Katrina's mouth fell open in surprise at the unexpected change of topic. Her face flushed at the subject of the new topic. Her mouth closed and opened again as if she was speaking, but her vocal chords hadn't yet caught up with her lips. Countless denials rose up in Katrina's head like so many heads of a hydra. Her tongue didn't know where to start, and all her responses tried to tumble out all at once.

“I... he... no! I don't even like him. Boys are stupid!” The emphasis on that last word clearly indicated that Katrina was including the merciless male sitting across from her in that statement. Katrina was tempted to throw the plastic dart gun straight at his smirking face.

Had she been more experienced in the art of dealing with older brothers, she might have realized what the older boy was trying to do. As an only child, she was defenseless and completely at a loss for how to respond to his teasing. So she sat there with her arms crossed her face both crimson and scowling.

Priceless.

There was no other word for it; her reaction had been simply priceless. His words had managed to evoke the perfect amount of anger and embarrassment, though judging from her scarlet features it was more the latter than the former. In any case it was a classic example of the reaction such teasing desired and the elementals amusement became more pronounced as his entire frame began to shake with barely suppressed mirth. He hadn’t expected it to be this easy, the girl was practically begging him to continue, which was fortunate as Simon had no intention of stopping; this was too much fun.

Maintaining his all knowing smirk the merc raised his brow to deliver a look of practiced skepticism. “The lady doth protest too much methinks.” His tone was smug as he voiced his reply and complemented his air of incredulity perfectly, he somewhat doubted Katrina would catch his Shakespearean reference, though she had surprised him with her knowledge of Greek mythology. In either case he still had more to add in order to further fuel the fires of her embarrassment.

Shifting his own expression into an apologetic facade that wouldn't fool a soul Zephyr adopted the lightly dismissive yet condescending tone used by all adult figures everywhere whenever they wanted to belittle someone younger than themselves. "Oh come on now" he said with an indifferent wave of his hand, "A little crush is nothing to be embarrassed about, I mean you’re what 8? A lot of girls your age have them, now why don't you tell me his name?" The final words were spoken in an innocent enough tone, yet one look at the mercs eyes revealed that his intentions were anything but.

The diabolical boy recently dubbed Dio continued his malicious verbal onslaught despite the tweenagers extreme embarrassment. Perhaps her glaring countenance, her tightly folded arms, and the ever deepening carnelian shade adorning her cheeks only encouraged the older boy's incorrigible behavior.

Internally, the young illusionist weighed her options. As her gray orbs flashed in anger and her lower lip protruded slightly, she plotted her next course of action. Veritably, she thought, she could simply make her exit, but the thought of a retreat didn't sit well with her. While she wanted nothing more than to disappear, running away would be granting victory to the disrespectful devil in the adjacent armchair. No, retreat was an unacceptable choice, the twelve year old decided. Another option would have to be found. For the greater good of innocent damsels everywhere, someone would have to teach the verbacious villain a lesson.

Finally, the lilliputian could weather the insults no longer. Her dignity thus injured, she sprang into action.

“Grah!” she uttered a primeval exclamation and leaped the short distance from her own chair onto the plush perch of the smirking demon, her fingers wiggling mercilessly in the general direction of his abdomen. “Take that, you big jerkface!” she eloquently proclaimed as she executed her infallible flying tickle tackle attack, specially engineered to wipe handsomely arrogant smirks off of preposterously pompous faces.

When was the last time he'd been able to enjoy himself like this? Whatever the duration it had simply been too long, he'd almost forgotten what it meant to be an older brother. It wasn't all fun and games admittedly and on more than one occasion the role had caused him a great deal of aggravation yet, it was moments like these; when he was capable of provoking such embarrassment in an ordinarily demure and ingénue girl that she attempted to attack him, well that was what made it all worthwhile.

With amusement evident in his azure eyes Zephyr made no move to prepare himself as Katrina suddenly scrambled to the edge of her chair and launched herself across the minute distance which separated them. He'd been expecting something like this and although it was tempting to conjure a wind and shift his chair back five feet the merc knew that would likely cause an abrupt end to their game and he had no desire for it to conclude just yet. Thus he left himself wide open, a light chuckle echoing from his lips as he raised one arm to catch the girl by the shoulder and prevent her tumbling off his perch. The unexpected consequence of this though was that the entirety of the child’s momentum was transferred to her opposing shoulder which collided resoundly with his sternum, forcing the elemental into the back of his high topped chair and almost causing the elegant piece of furniture to lose its center of balance as it rose on two legs. Gravity quickly took hold of the situation however and the chair resumed its original position with an awkward lurch thereby leaving Simon to deal with Katrina's puerile tactics.

