Magnum gave a soft laugh with him, letting it fade into a smile as Ty's words settled. "I trust you." The simplest of proclamations, and, yet, three words that redefine someone's world. If he were any other person, Mag would have stopped the conversation there. The dangers of trusting someone, especially someone like her, were immense. She would have told them this, and that life cannot heal some wounds. She would have warned them that her powers were dangerous; she would have ended the relationship with a simple warning: Death follows me like a hawk. Yet, it was Ty - the first person to show that they cared about her since she moved away from Chicago. He seemed to understand, at least somewhat, the concept of living on the edge of the law, running from people, and constantly being afraid of the moment that your past catches up with you.

For those reasons, when his arm reached her shoulder she moved up toward him instead of away. She nestled into his side, careful not to aggravate the bruises. She smiled in bliss.. maybe everyone could get used to living in ignorance for a while. Not even his comments and subsequent wince brought her back from the momentary abyss. It was just her and Ty.... and the couch. 


"Well, it looks like we won't be taking that drive this evening, since you aren't in a mode to fight centripetal force.  So, as payment, you have to answer a question: would you climb a tree to kiss me?"

Ty was aware of what he was in for; the whole scenario was nothing new to him. What mattered to him, was that he cared about her, and she cared about him in return. That was it.

"Yeah that'd be a no on the drive. I'm okay just hanging here." He paused, then chuckled at her question.

"That's kind of a loaded question, isn't it? I mean, why would I ever need to climb a tree for a kiss? What situation would call for that?" Teasingly, he opened his eyes and stuck his tongue out at her before settling back into his peaceful state.

"But to answer your question, if the need to ever arose, yes I would climb a tree to kiss you. Even if it was on fire." He chuckled lightly, mostly at the cheesiness of his own comment, but it was said, so there wasn't much to do about it now.

At least the pain had finally subsided and he could fully enjoy this moment with her. Even if it wasn't quite what they'd had planned.

Ty's laughter and humor were contagious; Magnum soon found herself overcome by good-natured laughter. "You could always say no," her voiced pitched in self defense. "Besides, there may come a day when I decided that I want to climb a tree, and then you decide you want to kiss me. What would happen then?" She laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation. "Right, exactly what I just asked you would happen."

"Although," she smiled, resting against his side. "It's a good thing you'll never have to worry about burning trees. Fire seems to stay away from me, for some odd reason." Tiredness left over from her sleepless night started to numb the tips of her fingers. Slowly, it began moving up, but Mag didn't make a move to stop it. They had no place to be, and no reason to leave. They also weren't running from anything (for the time being). These facts started eating away at her resolve to stay awake, allowing her eyes to slide closed and a slightly mumbled sentence to slip out. "When did you get your powers?"

"Say no? To a kiss from you? Please..." he retorted with a light wink. "Totally worth it. Though fire and destruction seems to follow me around for some reason. Never could figure out why." He gave a light chuckle, nuzzling her as she rested against his side.

He soaked in the moment, the closeness, just...being with her. Sure they'd only been together a month or so, but...sometimes it seemed like it'd been longer than that. His hand wrapped around her, resting on her side.

"When did you get your powers?"

The sudden mumbled question stirred him from his gooey, cheesy thoughts as he let his eyes focus on her for a second.

"The Psychometry, I discovered when I was sixteen. I was turned onto urban exploration around then, which led to pickpocketing, which led to burglary, which led to car-theft..and so on and so forth. I lived in New York with my aunt at the time. While I was out, her apartment got broken into...and she was murdered. When I came back, I picked something up, I forget what it was exactly, and the entire scene--and then some--flashed in my mind. Like everything that thing had ever seen was suddenly crammed into my memories. Up until a week or so before I met you, I always wore fingerless gloves to keep my power from activating when I didn't want it to, which gave me the nickname...hobo. Now, I no longer need them, because I have control for the most part.

The writing on the other hand, came about...maybe two years ago." He stopped there, wondering whether or not he should tell that bit of the story. After all, his ex was involved, and he always felt weird discussing Tses with his current girl.

