Since she was new to the whole world of non-junk foods, she was slowly getting used to how to put together a meal. Blue's recovery had kick-started it, and then getting herself on a reliable medication kept it going... kinda. 

She still hadn't gotten the hang of following the various recipes she had found online to a T. When something called for a measurement in numbers she tried to figure how much that was in a pinch or sprinkle and she quickly discovered that flying by the seat of her pants through a recipe could be disastrous. How had she been supposed to know what too much turmeric added to chicken would do!? Totally not her fault. 

Anyway, she was low on supplies of actual food and had a new batch of things she wanted to try and make. On top of that, Blue had shown up while she was writing up her list, so she had managed to convince him to come with her. She still wasn't sure how exactly... Offering to make dinner wasn't an unusual thing anymore, since he was welcome to any of the food in her place anytime he wanted. She had pouted and tried a little guilt trip but wasn't convinced that had actually been what worked. He wasn't as easy to guilt into things as Xavier was. 

Whatever the case, he was there at the store with her while she stood on the cart and scooted herself around looking for all of the items on her list. She had found the majority of items already, but the spices were trying to kill her.

"...What the hell is Tarragon?" She squinted at the paper in her hand. "Basil, Garlic, and Parsley I get but... Tarragon? Sounds like some kinda old English name." Heck, a lot of the spices were above her pay grade. She'd flat out giggled like a school girl when she'd read that cumin was needed for one of the dishes. And don't get her started on Nutmeg! 

She turned from squinting at the paper to squinting at the section of spice jars in front of her.  

"Jesus Christ, why is Saffron so expensive? What is it made of, gold?!"

Blue had grown accustomed to inviting himself over to Juniper's since his recovery from the near fatal stabbing. Perhaps it was part friendship, part tolerance, and part the feeling of having a safe spot that made him return. At first, he had liked Juniper because of the rather obvious 'friends with benefits' aspect. He wasn't sure when it actually became 'friends' and less 'benefits'. But now, it almost seemed like sleeping together would ruin things. Or, would it? Honestly, that was a whole different area they had to work out.

Regardless, when she mentioned the cooking issues, Blue had allowed himself to be talked into coming. Mostly because he wanted to make sure she actually bought the spices needed, and also because he was half concerned if left to her own devices she could give him food poisoning. While he tried not to reveal much of his hidden domestic talents, he could only stomach one poorly cooked meal at a time. Maybe he needed to let the girl learn a little, for his own safety.

Yeah, that was it.

"Saffron is part of a flower, darlin'. You know, like those little pollen bits in the middle? Heck of a lot of flowers to pick to get just a little jar." Blue put his hands in his pockets, resisting offering the 5-finger discount they both were rather accustomed to. They were doing this own 'live life legally' sort of thing, and that meant resisting taking what wasn't paid for. Although, the saffron really did seem like a spot to make an exception. He wondered what it would take for him to legally earn some of his own money.

There was that one option, but he was long past those days...

He was halfway to mentioning the proper uses for tarragon when he paused, and casually shifted his body to act like he was looking at the jar of parsley. If he hadn't been distracted by the ideas of money, he might have noticed the situation quicker, but at least they were still in the store. That was a blessing in disguise.

"Hey, Juni, did you happen to invite other friends on this outting? Because I'm sure I've seen those guys in the last few aisles as well," he remarked cooly.

Huh... a flower? A flower was that pricey? "Sounds like bullsh*t price gouging to me." Good thing she didn't need it. It had just caught her eye and the price for such a little jar was outrageous.

Then again, none of the spices on the shelf in front of her were all that cheap. She found the Tarragon and pouted at it. Almost eight bucks for a jar! "Stupid stuff better not taste like dirt." She reached out to grab it, strongly considering just palming the stupid stuff so she didn't have to waste money on it.

"Huh?" Blue's question caught her a wee bit off guard. She blinked at him for a moment, then went back to dropping the spice jar in the cart and glanced out the corner of her eyes toward the aisle behind them. Indeed, there were three guys loitering around by where the cake mixes were. Dressed casually, and she couldn't quite get a grasp on ages from the distance.