Considering the fact that Katrina's reactions had by themselves been highly entertaining it took little effort on the young gamines part to convert the merc's quiet chuckle to full blown laughter as she continued her impish assault. In between his own laughter though Simon managed to gather a moment with which to continue his verbal hazing, Haha, did I touch a nerve?" His free hand suddenly snaked down and went to work on the child’s ribs while his other slid off the girls shoulder and under her arm. What was that saying? Ah yes, "turn about was fair play" the merc had never truly like the old adage before, now however he found a new appreciation for aphorism as worked to turn the tables in his favour.

"You know if you won't give me a name I'll just have to guess... is it Calley? Just laugh for yes."

The fact that the armchair almost toppled over and her shoulder hit Dio's chest didn't phase the twelve-year-old. The fact that the older boy had chosen not to defend his well exercised abs and instead counter attacked with both hands did.

“Eeee,” she squealed and tried to twist away from the offending digits, in the process sliding off his knees and onto the floor. She tried to shake her head “no” to his question, but her whole body was shaking with laughter so the gesture might have easily gone unnoticed.

Desperately, she abandoned her own attack and tried to scramble around the back of the chair where he hopefully wouldn't be able to reach her. Perhaps a different type of attack would be better suited to counter his badinage. Perhaps it was Katrina's turn to get on his nerves, “What about your Sarah?” Were you hoping to meet her today?”

With his lighthearted laughter echoing throughout the forlorn library Zephyr steadily increased the intensity of his ticklish tactics as the giggling gamine struggled to squirm away out his grasp. For a moment or two he attempted to keep her confined by lifting his knees but eventually the child’s efforts were successful and she slid from the elementals lap onto the carpeted floor where she continued laughing breathlessly. "So it is Calley, I'll have to tell him the next time I see him" a playful smirk tugged at the merc's lips as he issued his teasing remark. As he saw that Katrina was attempting to move out of his reach however Simon attempted to pin her down with his foot, however it was only a halfhearted effort and considering that he was somewhat lacking in both weight and muscle Katrina easily evaded the outstretched limb and darted nimbly behind his chair.

“What about your Sarah?” Were you hoping to meet her today?”[/color]

Admittedly he should have seen this coming, as it was though he'd been enjoying himself too much and the question caught him off gaurd, effectively rendering him speechless as words failed him. Of course he wanted to meet his sister, it had been almost two years since he'd last seen her, but at the same time he wanted her to stay home where someone could look after her, even if it was his own nepotic father. It was a catch 22 scenario with no real solution, he couldn't very well just return home and introduce himself out of the blue; his whole family thought he was dead and he had no way to explain his absence for the last two years.

Then, even if he somehow managed to devise an explanation for his disappearance he would need still have to contrive a way to remain legally dead so that his records would not come to the attention of various law enforcement agencies. The elemental had already run afoul of a few such organizations and knew that, in Europe at least, he was considered something of an annoyance but not a true threat. If his records were abruptly revived though he could easily be associated with a large number of unsolved cases and even a few marked as suicide. The fact that there was no direct proof wouldn't matter either; the simple fact that he was a mutant would be enough for most agencies to try and bring him or pay someone to do so. That in itself didn't worry the merc, he knew that he was more than capable of looking after his own skin, the same though could not be said of his sister.

In short the whole issue was a bloody mess and unless he somehow managed to gain a type of diplomatic immunity he couldn't afford meet his sister; because as much as he loved her he knew the girl couldn't keep a secret to save her life.

"I... I don't know." The empty words sprang unbidden from the elementals lips, yet even as the reply escaped Simon found that he couldn't argue with the statement and as he collapsed against the chair he experienced a new sensation; it wasn't depression or anguish, no it was different from that, almost an absence of emotion...

He felt hollow.

Katrina's attempt to escape the tickling finally worked. Her attempt to get revenge for the teasing comments, however, did not work in the way she had expected. After her ill-planned comment, Dio ceased all attempts to continue their tickle battle and simply collapsed back in the chair instead. His verbal response was likewise unexpected, unsure sounding almost.

Oops. Game over.

She hadn't meant to hurt Dio's feelings with her comment about Sarah. She had only meant to tease him about a girl that he liked. It seemed, though, that his relationship with the unknown girl was more complicated than Katrina had thought. Katrina crawled back around to the side of the chair and sat on her knees, resting her chin on the plush arm rest.

She glanced up at the older boy's face, trying to read his face with no luck. He seemed kind of blank and had a faraway look in his eyes. She couldn't tell if there was sadness in his icy blue eyes or not. Her own facial expression was both apologetic and concerned.

