lot to make up for, I don't even want to imagine my debt to friendship. This is sort of a social experiment for me. How things go with someone I don't want to set on fire?"

He grimaced and touched a hand to the closed wound, "I would love to say that is the first and only time I intend to get stabbed. But if we keep talkin' about feelings, we're going to have to commit some arson or something. This cuddly stuff is more exhausting than blood loss." He made a face. Then he looked at the mess of the apartment.

"Uh, cleaning. Considering you made my bed in your bathtub, what would a plan be for rinsing off a bit? I'll probably get sooty right away, but I'm not a fan of that 'I'll just get dirty anyway' argument used to avoid taking a shower."

The small blonde snickered at the idea of having to go out and commit a crime because of feelings. She wasn't a fan necessarily, so she got it. It made her thing that there was some kinda quota or something though and that was amusing.

She turned from their awkward proclamations of friendship to puzzling over where and how they were going to get him clean. He absolutely would not fit in her sink, as amusing as the though of rinsing him off like some small, on-fire puppy would be. A sponge bath was out of the question too. That was barely acceptable for the elderly and disabled, and unless there was a kink for it she would gladly avoid that path.

She set her plate on the coffee table as an idea popped in her head. "Oh, well.. why don't I just sneak you over to my neighbors to use his tub? He should be at school right now, so there wouldn't be any harm in it." Her mental image of Xavier was already helpfully pointing out that he probably would mind, but she chose to ignore it for now. He probably wouldn't even notice Blue had been in there!

"C'mon. You can go clean up and i'll see about getting the soot off of everything over here." She cross the space and held out a hand for him to take so that she would be able to phase the both of them through the shared wall between the apartments.

"Don't be weird out about how his apartment looks. He's like some weird cross between a 'Leave it to Beaver' character and a muscle head body builder."

Indeed, his apartment was clean and well kept, but also had clearly been altered to allow for different kinds of physical activities. The weight bag hanging from the ceiling in his living room/whatever room it might had been before he knocked a wall out was a very visible sign of that.

"Take as long as you need, okay? It's gonna take a bit to get all the soot out and to the garbage shoot."

Blue did not need encouraging to take advantage of having a shower to use. Heck, he didn’t even complain it was someone else’s shower they just broke in to use. Walking through a neighbors wall while they were at school wasn’t that strange, right? Whatever, mutant rules didn’t apply the same as normal human boundaries.

Ignoring the strange setup, Blue found the bathroom and let himself into the shower. Thankfully Xavier has soap, towels, shampoo, and Blue only left a few footprints leading into the tub. Once the water was on he used a clean wash rag and became the tedious process of getting the spot off. He may have leaned over once or twice while fighting to clean his long legs, leaving handprints on the white wall. He could clean that... maybe.

Under the water, his natural flames fluttered to an almost transparent film that was always distracting when he was trying to clean his skin. Was that spot or just his own flames? Maybe he was just suffering from low iron and was thinking too much about it.

By the time he was clean he felt like his fingers might be ready to prune. He hadn’t messed much with the faucet, given that he didn’t feel cold messing with the temperature seemed like a waste. He used a clean towel and tried himself, then wrapped it around his waist.

Only then did he realize, he had no clear plan to get BACK to Juniper’s apartment. Considering for a moment, he reached out and knocked on the wall, wondering if she would get the hint.

Once Blue was in the bathroom and left to his own devices, Juniper hopped back on over to her place to dig out her minimal cleaning supplies and get started.

The sooty tub wasn't too terrible to clean out, but it required a few trips to the garbage shoot to get rid of any partially burns things and a few towels with piles of left over carbon from Blue's nap. The last trip was just to throw away one large, completely black towel that she didn't want to bother with cleaning. The tub was still quite dirty by the time she was done, but she figured it was manageable enough to at least be able to clean the rest with a good rinsing and some soap. By the time she came in from tossing the last bulky bits from the bathroom she heard the knocking on the wall and leaned in to peek through the other side. Her head and shoulders materialized through the wall on his side.