Briefly, she thought about the guy who had shown up at her apartment to murder her in cold blood, but.... naaaah. She wasn't important enough to send multiple people after, was she? Surely not. No way. That would be absurd, right?

Maybe they were secret shoppers for the store and through she was shifty-looking? Big coats always tended to earn extra suspicious looks after all.

"Eh.. no, haven't seen them before. Probably think I'm going to steal something though. I get that all the time." Which was funny, since, ya know, she actually stole things sometimes. Hadn't needed to for a while now though, but she was still used to the looks.

"Anyway, this is the last thing I needed so we can go now." She hopped back up on the bottom rail of the cart and one-foot-pushed herself down the aisle toward the checkout line. While paying she considered the strange guys a bit more. Maybe it wasn't completely absurd that others might be sent after her since the last one ended up in jail and was awaiting a prison sentence for various crimes.

Once she had paid and all of the bags had been grabbed, she tried to covertly check and see if they were being followed again.

Yep!

"So, it might be possible that those dudes don't work for the store and are actually hired thugs sent after me by a mob boss." You know, just business as usual. "I'm not super worried about it though... can't kill something that doesn't exist, right?"

She reached out and settled her hand on his arm, preparing herself to keep them both phased if she needed to. Just in case these ones were as trigger happy as the last one.

About a half a block away she turned to peek behind her and stopped walking. "Huh... they're gone. Maybe they were just creeps then? Or looking to mug someon- OW!"

Lurching forward a bit, Juniper whirled around to where it felt like the world's biggest mosquito had just taken a bite of her left @$$ cheek. She blinked stupidly at the think she ended up yanking out of her flesh. It was a smallish tube with a needle on one end and a small red feather cap on the other. It was also easy to notice that it had once contained some kind of liquid.

"Oh @#$%." Her butt was going numb. "Someone @#$%in' Tranqued me!" The outrage at being sedated like a fricken animal was shortly overshadowed by the fear of the fact that there was a sedation drug now in her system and she was going to pass out in an undetermined timeframe. There was also the who done it aspect of it, which was answered shortly by the squeal of tires as a car blocked the road in front of them, and those same 3 guys from before started to climb out.

"We gotta run! I can only keep us bulletproof for as long as I'm awake!"

Could she even run with an @$$ that was half alseep!?

Blue was remarkably calm while they finished shopping, despite the fact he could sense the growing sense of danger. Growing up on your own you learned to keep one eye open, and the only thing that kept him from keeping his hand on a knife when he slept was the fact he was always on fire. Trying to mug someone who was sporting permanent blue flames didn't appeal to most people. There was the occasional soul who enjoyed trying to touch the fire, which was weird, but harmless.

These guys, however, did not strike him as pyromaniacs.

When they left the store he did not offer to carry the groceries. Part of that was the lack of manners, the other was the fact he didn't want to roast their legitimately bought groceries. If they paid for them, he was going to make damn sure he didn't bake them. Uh, well, prematurely bake them. Hell if he had to go back and steal what they spent cash on, he was going to be pissed.

Not that it was his cash. Really, this was all Juniper's problem, but he took it personal, because he happened to be there. Because they were not-friends.

"You've been pissing off the mob, luv? Shame, I thought I was the most troublesome man you knew," he mused, trying to act casual despite the fact the situation was getting tense. Then, she yelped, and Blue was back on high alert. They...tranquilized her? "How uncivilized." Blue frowned.

While she was ready to try running, the men approaching did seem somewhat cautious. They seemed to be gesturing to each other, one fiddling with something off to the side. Blue's eyes narrowed, and he realized what was happening. They planned for Juniper, but not Blue. That could be to their advantage. "As amusing as it could be getting stuck in a wall, my dear, I think I would rather opt for choosing my fighting grounds. Can you keep the groceries from burnin'? This will take just a moment."

He was pleasant, serene almost, as he turned toward the men. They stepped back. The heat suddenly coming off his body would stop Juniper from trying to phase him to safety. Blue had a cold air as he faced her enemies.

