(OOC: This is after Romania)

About three weeks. Maybe four. Maybe five. He'd lost count. It didn't matter. No one had been the asme since they'd gotten back from the mission. No one would ever forget what had happened. He didn't expect them to. Streak had been fortunate enough to escape this round but he was a key pawn in this one and the last party that America threw just a few years earlier. Who knew if another country would be foolish enough to try to use this same tactic. In both circumstances it didn't work. Hopefully the whole world had learned their lessons.

Three weeks. That's how long it'd been since they got back from Romania. Three weeks, that's how long he'd let Lily deal with it what she'd experienced in the camps by herself. He didn't think that she would want to talk about it. Maybe she wouldn't even want to see him. He didn't know. What he did know was that he wanted Jewel back. He hated seeing her suffer and mope like this. Even though he'd managed to catch a glance of her every once in a while in the mansion, he let her have her space. That was the only thing he really knew to do. But enough was enough. And it was time for her to get out of her funk and start to enjoy life again. Without moving on she would stew in her own selfpity and dispare until it was too late.

It was true, Streak had stewed in his own sorrows for quite a while after the American camps had been liberated. The problem... He didn't have anyone that had cared enough for him to check on him and try to cheer him up like he was going to do for Lily. No matter what it took. It was also true that he'd had a lot tougher time in the American camps than Lily did in Romania; however, this wasn't a pissing match of 'My expierence was worse than yours so get over it.' This was a 'I know what you've gone through and I'm here to help you out.' thing.

It was an important day for him. He hadn't had a girlfriend on this day in quite some time. It was February 14th and it was time for LIly to finally enojoy herself and her friends again. Streak was dressed nicely in an Italian silk gold suit, a black shirt, a silver tie, and black shoes. The silver eyed mutant walked up to Lily's bedrooom door and knocked on it. It was supposed to be a surpise. He didn't tell her that he was going to be doing anything for her. Hell, he didin't even expect her to be dressed in more than just a bathrobe when he stopped by. But surprises were always a nice present. And him stopping by was just going to be the beginning.

The worst of it was over. The cuts had healed, the bruises were gone; some of them left scars but none really bad. Lily finally worked up the energy to go and get a decent haircut; that stopped her silver and gold locks trying to grow in every possible direction. She gained some weight back; for the first time in months she didn't see an escaped prisoner when she looked into the mirror.
She didn't realize what the date was, when someone knocked on her door. Days just seemed to flow by, for she didn't have anything important to do. She was alone, Callie had been gone for a while, who knows where she went.
She really was wearing a bathrobe. She just got out of the shower; if her visitor arrived a few minutes earlier, she wouldn't have heard the knock.
It was Shawn.
"Hi" she shied away from the door, pulling the bathrobe tighter around herself. Her cheeks colored pink; she wasn't really ready to see him, for many reasons, but she found herself happy that he showed up at her door anyway. "Um... do you want to come in?" she asked, stepping aside. He was dressed like he was going somewhere. Lily found herself curious.

He wasn't really expecting Lily to answer the door like that. But the fact of the matter was that Streak didn't know what she'd been up to since she'd gotten back from Romania. Streak was definitely glad that she'd answered the door. However, it was very evident that she didn't expect to see him. Shawn was glad that he could still make her blush. "Hey, Lily. Ya I'll come in." Streak responded.

He wasn't exactly sure what he was going to say to her to make her go with him. At this point all he'd had to do was make reservations at the restaurant and get the entire evening planned out. Shawn looked at her and said in a mocking voice accusatory voice "What are you doing dressed like that? We've got plans..." Streak said walking farther into her room and sitting down on her bed. "You and me are going out. I'm not going to let you sit here on Valentines Day and be alone. So get dressed. We've got reservations at a place called Gramercy, It's supposed to be really good." Shawn explained to Lily. Streak looked at her and waited for her reply. It wasn't really a request that she go with him mainly because he wasn't giving her a choice. He'd carefully planned this out and was hoping that Lily would agree with him.

Lily blinked as Shawn walked in. Valentine's Day? Oh boy. She completely forgot about that. Her cheeks turned deeper red as she looked at him for a moment, her mind trying to catch up with all the things, mainly Shawn marching into her room and announcing they were going out. Just like that.
And she didn't even mind.
"Sorry, I didn't get the note" she answered with a half smile "Give me ten minutes."
When Lily said ten minutes, ten minutes it was. There was that popular belief that women took forever to get ready for a date - but it was only true for women who didn't have the routine and experience of a well-educated young lady. Lily disappeared in the bathroom ro dry her hair (and, again, contrary to popular belief, short hair needed more time to get right than long hair), then appeared again, rummaging around in her drawers and closet for clothes. Then she disappeared again. The next time she showed up, she was ready to go, wearing a dress and matching make-up of silver and gold. She tied her hair down with a thin ribbon, because she really had no idea what else to do with it.
"So, how do I look?" she asked, more shy than usual, as she stood before him. Lily was not used to worrying about her appearance. She looked at Shawn, and smiled a bit; she had missed his company more than she realized. And now she was curious what he had planned for the day.

