Fade's eyes squinted in anger at the girl's comment. She was just about to make another snappy comment, about how eye-changing never scared her, but before she was able to, Raph came to the rescue. Yes, Fade does seem like a subtle girl, she has calmed down since the minute she stepped into the mansion and found that she was going to quite her old habits, but this new girl made her old habits want to resurface. She was quite the rebel, always stealing things, using her power to sneak up on those she didn't like so she could win the fight. Jenny was street-smart, she didn't live the happy life with a family, and now that she had one, no one in heaven or hell was going to take that from her, especially not some new kid that thinks she knows everything and can beat up anyone she wants to.

As Raph put his arm around her and forcefully took her out of the room, she heard the girl's comments and snapped her head back around, ready to take a swing at her, but Raph was there to make sure she wouldn't and she was unable to do anything but glare at the stupid girl.

"God! I hate stupid bitches!" She exclaimed the moment they entered the living room. "They piss me off so much! I haven't met someone like that in months and I thought my time with them was over! Now she lives in the mansion?! What was Tricity thinking?! I tell you, good thing you were there, I don't care what her power is, if you weren't there, I would have tried to beat the bloody hell out of her! See how a bloody nose and a busted lip look on that pretty little punky face." Yes, she was venting, but what else could she do? What Fade really wanted to do was to turn invisible, scutter in there on the ceiling and drop the toaster on the girl's head! However, she could not do that right now, so she was forced to just vent and clench her fists until her raptor-like claws were phased through her fists and emerged on the other side of her palms.

Raphael bit his tongue at the girl’s words as he left. He could not blame her for thinking as she did. He did look weak in a sense by walking away instead of acting out to her taunts. He however was bright enough, both with street knowledge and book smarts, to realize when he was being baited, and when not to take the bait. This was one of those moments. He followed Fade down the hall as he tasted blood. He had not realized he had bitten his tongue quite so hard and immediately unclenched his teeth. He merely kept Fade from turning back to the other girl and getting them both into something she may regret.

They entered the living room, blessedly empty for the time-being, though Fade did not seem to care to even look before jumping into a tirade that Raphael just weathered. He knew she was not shouting at him, just shouting to ventilate her new found frustration with the other girl. He let his mind wander, more to violent thoughts. The proper angles to put his elbow blade at to hurt, maim, or kill… He shook himself, mentally and physically, and then looked back to Fade as she huffed out her last trailing thought about leaving the other girl with a busted lip and bloody nose. She was tame when compared to the thoughts that went through his mind, especially if the other woman had hurt Fade.

The soldiers in the hallway during the Whitmore attack had shot in the general direction of Victoria that night, and he had mercilessly killed each and every one of them. Each in a more gruesome fashion than the last… and he was not even all that close to Victoria. He stepped closer to Fade and pulled her close to him, and refrained from saying anything. He suddenly was afraid of himself. Afraid of the things he felt himself capable of. Afraid of what he would do if Fade were to be hurt by someone, especially hurt when he was near. He tightened his arms around her, partly to hide a tremble that had edged into him, and partly just to have her closer to him.

“You’re mild Jenny,” is all he said, in a voice that was barely a whisper. He meant that her attitude and means of retribution were no where near what went through his mind. He sighed softly, shifting Fade’s hair slightly. She was a petty thief, her abilities of invisibility reflected her time on the streets; generally a good natured person who fell to hard times and stole to feed herself. His street life also reflected his abilities. Getting up after taking a severe beating in the ring only to brutally break limbs to crack and or shatter ribs as though they were nothing more than matchsticks was his forte. It was that aspect of his life he wanted to escape. And it was that aspect of his life he would likely never escape.

Fade couldn't help but let a small smile escape. It was little, yes, because she was still angry and annoyed at that stupid girl, but it was still there. "Mild?" She asked. Then again, hearing what he's done in the past, her actions did seem small and not too bad compared to killing. Then again, no matter who raised her, she hadn't been able to intentionally take a life, it wasn't the way she was, her conscience was high when it came to taking someone's life. Now stealing and haunting them until they fell to the ground in frustration or them walking away with blood dripping from their noses or mouths was a different story.

"So I guess you're extra spicy when it comes to violence, as I'm comparing this to sauce." Mild was always connected to Taco Bell sauce in her naive mind. "Thanks for pulling me out of there before I lost it, even though I still wish I'd of taught her to mess with people's minds, I'm sure it was a better alternative."