"I'll let one of you live, you c'n pick who. That one can tell y'r boss t' stop followin' my friend here, fair?" He put his hands in his pockets and stood, heat rolling forward.

One man moved to lift a weapon, and Blue moved as well. Heat rushed from his arm like a butane torch, collided with bullet, collided with gun. There were screams, the gunpowder sending off a small bang of an explosion and shrapnel hit his comrades. Blue let the heat rush from his right arm, forcing it all toward the three attackers. He was immune to heat, but Juni was on a time limit, and he was trying not to bake her alive, if possible.

It only took a few moments for the screams to stop, and then he looked down at the grotesque figures left behind.

"Ah, I lied. Guess I didn't leave one alive."

He turned and hurried back toward Juniper before the noise could draw attention. There were bodies, after all. He grabbed his friend and hoisted her into his arms, groceries coming along with her. "Juni, darlin', if you could get us through at least one wall before you pass out, that would be lovely." Hopefully she could do it. If not he was going to be making a very awkward sprint down the street butt naked.

The most troublesome man she knew? Gosh, he didn't even come close to the things that actually troubled her. Still, the idea of not being fully in charge of herself brought out that ugly, familiar paranoid and she wasn't at all happy about it.

She knew Blue could burn things... she knew that he was pretty darn good at that. She also knew that he tended to get in fights, and while she had to assume that he won most of them, images of him bleeding on her floor were right there at the forefront of her mind as he told her what he was gonna do.

This... this was more of a test of friendship than she was ready for right now.

Everything in her was screaming at her to run. Run, hide, wait for the stuff to wear off (assuming her ass didn't just get poisoned) and hope that Blue made it out on his own okay.

It was cowardly and definitely not something a friend should be thinking, but... well, she never claimed to be a good friend in the first place, did she?

She thought about making a grab for him and just carrying him off while she was still able, but he seemed to predict that her thoughts would go that way and there was actual heat around him when she reached out a little. He was serious.

@#$%!

So... that was it. Run and leave him to face the guys on his own, or stay and... face uncertainty.

The three men exchanged glances for a moment as the flaming mutant told them to pick who lived. Cocky, wasn't he? What was a little heat against three armed men though?

Unlike the last man who had gotten away alive, if with a permanently damaged scrotum, these three ner do wells met a swift, violent, painful end.

Juniper watched the whole thing, too. Turns out she hadn't run for it, though in part that was because some of the choice had been taken from her when one leg joined her butt in being numb and unresponsive. She'd ended up leaning against the wall of a building, clutching the phased bags of groceries at her side while holding herself up.

Funnily enough, the smell of the dead men was really the only thing that bothered her. She was relieved that Blue had won, and easily too... though still ridiculously pensive about the fact that she wouldn't be able to do anything soon. Heck, things were already starting to feel a bit fuzzy.

It was... weird feeling safer in someone's arms, especially after that someone had just roasted three people alive. Even if they had totally deserved it in her eyes.

"I can do that." She'd hold out as long as she could. "You just worry a-about getting us out of here..." She focused on keeping her eyes open and bit the inside of her cheek as she concentrated on phasing them and their groceries as they hoofed it to safety.

Juniper responded, and Blue didn’t take any time running them through the nearest wall. Thankfully it was an empty apartment, and the one after only had some startled cat to greet them. When they reached the street on the other side he knew his friend was probably nearing her limit, so he took the long way around to get them home. She was passed out against his arm as he climbed the stairs, and then he awkwardly maneuvered her to his shoulder to get the door open.

Clyde greeted them inside and Blue did a one armed juggling act to get the groceries to a counter, then deposit Juniper in her bedroom. By then the energy he used was catching up. Mob, attackers, clearly following Juniper? That was a heck of a lot of information to absorb, but he seemed to have time to deal with it since Juniper was, well, having a well deserved nap. If unwanted...

Before returning to the shopping bags, Blue secured the door. Locks were settled, and he had his usual spot on the couch where he could see if anyone was entering. Then he made sure the items were out in the proper places, Clyde’s food bowl was full, and some other little bundle of fur he didn’t remember clearly also got fed. Did cats just multiple or something? He swore she only had one before.