“Do you... want to talk about it?” Katrina asked in a small voice.

How had the tables turned so quickly? When had his emotions become so fickle that a single question could rob him of enjoyment? Was it even normal to feel this way? This utter absence of feeling; this sense of emptiness emanating from the abysmal void in his chest. Why couldn’t he feel the guilt or sadness he knew he should be experiencing?

All these questions and more roamed the elemental mind, each clamoring for attention in the desolate wake of the abrupt aberration of his emotions. At the root of this chaotic maelstrom of queries though was a single desire, a simple fact; he wanted to see his sister, and he couldn’t.

Placing an elbow on the arm of his chair Simon a little further into his seat until his head rested upon his upraised hand. His decision to leave had been selfish. He’d recognized that a long time before now, yet he had never fully realized the extent to which his departure would cost him. At the time he’d been preoccupied with enjoying his newfound freedom, experiencing things he never would have glimpsed while under his fathers thumb. Once that phase had passed though the elemental had done what he could to keep in touch, he’d followed his sisters progress through school; reading up on her triumphs in academic competitions from local papers and perusing the public journal she sometimes updated. He’d even sent her gifts for her birthday and up until today that had always been enough…

“Do you… want to talk about it?”[/color]

Glancing down with dull eyes Zephyr regarded Katrina silently. It was clear to see from the child’s contrite expression that she understood her query had been rather poorly placed. Despite her remorse and good intentions though Simon had no intention of confiding his sudden unease to anyone; he still wasn’t sure he understood it himself and there was no way in hell he was going to ask for help on the issue, especially from a little girl, even if she did happen bear an uncanny resemblance to his sister. No, this was one of those matters that was best left alone.

Reaching out his free hand Simon tousled the child’s girls’ blonde hair and treated her to a halfhearted smile. “Not really.” The answer was given in a mild tone completely lacking in hostility or anger, however neither did it contained a sense of joy or contentment and it would be clear for any who heard the elementals words that things were far from copacetic.

--

((OOC:This post was like pulling teeth, no idea why I had so much trouble with it. Still, I hope you find it satisfactory.))

Dio's sudden reticence was troubling, and his halfhearted tousling and deadpan voice were likewise distressing. Katrina felt a knot twisting itself up in the bottom of her stomach. She had made him feel this way. His face, which had been smiling so effortlessly, albeit somewhat maliciously, could hardly even manage to turn up at the corners now. It was all her fault, and Katrina didn't even know exactly what it was she had done wrong. The mention of the mysterious Sarah had touched on some sore spot that had turned her previously playful companion into a saturnine lump on the leather armchair. The emptiness on his face was even more devoid of emotion than the mask into which he had previously sculpted his features. At least when he wore the pretended expressionless face before, his eyes still seemed alive.

If Dio didn't want to talk about what he was going through with a twelve-year-old girl he had just met, that was understandable. Katrina, however, still felt responsible for his mood and considered it her duty to make things right again. She stood up from her kneeling position, leaned over the arm of the chair, and embraced the melancholy older boy, head-cradling arm and all, in a quick and somewhat awkward hug.

“I'm sorry,” all her own emotions went into the simple statement. All of her remorse and confusion, her compassion and hope were apparent in the simple, yet heartfelt words as she gently squeezed the older boy around the shoulders.

Swept up in his own thoughts Simon’s hand remained absently perched upon Katrina’s head while his azure eyes gazed unseeing down the length of the library. He needed to do something; he couldn’t just loiter here while his thoughts slowly turned to self pity, yet what was there to do? The elementals mind seemed frozen, incapable of focusing on any subject beyond his sister and the quintessential catch 22 scenario surrounding her.

So deep was his thought that Zephyr hardly noticed when his hand fell from his young companions head, barely registered her change in stance as she got to her feet and was completely oblivious to the expression of guilt and anguish which danced over delicate features. Only when the child finally leaned forward and embraced him in her tender arms was the elemental even partially roused from his morose musings.

“I'm sorry,”[/color]

Simon heard the words at almost precisely the same instant he detected a light pressure around his shoulders and he would later reflect that the affect such a simple action had on him was somewhat disconcerting. The moment he registered Katrina’s touch the hollow sensation in chest collapsed; giving way to as new waves of emotion burst into being, causing him to start as guilt and depression surged through him like a torrent. What was perhaps more troubling though was the fact the elementals arms immediately moved of their own accord, encircling the girls lithe figure with unaccustomed intensity as he drew her feet off the ground and simply held her for the few moments it took his mind to catch up on proceedings. Remarkably though the instant he had grabbed hold of the child the unexpected, and largely unwanted, emotions had receded. And so by the time Simon realized what he was doing and understood that he should release the girl a part of him refused to acquiesce.