Raphael noticed the small smile even though he was holding her almost too close to have even seen it. While it did not draw a smile to his lips, however, it did make him feel a little better. His thoughts however remained inward, and they still frightened him. He loosened his arms from around her, listening to her voice more so than the actual words she spoke. If he were in a better mood he might have even taken her easy invitation for a bit of flirting. He instead commented on the last thing she said.

“You’re welcome Jenny, my way of protecting you…” He said, though he meant it in a double sense. One in the physical sense, the change of the goth girl’s eyes meant one thing to him: she was about to use her mutation aggressively against Fade. The second was, preventing her from seeing his more brutal side firsthand. He had made certain the night he had first met her that she had not gone around the corner to the hallway that contained the dismembered bodies of the soldiers he had dispatched, and he wanted to keep her even now from seeing that brutal side.

Being told about it and actually witnessing it herself would be two different things. It was something he wanted to prevent as long as possible. “Don’t let her get to you. Where to from here?” He hoped she would recommend something that would take his mind definitely and assuredly off of the recent encounter and the dismal and frightening thoughts going through his head.

"How can I not let her get to me when she has already branded my mind with anger." She thought about what she had just said, then looked back at him, another little small smile on her face. "That was actually kinda poetic and fancy, huh?" Fade wasn't one to be poetic and 'fancy...?', it wasn't really her. Then again, ever since she had come to the mansion, her vocabulary had expanded and so had her ideas.

"What to do next." She asked as she placed her pointer and thumb on her chin in an L shape, making her pose look funny by mocking 'smart' people. "Well, we could A. cut your hair, or we could B. talk to Tricity about the X-Men thing. Up to you." Her general mood had died down some and she was a bit more calm, yet if that girl was to come back...

”It was Jenny,” he said with a smile, first one since Deathstar had appeared on the scene. “We should work on that though, need to be in control of the situation at all times.” He realized they could learn a lot from each other. He could teach her to put a reign on her emotions, and step into better control, as well as a couple tips on fighting; while she could show him some more of the softer things in life.

“I’d vote for option A,” he said while reaching back and letting his hair down out of the ponytail, “before I get cold feet over it.” He was glad that her mood was calming down. “Where’s the best place to seek a pair of scissors? I’ve a comb, but no spray bottle…” He asked, then gave her a quick kiss and lead the way towards the door.

She was still feeling a little proud of her poetic statement when he spoke again. "Yeah, control." She huffed as if she had little of it, which was a little bit of an understatement. "Option A it is." She smiled, quickly adverting her thoughts away from that stupid new kid and thinking about how to cut his hair. "I guess we could just run your hair under some water, never used a squirtbottle before."

When he kissed her again, she just couldn't help but feel better, Deathstar had been nearly wiped clean off of her mind when he did that and she felt better, more in focus, yet at the same time, less focused because now she was thinking about him instead of his hair. "Pave the way, I dunno where we're going."

Raphael patted the top of her head as she huffed and he gave a shrug. “There’s likely an art-room around here that we could swipe a set of scissors from.” He led the way out of living room and down the hall randomly into a classroom which did not seem to be occupied at the time. He led them into by luck into an art-room. “Prolly not the best choice to cutting hair…” he shrugged some and picked out a set, then another set.

“Out back I would say. We can get a hose to douse my head with, easy as pie,” he said with a smile, then led the way outside into the autumn air and the back yard of the Mansion. He shook his head, and then looked around. “I’d almost forgotten how nice it is back here. Pick a bench, any bench.”

He ignored the crisp cool wind of the autumn afternoon. It felt like it had dropped several degrees since he last was outside, and almost regretted recommending cutting his hair out here. He shrugged and stripped off his shirt, drenched his head, and sat. “Go tuh work, and have fun.” He said with a smile, and resisted the urge to shiver.

((Again, I am so sorry for being so busy and for this post being so short, next one will be good, I promise))

Fade followed him, just giving small smiles whenever he made a comment until he lead her outside and, well, to her luck, stripped off his shirt. She couldn't help herself, she stared, but only for a moment, until he drenched his head and now presented a shirt-less wet Raph. Yet she blinked a few times and snapped back to it with a laugh.

"God you don't have to strip, it's not very warm out here." She chuckled as she moved towards him and wrapped her arms around his presently-getting-colder-by-the-minute body. "You sure you want me to release my creative side?" She asked with a smirk as she laid her head on his shoulder and looked him in the eyes.