The adrenaline was gone by then and he found the towel long stolen from Xavier’s apartment and wrapped it around his waist. He needed to buy pants, again. But that would be another day. Instead he flopped onto the couch and shut his eyes, momentarily considering making himself a fire in the bathtub, but not wanting Juniper to have to clean it later. He would just have to refuel the slower method, and hope there would be no sudden fights coming up again.

There was a meow and a small weight on his chest that made Blue freeze, opening one eye as the kitten ventured close to the flaming mutant. Little motorboat sounds reverberated as it drew close to the delightfully warm mutant, and then made itself snug under his chin. Smiling at the brave animal, he resisted pushing it away then shut his eyes. He would remove the menace before Juniper got up.

Or, he planned to. Somehow he didn’t wake when she found him, still curled up with the new kitten.

She held out for as long as she could, she really did. She wasn't lucid enough to even realize they had left the building on the other side though, and as Blue carted her sad self home, she konked out in his arms like a cement sack.

When she woke up again she spent an awkwardly long time coming too. Her head felt swollen and she was pretty sure she was talking to one of her pillows for a disturbingly long time before she realized it was a pillow. It had been a very insightful pillow, though, so that was fun.

Juniper struggled to remember what exactly happened after everything had gone loopy, but the memories, if they were even there, illuded her. She struggled out of bed on legs that were gradually coming back alive still and headed for the living room. Blue was probably still around, maybe. She doubted that he would drop her off and then run back off into the city without getting to eat the groceries that he had helped her go pick up... right?

Fishing her phone out of her pocket, she checked the time. She'd been asleep for a little over an hour considering what time it had been when they left the store.

She was not prepared for what she saw when she staggered into her living area. Blue was asleep on the couch and it was hard to miss the little grey-blue furball that had settled himself under the tall man's chin. She blinked, glanced around the rest of her apartment, and blinked again.

He'd put the groceries away and fed her cats on top of that.

Putting the fact that he has taken care of her cats aside, for now, she lifted her phone up slowly and slinked as close as she dared. She was under no circumstances going to miss this opportunity for a picture. He'd deny it to the bitter end if she didn't have some kind of proof that it happened! She even turned off the flash and shutter sounds just so she could sneak a candid shot of Blueberry sleeping on Blue, and barely contained herself at how @#$%ing adorable it was.

Paranoid, she saved the photo to her phone and then emailed it to herself as well. You know, just in case he melted her phone into oblivion in revenge. Because she was totally going to tell him she got a picture of it. Bwahaha!

With that out of the way, she decided she didn't want to reflect on the possible second attempt on her life and subsequent demise of those involved. She just wanted to sit for a bit and appreciate her friend for what he was worth... while he couldn't defend himself from her smarmy little smiles.

The jig was up once Blueberry stirred and noticed her. The little high-pitched meow he sent her way, as well as an adorable stretch and a yawn was enough to spur her into getting her camera ready again.

"Say cheese, Berry!" CLICKCLICKCLICK

Blue was a light sleeper, usually, but the amount of fire exerted from his body brought a heavier sleep than he had planned. While the initial movement didn't wake him, the stirring kitten did in the end. Tiny paws kneaded his skin, and then there was a tiny meow that made him smile.

Apparently, it made Juniper smile too. His eyes opened and he focused a cold glare on her. "Delete it," he demanded, trying to maintain the killer edge he had displayed earlier in the day. Blueberry decided that was the time to lick his cheek, rough tongue scraping across his chin. He slowly sat up, carefully cupping the kitten despite his attempt to be tough.

The kitten purred and found a spot on his shoulder to cling to, and Blue hardly flinched as the little claws caught skin to steady itself. He...he would have to find a shirt if he continued this way. The kitten seemed far too satisfied with the warmth to leave.

"Don' make me murder you after savin' your life," he warned, moving to the kitchen and getting some water to drink. After a few gulps he noticed the kitten nosing toward it, and paused, pulling it out of reach.