Katrina had almost expected her hug to go unacknowledged, but Dio returned the embrace with a surprising intensity. It was as if he had been bottling up his emotions for far too long behind his alabaster mask and Katrina's touch had released the previously guarded emotions from their white stone prison. Dio's embrace pulled Katrina off her feet, and it wish very little effort she curled up her legs and was sitting once again on his lap. She squeezed him back, letting him hold her for as long as he needed.

It was almost as if he was comforting her, instead of the other way around and for some reason the gesture reminded Katrina of her mother. Circumstances had contrived to separate Katrina from her mother months ago and had yet to bring them back together, and perhaps never would. It was a sad idea, but not one that Katrina wanted to believe. Part of what kept her going was the hope of seeing her loved ones again. She kept telling herself that after the Registration Law was gone and mutants could safely roam the country once again, she would be free to find her family. She didn't know how long it would take, but she was determined that it should happen. Someday.

What the hell was wrong with him? Why had he suddenly crumbled like that? And when had he become so weak that he sought solace in a child? All these thoughts and more vied for supremacy in Zephyr’s thoughts yet they were barely more than a whisper in comparison to everything else he was experiencing.

Still frozen in his fierce embrace the elemental had lost all track of time; had he only been holding the girl a few seconds or had it been minutes? For all he knew it could have been hours but time was almost irrelevant at this point, all that mattered was making sense of the torrid tangle of emotions that had somehow clutched hold of his heart strings. Where they had come from he had no idea, one moment he’d felt empty, isolated, then something had broken and a tide of new sensations had all but drowned him. Anxiety, fear, guilt and anguish raged unchecked through his mind and with each new wave he only held the child in arms tighter until the feeling faded. Throughout the ordeal though Katrina never uttered a single sound of protest nor made any attempt to escape his grasp, if anything she only hugged him harder, to the point where he could actually feel her own steady heartbeat against his own slightly erratic pulse.

Gradually though the emotions did recede and as his heartbeat reverted to a sounder rhythm Simon was able to regain control of himself. Giving the child one last squeeze the elemental slowly inclined his head to Katrina’s own, “Thank you.” The words were spoken so softly that Zephyr himself failed to hear them nevertheless they were the only words of gratitude the girl would receive yet it was still far more than he had ever given anyone else.

With his thanks said Simon lifted his head and finally allowed himself to rest against the back of his chair, leaning away from Katrina slightly as he did so, his arms though remained loosely wrapped around the child’s midriff as he waited for the girl to decide when she wanted the embrace to end.


This was by no means one of his proudest moments; in fact his ego would likely cause him to brand it as one of his weakest. Still, for the moment he was more than content to enjoy his moment of weakness for a while longer. His pride could go hang itself.

A world outside of time. A world outside of conventions. The two had just met, but in those moments when the young man allowed himself to release his emotions and the young girl allowed him to hold her close, they were as close as siblings.

The sudden outburst of emotions from the boy had surprised Katrina at first. Then she had been determined to help him feel better. Now, she was confused, not by his actions, but by her own thoughts and memories triggered by his embrace.

Over the past few months, Katrina had ignored thoughts of her own family. Rather than dwell on longing and loneliness, she had filled up her time and used up her energy meeting new people, making friends, spending time with anyone who would have her; from Tabby and the other lunch ladies who made special chocolate chip pancakes just for her to Nigel Banks and his gang of guards who sometimes played ping-pong and always had Neapolitan ice cream stored in the staff lounge.

Now that she looked back, she realized that she was building a whole new life for herself so she didn't have to miss the old one back at home. She never thought about her old friends, and whenever thoughts of her parent came up, she would occupy herself with music, reading, or conversations with the random refugees and staff people in the Labs and she would always put on a happy face. She had never thought, until now, that she might be wearing a mask of her own.

Her thoughts swirled through her head as Dio's embrace showed his emotions. Did she, too, have emotions trapped inside waiting to spill out? Was it hope that her family would be whole again, or simply the fact that she no longer needed them that allowed her to get through the days?

Dio held her tight, and Katrina clung right back. Long before Katrina had a chance to figure out what she was feeling, or should be feeling, in such a situation, the older boy gave her one last squeeze as if to say thank you. Katrina couldn't hear the words he had spoken, but she understood the message. Then, Dio loosened his arms and leaned back into his chair, once again separating their heartbeats.