"All done?"

Where he had been spending his time getting clean, she had been spending her time getting dirty. It looked like she had taken a stroll up a chimney with how many dark streaks of soot she had managed to get all over, her clothes, and her face. The blonde peeked behind him, spying just a few faint, dark shapes left from his entrance. It would be easy to get those out before Adonis got back though, so she wouldn't worry about it. She offered a gloved hand and pulled him back to her side, making a mental reminder to also buy X some more bath-towels (if he ever noticed one missing), and turned back to her cleaning party.

She'd put some music on, just random songs from the radio at a moderate volume so as to not bother her neighbors too badly.

"I wasn't sure if you were gonna wanna spend another night in my tub, so I didn't clean it out fully yet. I know the doc said to get rest, but i'm not gonna force you to be here if you don't wanna." She pointed at her couch with one gloved hand, which probably looked ridiculous seeing as it was too big for her. "I figured if you are gonna stay I can go out and find to put on the couch or the bed that you can sleep on, without burning anything. Probably more comfortable that way."

Where had she put her scrub brush? "Anyway, help yourself to anything in the kitchen, as usual. I bought some extra snacks and stuff that seemed to line up with what snake-head wanted you to eat, but... like, less vegetable-y."

Ah! There it was! She'd left it over by the wall.

"MOW" Around that time a large, black ball of fluffy raced out of the bathroom trailing a dusting of soot after him, and leaving black paw prints all over the floor. The cat's one remaining eye was huge, pupil dilated like a dinner-plate. He proceeded to zoom around the living room and kitchen, trying (and failing) to jump on the counters, before scrambling across the couch and leaving sooty skid marks everywhere. The normally black and white cat was fully black, and dusty.

The fat cat came to a sudden stop directly in the middle of the room, ears back and tail floofed and standing on end.

"Clyde noooo!"

Blue was somewhat surprised when he was pulled back through the wall and came face to face with a very sooty Juniper. The apartment looked a bit cleaner, but she seemed like she had rolled around to become a panda herself. ”Do I need to let you sneak in there next, luv? I didn’t use any hot water if it makes you feel better.” He almost looked like he was smiling, but there was still a tired look in his eyes. At the mention of letting him stay and rest, Blue looked uncomfortable. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed, letting his skin heat up a little and steam drying the remaining water from his curls.

”I... I may need to take you up on that. The couch is fine. I won’t burn it I promise. I don’t really have a permanent place right now, just sort of hide my things and check my phone from time to time... as much as I’d love to say I’m the spitting image of health, even this feels like a marathon.”

He sat back on his spot from before, clean towel still wrapped around his waist. Without the dirt his eyes were still dark, his flames much lower than they had been when he first met Juniper. Blue was tired, body burning energy and failing to refuel itself. The fire has helped, but some things still took time.

It was about this point a dark cat cane flying through the house, leaving a handsome helping of soot in its wake. Blue took a moment to pause, and pointed to the feline. ”I would like it noted for the record I had nothin’ to do with that.” He lacked the manners to attempt stopping Clyde, but he reached for a dirty towel and handed it off to Juniper as his halfhearted effort.

She looked down at herself and then settled into mock offended mode. "How dare you? Are you implying that I don't look fantastic in soot?!" Her nose went up in the air as she turned, which didn't work much in her favor since she bumped into wall during her little charade.

She dropped it when she noticed the discomfort he seemed to have and offered a genuine smile in return. "Hey, don't worry about it. mi casa, su casa!" The short blonde turned to face him and waved her brush at him. "Feel free to stop by and crash whenever you want to, ok? I don't mind at all."

And now... how to kill the cat? Hmm.

Juniper caught the thrown towel and used to to jump at the fat feline, throwing it over him and tackling him into a largish bundle . A bundle that proceeded to hiss and spit and growl at her as threateningly as he could from within the confines of the fabric. "I think someone needs a bath and a time out." She turned to peek at blue before she escaped to her bathroom so she could clean her cat and the tub at the same time.