"I...I can't feel temperature. Get it something," he scooped the animal free and set it on the counter, then shoved the cup to Juniper. He wasn't going to admit that he was concerned the cat would burn it's mouth, but he glanced at the faucets nonetheless. Had he turned hot or cold? That wasn't a problem he was used to experiencing.

She grinned so wide it hurt for a moment, but sure enough deleted a photo from her phone. "Sure thing, Boss." He hadn't said to delete all of them, though, just the one.

"I would do no such thing! After you were all knight in shining armor back there?" She giggled and got up to follow him at a safe distance while she changed the background of her phone to that first picture she had taken. Man, Blue and Blueberry were really matching pair, weren't they?

"On it!" She fished out a little bowl and filled it with mildly cold water, before setting it on the counter for the kitten to find. Clyde, the lazy old cat, meowed from his bed over by the window. He thought the kitten was getting food but wasn't going to force himself up to investigate.

Hm. She'd need to take him to the vet soon. She was starting to wonder if something was up with his joints these days.

"His name is Blueberry." She told Blue, turning her attention back to the kitten and her friend. The kitten got some water on its nose while drinking and let out a sneeze, flopping wildly onto its side in reaction.

Juniper giggled again and helped get him on his feet. She wondered if Blue would catch on that she had partially named the kitten after him.

"... And thanks, by the way." Ah, why was thanking people so hard? Was it the admitting vulnerabilities part? "I... um... would have been royally screwed if you hadn't been there. So, thanks."

She watched the kitten wander back over toward Blue and start rubbing his fluffy self up against him wherever it could reach.

Juniper did not fight deleting the photo, which seemed to warn Blue she had backups, but that was a problem for another time. He was currently distracted by the name she had given the little kitten, and could not stop himself from raising one eyebrow. Blueberry...

She hadn't...

No, that was silly. And stupid. Nope.

He watched the kitten lap water, and frowned a little to himself. He would never admit it bothered him that he couldn't safely offer the water himself, but experience showed his understanding of temperatures was completely distorted. He almost gave Juniper third degree burns turning on shower water once before realizing he needed to watch for steam and other signs of heat when another person was around. Honestly, living alone was much for his own sanity as another person's safety. He had no concept of what it meant to be harmed by heat. Rather, a hot stove to him was just another energy source, and a cold room just made him feel drowsier than normal.

Thanks...

The comment made him look up, and he shrugged, watching as the kitten butted against his torso and he let it nudge against his hand for petting. "Don't think much of it, luv. It would have been an inconvenience to have to deal with the repercussions of your demise."

That was the nice way of saying he would have probably missed her. Sensing he was being too nice he turned and walked out of the kitchen, looking around for some sort of shirt he could wear. "Besides, your too stupid to keep yourself alive. Someone should watch your back." Better, right? Had they burnt through the last of his stolen clothing already? Maybe he would be sporting the towel for a bit after all.

There was no witty retort or gasp of outrage at his comment. Just a small smile that meant more to her than it probably did to him, and she let it rest at that. It was... nice. Just nice. And that was a welcome change from how things had been only a few months prior.

"Oh!" Speaking of clothes. She grabbed Berry off the counter and deposited him on the floor, before practically rushing to skirt around the flaming man and head back into her room.

"You just reminded me of something!" She dug around in her closet for a bit, pushing a couple of boxes aside until she spotted the plainly wrapped, yet still slightly decorative, box she had hidden there. It was blue. The whole thing. Blue paper, blue bow.

She grinned like an idiot as she turned back around and presented it to him.

"I ran across something while I was out once and figured it'd make a neat gift when the time came, but... well, no better time like the present when the alternative is being naked all the time."

She handed it over. Or, rather, awkwardly shoved it at him until he took it.

Inside the box, folded as neatly as she could manage, were a single pair of clean fireman's pants. Literally the pants a fireman normally wore. She'd snuck in and stolen a pair from a local firehouse one night and boxed them up for an opportune time.

"Ta-Daaaa."

Blue paused when Juniper rushed into her room, feeling a little strange waiting in the living room in the super-hero towel with the kitten at his feet, tiny paws now swiping at the bottom of the fabric, then jumping through the flames he created. When she returned, he was even more surprised to see the box.

