The pity party was something Sam hadn’t attended in a while. He recalled they were usually better with alcohol. His mouth watered slightly and he had to remind himself he didn’t do that anymore. ”I was five when I first found out I could freeze people.” he said finally. ”I only ‘feel’ cold because years and years of making sure I don’t freeze anyone else.” he said shrugging wishing there was an alcoholic beverage in his hand.

Looking from his hand to the grass below them some of it pretty discolored still. The man next to him still gave off heat. It seemed he didn’t have much control. So much so it was an issue at home with his roommate named Juni that can phase.... why did that sound familiar?

”So Pilot.” could he fly? ”you’re frustrated because you want to do nice things for your roommate but your worried about hurting her?” he asked in a serious tone before breaking into a smile. ”Girlfriend?”

Blue had a strong desire to calmly stand up and walk away. He could just, leave this conversation, this strange guy who was trying to relate to him, and the assumption that Blue needed help with his love life. Blue didn't have a love life. Blue hardly knew what it meant to like anyone, except that it meant he didn't want a building to burn down with them inside it. He was one of the most dysfunctional people he knew, and felt like he had no right to want to be with anyone. He should be alone. He needed to stay alone.

But his mouth was moving again.

"Juniper isn't my girlfriend," he quickly clarified. "But she is my friend...well...I think she is. She kind of takes off sometimes and doesn't say much and just comes back when she wants to."

Sam tried not to laugh when he was corrected but let a chuckle slip. The guy was still naked and he was getting a lot of looks from passer bys. Sam’s blind eye was to him so it didn’t bother him too much but he was pretty sure it would turn into someone coming for the naked guy in the middle of central park. Sam sighed, spotted a guy walking with a trench coat and then looked back to Pilot . ”Sit tight for a second.”

Sam could still feel Pilot behind him and made sure he didn’t take off before Sam returned with the trench coat. Sam pulled out his wallet and handed the guy some bills before taking the beige trench coat from him. The guy grinned shook Sam’s hand and ran off before Sam could renegotiate for a lower price.

”Keep it.” tossed the thing to Pilot and then sat back down. ”Juniper....” he snapped his finger remembering her name. Pilot mentioned her a second ago. That wasn’t a common name. ”and that’s a problem?” Sam asked.

”Women...” he started the cliché and smirked. ”She keeps coming back though right? Doesn’t sound like she hates you.” he said shrugging, ”Could be worse. Not like she tried stabbing you.” Sam shook his head and held up two fingers with one hand. ”’06 was a rough year.” he said shaking his head. ”Got shot by a different one that year too.” he didn’t like thinking about that year.

”So you like her then....” he nodded. ”Not a problem. I happen to excel at playing it cool.” he grinned at the pun and chuckled.

Blue was told to sit tight. The irritation that sparked made a few little blades of grass that had survived ignite and burn out. Why was he putting up with this anyway? The guy was a stranger, Blue should be fighting him, telling him to get lost, something!

But maybe it was a relief to have someone around. In some strange way, Blue had gotten used to having Juniper at the house. Actually, he had gotten used to having a house. He didn't think he needed anyone, but now he was feeling the confusion of being alone.

He was given a coat. Blue eyed it for a second before taking the hint and putting it on. Anywhere the jacket covered no longer had flames visible, just the flickering blue ones on his face and hands. And legs. Blue was tall enough the coat still let his legs stretch out and show off the flames.

Not like she tried stabbing you...

Blue shrugged, "I mean, she sucks with kitchen utensils. Could have stabbed either one of us if I left her in the kitchen." Juniper never tried to shoot him though...

So you like her then...

Blue gave him a look. "I mean, she's not awful to be around. Like....?" He seemed to struggle with the statement for some reason. It wasn't every day someone approached you and confronted you on your love life.

>>> "I mean, she sucks with kitchen utensils. Could have stabbed either one of us if I left her in the kitchen."

The icemancer laughed and didn’t explain further what he meant. While accidents did happen heas was positive beyond any doubt that the ex-girlfriends he was talking about didn’t have an accident. In fact they made it very clear why they were doing it. Sam had a type, dangerous women. He was glad his younger self found Cora. She didn’t seem to fit that mold which was good. He didn’t need another reason not to sleep at night.

Sam’s lone eye turned to match Blue’s look his return look had a smug grin on it like he got to the bottom of the situation. ”Like, she’s almost pleasant to be a round?” he gave it a second to set in for the fire maker. ”Like, you think about reaching out and holding her hand when she close to you? Like the air leaves your body as soon as she walks into the room and you can’t catch it till she looks at you with a smile as if to say, “I see you”?” he asked now practically bouncing up and down with each question.

Sam was a hopeless romantic even if he never advertised it. It was hard to deter people from trying to fight him. It would have been harder if they knew he was more in touch with his feelings than he led on. At least that was how he felt about it. Cora knew him. That was enough for Sam.

”Not saying it’s love. Love...” he shook his head and exhaled loudly, ”A pain in the @@@. Now like, that’s easy.” he said nodding his head. ”Tell her how you feel.” he said shrugging. ”I found Life’s too short to waste it wondering what could happen. You miss all the shots you don’t take.”