It was too soon. Katrina wasn't quite ready to break the loose grasp of his arms around her back and climb back out of his lap again. In this little world they were a family, and once they left it they would probably become strangers again. So... now what? She couldn't just sit here forever, as much as she'd like to.

Still cradling the girl gently in his arms Zephyr gazed unseeing at the book shelf directly in front of him, his customarily sharp eyes had dulled and lost their focus as his mind began to contemplate and take stock of the situation. He’d never weathered such an emotional assault in his life before and the speed with which it had crippled him was something the elemental found almost frightening. On some level he had known and accepted the fact that he missed his sister yet it was something he’d taught himself to ignore; shifting his thoughts from anything which evoked a form of distress. Such a practice had served him well for three years, ever since he’d once made the mistake of questioning his right to take a life. There was no future in such thoughts, far better to simply view such unfortunate souls not as victims but as targets; objectives which needed to be met to accomplish a goal. It was easier that way.

So what had gone wrong here? Why had he collapsed? Certainly a part of it could be attributed to Katrina’s presence; her uncanny resemblance to his own sister was doubtlessly what had forced him to recognize the emotions he would normally have suppressed. Then, once the door had been opened, everything he’d buried or ignored had come surging to the surface, and when the raging torrent had hit the merc had found himself overwhelmed that he’d latched onto the first thing he could find, both literally and metaphorically.

Many may have believed such realizations to be a significant blow to the elementals pride and, in truth, there was a small part of the merc’s being which felt rather ignominious and wanted nothing more than to depart the labs as swiftly as possible. However since such an action would require him to disturb the young gamine currently resting in his lap Zephyr immediately dismissed the thought as he noted, with slight puzzlement, just how tightly Katrina’s arms were clutching his form. Whatever the reason the child clearly had no desire to leave just yet, and although he had no idea what had caused this sudden role reversal Simon was content to stay as he was for as long as the girl needed.

Gently the elemental shuffled Katrina into a more comfortable position on his lap, altering the girl’s posture slightly so that her head rested just below his shoulder, thereby allowing him to return the child’s embrace with one arm. Zephyr then tilted his head to the side slightly as he tried to view the child’s face, however her features had become masked by a curtain of blonde hair which gave him no indication of the gamines expression. This was something of a conundrum for the elemental had no way to discern Katrina’s frame of mind and without such knowledge he was at a loss for how to proceed. In order to ameliorate the situation somewhat Simon slowly raised his free hand to the girls face and softly parted the fine golden shroud obscuring the child’s features. Thankfully Katrina did not appear to have been crying, her eyes were dry and her cheeks lacked any type of moisture, conversely though she did not seem overly joyed either, quite the contrary in fact; her slate gray eyes were downcast and dull while the corners of her lips had descended into a marked frown to form an expression of abject sadness and confusion.

“You feeling ok?” The question was posed in a gentle tone as Simon gently began rubbing Katrina’s back with one hand. He was tempted to tickle the girls ribs in an effort an effort to gain a laugh or even a smile from the blonde haired gamine, yet he held back from doing so, still uncertain if the child was ready for such antics yet. What he needed was form of distraction, a story would have been ideal considering their location however retrieving any of the shelved volumes would require him to displace his companion and were therefore not viable options.

‘Where did I put- there it is.’

Using his free arm to reach over the empty side of the chair Simons questing hand deftly grasped the tome he had been reading before this entire encounter began. Admittedly the works or Arthur Conan Doyle were not considered to fall within typical children literary repertoire, however Kat had surprised him thus far, it was at least worth a shot.

“Would you like to hear a story?”

Being in Dio's lap was comforting. Never mind that she was nearly a teenager now and sitting on laps was a childish thing to do. She cuddled against his shoulder when he spun her around, and tried to figure out why she was suddenly feeling so strange.

Dio brushed her blonde hair out of her eyes and asked simply if she was okay. Katrina shrugged and kept her gaze down, staring at a spot on the carpet that was slightly lighter than the rest. She now felt a little silly for being emotional when she was supposed to be cheering up Dio. She supposed that she was okay, but thought maybe she ought not to be, considering she hadn't seen her family in months. It was a puzzle that she couldn't figure out, at least not yet.

His next question caught her off guard,
>>>“Would you like to hear a story?”

Katrina glanced up into his blue eyes and saw what might be concern and kindness. Actually, a story would be nice. She could get calmed down and then figure out all of her emotions later. That way she could enjoy this little world of theirs for a little while longer before rejoining the real world again.

Katrina nodded then added, “Yes please,” in a small voice.