"Do ahead and catch another nap, okay? I'm just gonna be puttering around here cleaning up stuff. Really boring. I'll wake you the next time I make food, okay?"

"MOW!"

"Shut up, Clyde, he's not going to save you from the bath."

She headed into her room and kicked the door shut so that the cat couldn't escape again after he was clean.

Blue felt a twisting in his stomach as Juniper continued to chase after the cat. When they disappeared, he laid on the couch and put his head against the arm rest, frowning to himself. He was still covered only by a bath towel, his body warm enough the fabric was dry as was his skin. He felt his brain turning over her statement, as innocent as it was, as he stared at the ceiling.

He was welcome here. He could stay when he needed.

Why did he feel so touched by that?

Blue never thought of himself as homeless, more nomadic than anything. When you didn’t feel hot or cold, having a shelter did not feel as necessary. True, he felt drained when the situation was less than ideal, but he could survive. He had been in survival mode since he left home, and to him that just seemed normal.

But, was it? He put a hand to his head, feeling the first delayed wave of fear since he was stabbed. Being in someone else’s care, having his life in someone’s hands. He didn’t enjoy that. But, waking up and knowing where he could eat, and knowing he could sleep without having to jump up and defend himself.

He couldn’t process this. He wasn’t sure what he really felt. Relieved? Resentment?

He fell asleep uneasily, flames flickering with pent up emotions and drained energy reserves.

A few hours passed and Juniper had been a very busy bee. She'd gotten Clyde as clean as he was gonna get and barricaded him in her room, gotten some of the soot out of the tub so that it was at least usable without getting you dirty while you were trying to get clean, and started scrubbing up some of the sooty paw prints scattered around everywhere. She even managed to sneak over and get rid of some of the evidence that Blue had used X's shower, though, the missing towel was harder to magic it away seeing as the man was still wrapped in it and asleep on her couch.

Eh, whatever. She'd take the blame if it came down to it. She was cute and small and had a pretty effective pout if she needed to whip it out.

By the time she started to feel a bit hungry she'd gotten so far as trying to scrub that small little bloody stain from the floor where Blue had been laying while they waited for the doctor to show up. She gave up half way, left her bowl of soapy water where it sat with the scrub brush in it and went off to wash her hands.

Dinner was gonna be spaghetti and meatballs, because it was easy and she had purchased a package of meatballs from the frozen section. They'd cook in the oven while she got the noodles and sauce ready.

Around the time the time for the meatballs went off she decided that right then would be perfect time to wake Blue up. How? Hm.

Maybe tickle his nose with a feather until he woke up or set it on fire?

Sure! You come up with the best ideas, sleep deprived and hungry Juniper!

Giggling and trying to stifle it like a maniac she snuck on up with a feather stolen from one of the pillows in her room and crouched as close as she dared to get. She'd never done this before with him. How would he react? Worst case scenario she'd lose her couch or something. Still totally worth the test!

"Time to wakey wakey~" She whispered under her breath and edged the feather in closer to the tip of his nose.

Blue had been sleeping heavier since getting injured, and it took several moments of feather tickling before his brain started to register what was happening. It was probably for the better, honestly. Had he woken up like normal he may have lashed out before realizing what he was doing. As it was, he let the point where the feather contacted his face spark suddenly, lighting the feather on fire, then quickly moved his hand up to catch the smoldering object.

"Tryin' ta make me laugh, luv? 'Fraid I ain't ticklish," he remarked, giving her a look that almost could have been playful. He rolled onto his back and collected the ashes of what was a feather onto his torso. "An' you are dirtying what you just cleaned. Shame." He did not seem upset. There was evident amusement now.

"I'm starting to think you need sleep next."

She did look tired. He sat up carefully, collecting the ashes into his hand the best that he could, and trying to find somewhere to dump them. There was a trashcan nearby, so he used that. Then he dusted off his hands. "I can take care of the dishes once you eat, and you should sleep. Can't let me be a horrible houseguest, darlin'." He found the food and made himself a plate before returning to the couch and sitting on it. He dug into the cooking with the usual vigor, body still burning calories like crazy to make up for lost blood.

