((Continued from the school dance))

Lily didn't have a place in mind when she suggested to take a walk with Shawn. She'd enjoyed dancing with him, and she knew it would have been easy to convince him to stay and dance some more... but his thoughs seemed far away tonight, and she didn't blame him for it. When she was younger, Lily used to believe she would miss half the world if she missed a ball or a party. She'd since discovered there were more important things.
She still held his hand as they walked away from the Danger Room. She didn't really want to turn their evening into some talk session about problems; she was content with some peace and quiet. Where they would end up going, it didn't really matter.
"I'm not really taking you anywhere" she smiled up at him "I just thought... a walk would be nice."
She'd give him time to talk. Or stay silent. It was his choice.

Streak followed Lily as she led them out of the Danger Room. He didn't know what she was planning but he was content with following her at the moment. Honestly he couldn't have cared less that there was dance going on. He didn't needed to be there to know how it was going to end up. The kids were going to dance and have fun and he'd get to spend a lot of time with Jewel. Really it was a win win situation for everyone.

He was glad that she was being so supportive of the way he was acting. It wasn't that he was sulking or anything, it was just that he was always seemed to be in deep thought about what was happening with his life and how everything had changed within such a short amount of time. Things didn't seem to change much between him and Lily, which was always comforting. In troubled times having someone to count on was something that was more valuable than any money itself.

Shawn remained silent, and she didn't mind. They walked hand in hand, and ended up at the entrance hall. People who came late for the dance were still arriving, and walking towards the Danger Room. It was almost dark outside, the last half an hour of twilight. Lily smiled as they walked outside.
"So quiet" she observed as they walked away from the front door towards a more peaceful part of the Mansion grounds. It was warm outside, the heat of the summer day still lingered around them, and even though Lily was only wearing a dress, she was quite comfortable. "Give it a few hours and the garden will be full of teenagers..." she chuckled, tugging on his hand playfully "Come on, Shawn. Talk to me?"
She didn't really expect him to talk about anything serious. She just wanted ho hear him speak.

Lily was right. Everything was quiet. Much more so than it normally was, mainly on account that everyone was at the dance. Shawn nodded his head in agreement. The warmth from outside was a welcome change from the mansion's cool air conditioning. "Well I guess that's not the best place for us now is it?" Streak laughed along with her, his hand still in hers.

Great, she wanted him to talk. Of course this was the whole reason she took him out of the Danger Room. Why didn't he expect this? If he hadn't been so preoccupied with everything else he might have expected this. However, as much as he wasn't really into talking, he was certainly glad that Lily hadn't made him stay too long at the dance. As far as he was concerned he'd shown his face and seen what was going on so he'd spent enough time there.

"Thanks for getting me out of there. One song was long enough. I don't like people staring at me now." Streak admitted. He wasn't exactly sure what she wanted him to talk about but he'd say something to make her smile. It'd definitely be hard for him to make her smile partly because he wasn't feeling too much in the joking mood.

"Thanks for getting me out of there. One song was long enough. I don't like people staring at me now."
"I know." Lily nodded, and she smiled too, for him "I know how it feels. I have been there, remember? You have another two months of sulking ahead if you want to break my record." she chuckled, sqeezing his hand. Here they were again, dangerously close to the topic of who got it worse, and she didn't want to go there, not now or possibly ever. It was pointless to think about things like that, and it didn't help Shawn feel better. She knew she wouldn't be able to solve the problem in one night, but if she could make him feel more at ease, or coax him into talking about anyhting really, it would mean a lot.
"You can always count on me to heroically rescue you from school dances." she added with a serious face.

It was true she'd been there. Granted it wasn't the same. She still had her powers when he'd rescued her from Romania. Just like he'd had his powers just after the American camps. This was different. He didn't have his powers anymore. As far as anyone was concerned he was just a human now. No powers meant he was really nothing special and he was just a liability to be around. "Well, I may have you beat if I can't get my powers back sooner than that." Streak commented and squeezed her hand in return. "But I'm not trying to break any records around here." He smiled.