"The Psychometry," he started. Ty's words registered in her mind and would be recorded for future knowledge. However, Magnum's consciousness drifted in and out of the conversation. Instead, her body decided to highlight his arm looping itself around her, the way her fingers clasped his on her side, the heat that radiated through the clothing; all were signs of his closeness and this gave Mag a very longed-for sense of security. With her ear on his chest, she heard both his voice and the deep rumble that preceded it. She also noted when his breath hitched, a tell tale sign of pain that Ty followed with, "and she was murdered."

Her fingers tightened with his in sympathy. A brief flash of her own mother appeared, but quickly left. No one here needed to know about that. Ty had her attention now. And listen she did, for the rest of his story. As he ended the final statement, about writing of memories onto object, he cut himself short. After a few moments, Magnum wiggled herself into a slightly more upright position, head laying on his shoulder now. "Do you want to tell me about where that came from?" she prompted, knowing that stories always had deeper truths to them, especially ones that ended so prematurely. She knew this from experience.

"Do you want to tell me about where that came from?"

He paused, sighing. "Well, that's a long story. I was working for this mutant who'd give me certain...less than legal jobs. Usually stealing or obtaining information, and he paid rather well. One day, he gave me a gun and a hit. I don't like guns, but he was a mentor, and he didn't like being disobeyed. So, I went out, and shot my ex--non-fatally...then, I ended up writing everything onto one of my gloves..."

He took a breath, letting it hang there. After all no need to tell her about the two of them getting back together, albeit briefly, right? Right.

"And that's it for my mutation, really. I've learned to control both facets of it, for the most part, and I've learned little tricks, like getting passwords from keypads." He let his eyes close slowly.

Magnum knew how it felt, being forced into something you hated. She'd run along side the gangs for long enough to experience it first hand, multiple times, and eventually ended up with a pretty nasty trail behind her - all before meeting Blaze. Which is why, when Ty mentioned the mentor not liking to be disobeyed, she produced a short and bitter laugh. After a few moments to calm down and ground herself, she was back to being happily cocooned in Ty's arms.

"I've learned little tricks, like getting passwords from keypads." She smiled, tugging a blanket down from behind them and draping it over her body. "So I should call you every time I need to break into somewhere, instead of doing it the hard way. Good to know." This statement was punctuated by a short giggle from her far too tired brain, again telling her that a person doesn't live on 30 minutes of sleep in 48 hours.

Ty also seemed to be getting tired. Slowly, her eyes closed. Even slower, the thoughts in her brain stopped. Her body, already in a relaxed state, then found it easy to slip into a dream-like state. After a few minutes, it found sanctuary in the abyss of actual sleep.

He didn't know how to take her reaction to his confession, so he just filed it under "never mention again." It was still awkward talking about his ex to her, but hey, she was his now, and that was what mattered.

"Yep. Anything with a keypad, I can gather the code from. Or you know, if it's old fashioned...steal the key." Snuggling into her, he smiled as he felt her slowly drift off to sleep. And he wasn't far behind, himself.

After the events of today, and now that he was comfortable, he soon found his blinks taking longer as the room melded into darkness and he too, drifted off. With Mag by his side, everything was perfect.

At least for awhile. Ty's sleep turned into a dream, which quickly slipped into a nightmare.

He was walking down a long hallway, filled with the sounds of screaming, horrible sounds as his walk hurried into a run and he ducked into a nearby room. There, on an examination table, a poor mutant was being experimented on. Slowly, he approached the table in an attempt to help the poor soul before he was dissected.

Stepping closer...he saw that the captured mutant...was him. Then, his view changed. He was now on the table, and...looking down at him was...Lori Faust. And the evil blond woman looked down at him with a sadistic grin...

In his sleep, he gripped onto Mag, his eyes glowing red, but it was dulled because his eyes were closed as he wrote a silent video version of his dream onto her shirt while it happened.  The next time her hand touched her shirt, she'd see a silent video in sepia tinting of his dream. This was an aspect of Ty's power he didn't even know existed.