Aw, poo.

She visibly pouted at the flaming feather, which was relinquished without a fight. "Man, you're know fun. Almost everyone has a ticklish nose." She blew a raspberry at him as she stood and toddled herself back into her kitchen, pausing only momentarily at his suggestion that she get some sleep herself.

He hadn't every really stayed over long term before, so he probably didn't know that her sleeping habits were...eh... problematic? Chaotic? Something along those lines. No matter how uncomfortable she had been sleeping in the bathroom beside the tub it had filled her gauge a little. Besides, she didn't wanna get plastered with him around to see how embarrassing she was while super drunk.

"Nah, I don't sleep much anyway." She let him get his plate first, and then got a slightly smaller portion of everything for herself. One meatball was perfect for rolling around her plate unenthusiastically as she nibbled away.

"I'll let you do the dishes if you want, or we can split em'. I don't mind. I'm probably gonna finish trying to get the spots out of the carpet afterwards. Gotta go in for classes tomorrow." She zoned out a little bit thinking about all of the class work she had missed and how she was going to explain all of the burned, er... missing library books.

"I did pick up something at the store and wondered if we should experiment with it in place of burning material things. Have you ever tried, like... lighter fluid? Think it would help at all?"

She popped a bit of meatball into her mouth and stared at him.

Blue had a mouthful of food during a few of the comments, and chewing gave him time to avoid responding too quickly. As it was, their new status in friendship made him feel maybe he should respond at least somehow, even if it wasn’t the most enthusiastic answer. ”I’m not in any position to judge, but I recommend at least taking care of yourself until I’m outta here. If I pass out or some things an’ you haven’t slept, how helpful can you be?” was that right? Insulting to show you cared? Did he care? Of course not. He chewed more food stubbornly and knew he was just here for safety. He didn’t care if she slept or there was blood to clean up. Noooope.

He took another bite and shrugged at the dishes, ”I have my secret talents. Let’s just say I picked up some housecleaning in my arsenal of abilities. I didn’t always live on the streets. I just decided freedom was preferable.” There were people who would house even a flaming mutant like him, but the expectations were high. He finished his food and moved to rinse off his plate.

”I’m an ass not a slob. Kindly remember the difference.” It was true, while he tended to burn things up a lot, and damage things with his temper, he didn’t blindly leave messes for the he’ll of it.

She wasn't insulted. It was a fair point after all. "Eh, if that happens and I pass out too, Clyde will just go for help." She glanced over at the door to her bedroom, where muffled indignant meowing could still be heard. "Or he'd eat us. One or the other."

She chewed on another meatball in silent contemplation. "Okay fiiine, I'll go take a nap." She'd let him win this round, if only because she was actually feeling tired. "Just try and remember that you don't have to do anything, kay?" Huh, maybe she was fighting this a little too hard. She'd discovered recently that people doing things for her gave her anxiety for some reason. It was all very weird.

"You've got a nice ass though, and I for sure won't forget that." Was it possible to look smug around a mouthful of noodles? She felt like she was managing it.

She was glad that he was feeling well enough to be snarky again though. That was a good sign, wasn't it?

As ridiculous as it seemed that they were actively arguing about him helping out, they may not have survived as friends if she had jumped straight to letting him do the dishes. Blue was on his own because he hated being used, and while he was grateful, it felt better doing things on his own terms. He finished cleaning his own plates and then moved to deal with the pans next. He glanced back as she made a face, and smirked.

”Genetics at least granted me a brag worthy figure. I am glad you still appreciate it,” he laughed.

The dishes were finished before long, Juniper was shooed to bed and Blue took back his residence on the couch. As tired as he was he found himself staring at the ceiling for a long moment, wondering what he had gotten himself into. Why had he come here when he needed help? Why did he stay when offered? He could still see the flickering light of his flames when he shut his eyes, the ever present distribution to darkness. And he wondered, wondered until he finally fell asleep. All he knew was he would pay her back somehow for being there when he needed her.