”Wet body under wet clothes… or wet body without wet clothes…. I’ll take the latter. ‘Sides, it’s not like you’re complaining.” He said with a smirk as she draped her arms around him. “And if you ask nicely, you might even get more; however, not if you let me freeze while waiting for a haircut.” He stuck his tongue out at her, though he was getting colder by the moment, and really did not want her warm body to move away from his. “Go ahead and go wild, I don’t mind.”

He let his mind wander and his eyes do the same. He watched Fade, and smiled almost idly, then let his eyes drift over the gardens behind the mansion. He repressed a shiver, and sat up a bit straighter, waiting for her to get started on his hair.

A smirk skittered across her face and she pulled away from his wet body, left with wet marks over her shirt. However, she reached for the scissors and ran her fingers through his wet hair before she cut the first piece, it was only about half cut because she did not wish to mess up, so she wasn't going to rush, or at least not too much so that he got his hair done nicely but did not freeze.

After quite a few cuts, she managed to cut his hair half-shorter and she began to cut even more until it was long enough to spike up but not just lay flat and drape over his ears. It was an interesting haircut-one of the messy yet at the same time hot kind of haircuts and she was proud that she cut his hair so well.

"All done!" She smiled before she looked down and found his hair all over her clothes.

He returned the smirk with a smile, wondering what lay behind the smirk, and assuming it was a response to his comment of doing more for her at her mere request. He then closed his eyes as she pulled back and set to snipping away at his hair. He held as still as possible when Fade was cutting his hair. As she announced that it was all done, he opened his eyes and looked up at her. “How’s it look?” he asked.

He honestly did not care much if it looked horrible, so long as she liked it. That was honestly all he did care about, and why he had given her permission to do whatever she wanted with his hair. Judging by the delight with herself, and him, that he read from her expression she had done a good job. He gave his head a little shake to discard any loose hairs that had not fallen from his head and stood up.

“Back inside?” He asked, finally allowing himself to shiver, the cold finally getting to him.

Fade's face squished as she looked over his hair again, debating on whether there was anything else she could do to it. Ah, she found it and her face went to her relaxed form as she began to play with his hair, sticking it every which way, yet at the same time, not over-doing it. As she ran her fingers through his hair for last second touches, she smiled, that was fun.

She pulled her hand away, beaming with pride, she cut his hair nicely. "I like it, it's hott. Then again, it's your hair." With that she looked down at her shirt and back at him before taking a double take at her shirt, not only was it slightly wet, but it was hairy. "Gah..." She muttered before she began rapidly smacking her shirt until she had gotten rid of as many hairs as she could see.

After accomplishing this, she looked back at him, smiled and nodded before grabbing his hand and leading him inside. Once they made it indoors, she threw herself around his cold body and immediately regretted hugging a cold, wet Raph, only for the first few seconds until the impact of the cold had done it's worst. "You're freezing!"

Raphael quirked his eye as she answered his question by immediately going back to work on his hair. He watched more hair flitter before his eyes, and then smiled as she pronounced his hair done. He held still as she described his hair and her like of it. He enjoyed the feel of her fingers through his hair; so much gentler than anyone else who had laid hands on his head in recent years. Another thing he was coming to realize and enjoy about his growing relationship with her.

“Thanks. I told you going into this that so long as you liked it, didn’t matter to me.” He smiled as she then rapidly began brushing his hair from her shirt. He found it funny, but managed to withhold the laugh that built up from the pit of his stomach. He stood up again as she flailed at her shirt.

He shivered again and followed her lead inside more than willingly. He was definitely feeling the cold as it had sunk right through him to his adamantium coated bones. He certainly did not object as she threw herself against him. She was warm and soft, he cold and hard. He draped his arms around her for a moment. “Yeah… I know. I think it’s time for a warm to hot shower for me, and a change of clothes for you. Am I right?” He asked, looking down at her, and shivering slightly again.

Her currently white eyes looked down at her shirt as a frown skittered across her face. She didn't get all of the hairs off, and it looked as though she couldn't until she got a lent brush to do it for her. "Yeah, guess I do need a new shirt." She smiled before looking back at him, her eyes now lavender.

However, she couldn't help herself but to think, if she had hair on her shirt, wouldn't it be on her pants and shoes now? So, even though she knew she wasn't going to enjoy the outcome, she glanced down at her pants and shoes and sure enough, they too were covered in his hair.

"Great, might as well have a battle with a lent roller..." She muttered before she looked up, "...nah, I'll do that later, I'll just change into like, new everything." She sighed. "Have fun in the shower, but not too much fun, I might worry for you." She snickered, something she had heard years ago and had found it funny ever since.

((Shall we go talk to Tricity about becoming X-Men?))