He gripped her tighter as he woke up in a cold sweat, tears threatening to leave his eyes as he shivered, a whimper escaping his lips.

Magnum hadn't meant to ignore his statement about the ex, but honestly exs made up an entirely different issue - namely that her ex was so deeply entwined with her past that the two could not be mentioned separately. Whatever the case, Ty seemed to let it go fairly easy and settled into sleep next to her. But, as per usual, good sleep never lasts long. Somehow, Ty had pulled away from her. She didn't understand it, but vaguely registered shakes and a small whimper before her fingers collided with her shirt.

She was walking down a long, sepia colored hallway. Shrieks of varying pitches punctuated each of her footfalls. They chased her into a run as her body tensed, readying itself for a fight. As the feeling of panic built, she ducked into a nearby room. As her eyes adjusted to the change of light, a sepia shape appeared, listless on the table. In the way that dreams work, she knew the figure would be subject to a number of horrible operations in the coming hours. She felt compelled to help.

As she got closer, she saw that the figure on the table resembled Ty. Panic flooded her. This was not happening again - it couldn't. Then, just as she'd been able to register his existence, the view changed. She now stared up at a ceiling. Her throat tightened; if not for Ty's powers holding her muscles inert, she would've screamed. Looking down at her was a blonde, who, though she had never met, was labeled as evil beyond reason. Her lips curved upward in a sadistic grin that reminded her of ...

The dream dropped her back into reality, next to a terrified looking Ty, though the damage had been done. "What the actual f***?" she yelled, body tensed to stop the tremors.

"I...had a nightmare," he murmured as his stirring had woken Mag, and apparently scared her a bit. He had no idea she had seen what he had, because he was unaware that he was capable of using his powers in his sleep. His face was pale, and his body was trembling, followed by a sudden wave of--

"One sec," he barely managed to murmur before leaping off of the couch and running to the bathroom. He didn't have time to shut the door as he barely made it to the toilet. But, he just made it, and he spent the next few minutes evacuating the content of his stomach. Afterwards, he just curled up on the bathroom floor for a few minutes, regaining his strength.

Weakly, he walked back to the living room. "I don't know if I told you," he said weakly, the color still drained from his face, but, I've been battling with recurring nightmares for the past...year or so. They've eased up, but every now and then it'll hit me harder than usual. You got any alcohol?"

After wrapping this up with a question, he made his way to the kitchen, looking for the booze in question.

Although concerned, the dream had triggered just enough of a flashback to render Mag completely useless as Ty went to vomit. She dedicated all the time he spent curled up on the floor to grounding herself in reality, and was able to sit calmly by the time he emerged. "I don't know if I told you," he said, sounding and looking next to dead. "I've been battling with recurring nightmares for the past...year or so. They've eased up, but every now and then it'll hit me harder than usual." The senseless bitter humor returned to the back of her head. Yeah, you're telling me, it nagged. Mag's nightmares had returned mid-force since he died, and had recently become worse and more frequent.

"You got any alcohol?" he prompted her, headed for the kitchen. She couldn't resist a chuckle. "If you're looking for snacks, you're in the right place. If you're looking for booze, you need to go check the closet by the bathroom. I'll get it." This was a system that the brothers had made her adapt, mostly for when Blaire visited but later to curb her own addictions, and it happened to follow her to New York.

Before waiting for him to answer, she forced herself off the couch and toward the location of said booze-closet keys. They'd drink vodka or whisky tonight, because Mag wanted to drown the memories and had a feeling that Ty wanted to do so as well.

He could tell something wasn't quite right with Mag, either. But, the thing was, he didn't know what it was. He had no idea of knowing there was another facet to his power that allowed him to impart dreams onto objects while he slept, though his bedsheets and pillowcases at home were probably littered with the same nightmare.