He took it, resisting the urge to poke the bow, then rather gently pulled the paper off. He tried to remember if he had ever been given a present like this. It wasn't something his dad ever did, and back in his more adventurous days there were new outfits on occasion, but it wasn't something presented like this, just sort of exchanged with expectations on what earned them.

It was pants. Honest to goodness, fireproof pants.

"I....I don't know what to say."

He was stunned to the point she probably would have sworn his accent disappeared for a moment. He lifted the pants free, glanced at the towel, then awkwardly coughed.

"I don't suppose they had any boxers you were able to steal as well? I mean, I could go commando, but I feel like this fabric might...well, not feel too great that way."

He set the bow down and Blueberry pounced on it with delight.

The simulation must have glitched for a moment because she could have sworn he sounded different for just a second.

She honestly didn't expect him to say anything really. Maybe something snarky? Boxers were brought up though and... opps! She'd forgotten about those. Maybe from too many days running around free and commando in sweats and yoga pants.

"Ehe... gimme one sec."

Adonis would forgive her for nabbing a pair of his, right? It wasn't like she hadn't already seen everything he had to offer anyway. What was a pair of hero-themed underwear between friends?

She popped on over into his place for a moment, dodging the demon cat that lived next to for as the small thing swiped at her ankles, and secured a pair of boxers from his room. She'd invest in some spares for Blue later so she wouldn't have to keep robbing her best friend of his personal clothing.

"I hope this works. He doesn't have any plain ones I don't think." She held up a pair of Crimson Crossbow themed shorts for him to take.

Man, she was really going to have to invest him a little drawer for him. Somewhere to keep things when he needed them.

"I think I'll get started on trying to figure out that one recipe. Effing spices were so expensive I can't let them go to waste now." She headed for the kitchen with Blueberry bouncing along at her heels.

Juniper ran off again, although this time she took the back door aka, ran through the wall into the neighboring apartment. Blue politely stood in the living room until she returned and then took the boxers, mentally hoping they were at least clean. While she took off to the kitchen, he changed and found at least they fit. It was a good thing her neighbor was tall, or he would have already run out of emergency clothing.

Really, he needed to just hide backup clothing. He couldn't go out and about in superhero themed stuff every time he got a little hot under the collar.

"Well Darlin', I happen to be an expert at culinary arts, I'll have you know. I spent a bit of time as a...well lets just say, cooking was one of the expectations. Let's see what it is we risked life and limb to learn to make..." he came up behind her and looked over the instructions, then started rummaging for pans and some containers to create the mise en place.

Juni blinked at him while holding the wrong kind of spatula in one hand and her phone in the other. She had the recipe pulled up on half the screen. Some french dish apparently. Tarragon sauce with chicken and a few sides.

If he were looking close enough before she scrambled to get her music app up and cover the other half of the screen, he might have seen part of a picture of himself and the fuzzy butt of a kitten.

"Really? Well, that's convenient. I was about to wing the @#$% out of this and hope it all came together in the end." You know, like she tended to do with everything else in her life.

She watched him as he moved around and collected things, and then felt a little silly standing there with her dumb spatula. It was silicone and pink. Xavier had given it to her as a starter set for learning how to bake, which she still had yet to approach. Setting things on fire was Blue and April's job, after all.

"So what, like a job? Did you used to be a chef or something?" His fiery attitude would certainly go well in a kitchen. The one time she had tried to work as a waitress in a restaurant the head chef had laid into her so hard for printing an order wrong that she had left in tears and never come back. She'd been 15 at the time and had no idea what she was doing, but still! Kitchen staff were scary.

She eyeballed the recipe to see what she could do to help still if he was gonna take over. Hm... could she de-bone the chicken? That sounded helpful. No one by Clyde tried to eat chicken bones anyway.

Using her power, she neatly pulled the bones out of the raw chicken without disturbing the meat, collecting them all in one hand after she set her phone down. Music was on to fill the empty space, which she immediately began humming to. Some list of 100 top hits for the year was playing; Sam Smith's 'How do you sleep' happened to be first on the playset. It was an easy song to sing along with while working, too!