Smiling was something that seemed to be growing more and more rare with him. However, Lily seemed to know just the right things to make him smile. "Thanks Jewel. I owe you one. I don't think I'll be going to another school dance for a while. It was just a little weird walking in there without the knowledge that I can use my powers whenever I need them… It's the biggest cliche ever but ya never realize how much you needed it until you don't have it again." Even thought he'd lost his powers before he'd started taking them for granted again and now that he didn't have them he didn't really know what to do.

"And it feels like part of you is constantly missing, every time you try to do something, even when it has nothing to do with your powers, it's still just not the same." she nodded. She remembered the one month in the camps when her powers were blocked - not by the collar, but by her own will, true, but still not being able to access her natural abilities was the hardest part of all. After all that happened to Shawn, not having his powers was what hurt him the most, and it hurt her too to see him suffer like that.
"It only takes a short time in a school full of mutants to take powers for granted" she nodded as they walked on "You couldn't even imagine life being normal..." she was quiet for a while before she stopped and turned to look up at him. "I know it's not much, but I can tell you one thing: you might not be able to use your powers, right now, but you didn't lose them." she put her free hand against his chest "The silver is still there, I can sense it. It might take a while, but..." she smiled a soft smile "... you are not plainly human just yet."

He knew that she understood what he was going through. It wasn't like this had never happened to anyone before. On the contrary it'd happened to most of the older residents at the mansion at least once, if not twice. But somehow Streak still thought that this was different than just putting a collar or bracelet on someone and forcing their powers to be suppressed.

Streak mainly listened to what she was saying to him about what she felt like when she was in the Romanian camps. Shawn stopped and looked at her when Lily stopped walking. He returned the smile to her. "I know. I'm sure I'll get it back. It's just a matter of time. And that's something one thing I don't want to do is wait." Streak smiled slightly when he was done talking. After that was said he gave her a kiss on the lips. "Thanks for being so supportive." As much as he knew that she really did like him and it wasn't just for his powers, the fact that she was being so supportive towards him now just showed that she wasn't with him for his silver.

"I know. I'm sure I'll get it back. It's just a matter of time. And that's something one thing I don't want to do is wait."
"That's the spirit" Lily smiled, and returned the kiss "I am sure you'll find a way" she added, resting her forehead against his "It might need a lot of work, and time, but..." she chuckled as he thanked her for being supportive. That was what girlfriends did, right? She had never been a girlfriend before, but she had been a friend, and she had a pretty good idea how to comfort people. "I will help you as much as I can" she promised and she hugged him "But, not tonight. Tonight is for... well, it's for the students to party, and for us to not worry about it." she giggled, leaning up to kiss him again "How does that sound?"

Streak really didn't want to wait at all. Time was not something that he was good at watching. As far as he was concerned he would be just as happy if his powers returned to him at that moment. He returned her hug; however, he left his hands around her waist. It was good to hold someone close to him and it was even better that it was her. The silver eyed mutant nodded his head. She was right. Tonight was for the kids to have fun and for them to unwind a bit.

He bent his head lower and kissed her back. "That sounds like a plan." He smiled because she seemed like she might be the only person that could help him. After all she was the only person that could even get a response from his silver when it wasn't outside his body. Maybe she would be the person to help reactivate them again. "So do we head back now? Or what?" Streak wasn't really in the mood for going back to the dance but he figured that there was something that they should be doing.

He agreed. Lily was content with that for the moment. They would think about it more, and talk about it some more, and come up with plans and solutions, and work on the problem till he rgeained his powers. It would take time and effort, and lots of hours in the danger room. But for now, he was not giving up hope, and it was all she needed to know.
She was quiet for a few moments, thinking about options and what not. They could head back inside to the dance, and join the others once again. There was a party going on, with all the students, and music, and dancing, and drinks. Then again, they'd just agreed minutes ago it was better to be away from that. Especially for Shawn.
"Or what." Lily decided, smiling up at him playfully, before she turned around and headed back to the building, pulling him along by the hand.