He ruffled through her fridge, coming back with a celery stick, since Mag had said he was in the wrong room if he wanted booze, but he didn't want to waste a trip to the kitchen. As she went to the booze cabinet, he flopped back on the couch as his stomach settled and he bit into a stalk of celery.

Watching her, he noticed she seemed better, but something still seemed...off. "Hey, you okay?" he asked, concerned. "I didn't mean to wake you...I guess I get kinda loud and antsy when I'm having a bad dream..." he spoke softly, looking away.

The key slipped easily into the lock, but she felt guilty turning it over. The door opened, reminding her with painful whine that it needed greasing. I'll take care of it tomorrow, she told herself in the exact same manner she'd been doing for the better part of the month. Magnum unstacked two glasses, setting them on a free shelf. Typically, this sort of situation merited vodka. However, she didn't know how heavily Ty drank, so she went for the slightly safer option of whiskey. If he could tolerate that burn, she'd move them up a level on the next pour. The lure of forgetting pulled her a little to hard, though, so before she picked up the glasses to share, she swallowed half of hers in a gulp and topped off.

Ty was eating celery. Of all things at this hour, after just depositing his stomach contents into the toilet... celery. A small smile tugged at her lips, but it disappeared with his apology. "No, it wasn't that. I didn't even realize you were having a nightmare... guess I was just too lost in my own. It's not often that I get a new one," she bit her lip, handing him the glass as she sat down. Generally, they were memories as well... this one was a situation she'd never seen before, and Ty had been there, which made the dream all the more weird.

A remote sat on the coffee table. She picked it up and hit play lazily. Music started rumbling in the bass, slowly moving up the spectrum. Money's the motivation, money's the conversation...

Ty wasn't really paying attention at the time, he was just working on getting his breathing, his thoughts, and his hunger in order before she brought the drinks. He snapped back into reality, paying attention to her as she explained. But first, he took the whiskey as she handed it to him, and downed it, though he started off carefully so as not to agitate his still semi-weak stomach.

"Oh, I didn't realize you'd had one too. Small world, eh?" he joked lightly as he finished his glass that quick. Usually, he'd pace himself, but...it just didn't seem like it was going to be that kind of night.

"You wanna tell me yours? he asked, relaxing a little. And then came the music. It was...definitely not his style, but he remembered the night they met. His music, as it turned out, wasn't exactly her style either, but differences were normal in a relationship. So for her, he tolerated and respected her choice, as she had his.

"I'll make you a deal. I haven't told anybody about mine, but...if you tell me yours, I'll tell you mine."

If she had been paying attention, she would've probably noticed his dislike of her music tastes. Part of her would have felt bad for making him listen, but the other part played memories in her head - the positive ones. Her lips touched the glass, downing a rather large sip. "Oh, I didn't realize you'd had one too. Small world, eh?" Mag chuckled. "Yeah small world." Though, at Ty's suggestion of sharing, she tipped the glass up and made half of it disappear; she was still far too sober to think about the nightmares, much less talk about them.

It's just who I am
It's the life I chose
Gunshots in the dark
One eye closed

She had to stop, at this rate she'd pass out within the hour. Mag laid her head back onto the couch cushions, fingers wrapped around the half-empty glass in her lap. "Look, I'll make you a deal. I haven't told anybody about mine, but... if you tell me yours, I'll tell you mine." To this, she frowned a little. New nightmares were a large occurrence, but she didn't even know where this one had come from, much less its meaning. However, another half a glass later, she felt like talking.

I never fear death or dying
I only fear never trying
I am whatever I am
Only God can Judge me now

"A lot of my nightmares are about things I've seen... People I've... hurt, or seen hurt," she swallowed the words. "This one wasn't. I was in a building, walking down a hall, and then running. I was scared, and I didn't know why. There was screaming, so I hid in a room. There was someone strapped to a table..." she shook her head. "I don't know why it was a table... They only ever had walls, where I come from. I saw... someone... that I know..." her words skirted around the fact that Ty had been the one strapped to the table. "And then I saw a face. A girl... I don't know who she was, but I was terrified of her."