”Be better for your health than setting central park on fire that’s for sure.” he said leaning back on the bench. ”Don’t beat around the bush. Got to be clear what you’re feeling. Women, the ones you want in your life at least, the ones that make it better... they don’t play games.” he said sighing.

The man started going off like a hopeless romantic and Blue let him talk, but his mind was already struggling with the ideas being presented. "Holding hands...that sounds so juvenile."[/] was all he managed to say at first. It didn't help that his interaction with Juniper had started as nothing but physical, and now they were...whatever they were. Awkward roommates? Friends?

The 'L' words made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. Blue ran from anything that resembled love. After his horrible relationship with his parents to his life on the run, he was permanently gun shy to anything positive when it came to relationships. "And if I tell her what I'm feeling and she does what I would do? Run for the hills? I think the concept of feelings is just something we don't get." that was as honest as he had been in a very long time about himself.

Missing shots, missing a chance, missing her. Blue felt that setting the park on fire WAS the better solution. Watching the world burn, destroying, he could do that. Destroying was easy.

”So does setting fire to central park.” he said quickly. ”Holding hands releases endorphins.” he added recalling something someone told him. Was it Eve? Liz? How many book worms did he know? ”You’re body needs them.” he shrugged trying to approach the subject from a different angle. Maybe Blue was a book worm?

”You’ll grow out of that.” Sam said nodding his head looking forward at another group of people walking. The winter wizard’s demeanor still far too casual for having almost exchanged punches with the person he was sitting with. ”Scared me too different reasons though. Maybe the same.” he shrugged, ”It’s a lonely world. Doesn’t have to be though.”

”and please. I grew up being trained not to feel. If you are human you feel, if you say you don’t your just spinning stories to yourself.” he paused a second, ”You’re obviously feeling something. Got you frustrated enough to try and burn down a park, impressive display of power by the way. Wrong venue though.”

Did anything this man say make sense? Blue heard some people in this city came from an alternate universe. Maybe that was his problem. He needed to exist on a world where setting a park on fire was logical and hand holding was as weird as it sounded to him. Endorphins. He got a little of that, but his brain seemed to separate the twisted high he got from fire from that little fuzzy feeling humans called love. He started to defend his position as sociopathic over juvenile, but decided against it.

"You seem confident that it is possible for everyone to reach your metaphorical eureka moment of finding how to feel. And what happens if the only thing that really makes me happy is fire, and burning things? What if this girl is just misplaced emotions. I seem inclined to believe frustration is just the end of whatever past instinct to feel I had was..." he insisted.

”You’re just a kid.” Sam said trying not to insult the young man. ”It happens to everyone.” he summed up again, ”It’s clearly happening to you now.” he said with a smirk, ”You just might not realize it when it happens, it just does and is. You’ll look back at this moment and realize what it is.”

”It could be that. But you said you never felt this way before right?” Sam asked curiously. ”Why can’t it be that?” he mused. ”If the only thing that makes you happy is fire then I guess we need to find a more controlled setting for you then.” he said thumbing to the park.

”Cause it can’t be here. Not with all these people. You can call me selfish if you want but I prefer not to have one of the few green places in the city in flames.”

”Sounds like you’re lying to yourself. You got a crush.” Sam said with a smirk.

It was one thing for the guy to tease Blue about a crush, it was another to continue to comment on the flames and how Blue should find a better outlet for them. The fire mutant finally glared.

"And what places would you consider appropriate for burning things? Fire has never been the social acceptable mutation from what I've seen. Do people walk around telling you it's not okay to make it so cold?" he resented being called a kid. To be fair, his lack of socialization did leave him with a somewhat childish if not destructive personality. He had intelligent eyes and the attitude of someone that could learn and be taught but had gone so long without positive instruction he was just doing what he wanted now.

”Controlled burns, like fighting other fires, ones that go out of control for starters.” he said without missing a beat. ”It ends up smothering the flames and burning up all the oxygen. How they fight forest fires.” he continued.

”and no, it hasn’t. Not everyone is burn proof.” the icemancer said shrugging, ”Not you’re fault though. Same with the cold. In fact I get yelled at for making it too cold often but no one is getting hurt when I do it and I keep property destruction down to a minimum.” he said confidently.

Raising his hand up and lowering the point before his hand he shot a beam of cold forward till it hit the grass. Someone nearby jumped getting startled and sped away. Sam continued the demonstration. ”Could I let it keep going? Sure, I also know that if I do that all this nicely manicured grass someone spent so much time maintaining is gonna have a lot more work to do.” Sam lowered his hand and the spot he was aiming was encased in ice.

”Which is why,” he snapped his fingers for dramatic effect severing his connection with the ice while it broke apart then melted under the power of the sun, ”I try to accommodate.” he said sighing, ”Bit of a pain some times but that’s what I do.”

”Controlled environments are kinda my area of expertise. If you are ever looking to blow off a little steam.” he waited for a second for the words to sink in, ”Have you ever swung by the Xavier sister school?” Sam asked curiously. ”We have a room there that you can burn pretty much anything you want and no one gets hurt. Ideal for someone like us.” he said thumbing his chest then pointing to Blue.