Streak didn't mind that Lily had forgotten what day it was. He wasn't expecting her to even remember if it was night or day right now. "Well, I'd actually be a little mad if you did get the note. This was supposed to be a surprise." He said as she went to get ready. Streak was actually a little surprised that it took Lily such a short time to get ready. That was always a good thing. He didn't need to worry about waiting too long for her even if it was a surprise to her. The silver mutant was also glad that she wasn't upset by the surprise or even put up some resistance about going somewhere. Maybe his unexpected presence was welcomed even if she wasn't consciously aware of the fact.

When Lily stepped out of the bathroom completely ready to go Streak could have sworn that his jaw hit the floor. She'd recovered well from the camps, physically at least, although mentally he was sure that she still had some fixing to do. Jewel no longer had that emaciated look about her. She still hadn't quite gotten back the same look that she'd had before the camps, but she was getting there and that's all that mattered. Streak cleared his throat and said, "You look great." Shawn said standing up and walking over to take her hand and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Shall we go?" Streak asked rhetorically, although he still waited for her to start walking, just in case she needed to grab something before they left.

Her appearance made the right effect on Shawn; Lily smiled a bit, the blush seemed to have settled in for a while. As he took her hand in his and kissed her on the cheek, she wondered why she had been avoiding his company for such a long time. She was feeling better already.
"Yep, let's go." she nodded, picking up her coat as they walked to the door. She knew they had a lot to talk about; she could tell Shawn would have questions, and she had apologies to make, and there would be thoughts and memories shared, in due time. Right now, she was just enjoying her Valentine's Day surprise, and didn't want to ruin it with bringin up serious things. Besides, it was good to feel pretty for the first time in months.

Streak led Jewel out of her room, down the hallway, and to his car. Streak took his time driving out of the mansion and away into the city. When they pulled up to the entrance to the restaurant a valet was waiting there to park the car. Shawn got out and opened the door for Lily. “Go wait inside, I need to grab something real quick.” Once Lily had gone inside he created about four silver threads and intertwined them to for a bracelet to give to her.

It may look like he didn’t plan to give her anything but that was quite the contrary. This was just the first of many that he was planning on giving her throughout the night. Now normally he wouldn’t do something like this; however, considering the past months circumstances and the way she’d been feeling he decided that maybe just this once he should go all out for someone. Shortly after the valet drove off with his car he placed the freshly made bracelet in his pocket and walked inside to join Lily.

The restaurant was a nice place. Elegant, and romantic, and somehow more lively than most fancy restaurants. Lily was used to places like this; unlike many people who rarely ever visited them, she felt quite at home. As a waiter led her to their table, she saw that there were a lot of couples around (and lots and lots of jewely of all kinds and shapes) - of course, Valentine's Day. She wondered what else Shawn had planned. He seemed to be taking the planning part seriously.
As it could have been expected from a team leader of the X-men.
Lily chuckled as she waited for him, resting her chin in her palm. She felt cheerful, something that she hadn't felt in a long time. She thought back at the days when dining in a fancy NewYork restaurant seemed like something distant, something that would never happen again. And yet, here she was. With Shawn, none the less.

The place was nicer than he’d expected. Everything seemed to be going according to plan and he was glad for that. Streak was right behind Jewel. It didn’t take him long to make it and he didn’t leave her waiting too long. As he walked closer to their table and saw Lily sitting there he could tell that just being out she was enjoying herself. Maybe I should have done this sooner. Streak thought as he smiled and sat down in front of her.

“Ok, I’m here. So what’d I miss?” he asked obviously not expecting an answer from her. “What have you been up to? I haven’t seen you since you got back?” Shawn was trying to avoid asking her directly to explain any problems that she’d been having since she got back from the camps; although he did worry that that conversation was unavoidable. But Streak was going to avoid it as best he could.

“What have you been up to? I haven’t seen you since you got back?”
There it was, the big question. Or, at least, one of those bigger ones. Lily knew it was coming, but she wasn't really prepared for it. She bit her lip, looking away, then back at him.
"I... I guess I needed some time." she said finally "It was difficult to... settle into normal life again. I mostly slept." she added with a small smile "I'm fine now."
Or at least as close to fine as she could get on her own.
"So, what have you been up to?" she asked, hoping she wouldn't have to explain more. She smiled, a littl braver this time "Looking for the fanciest restaurant in New York City?"

"Sleep is good." Streak said, suddenly realizing what he'd asked her. "Ya you'd be surprised at how hard it is to pick just one. There's a bunch out there, luckily I the help of my trusty coin to help me figure it out." Streak said smiling back at her. He didn't want to make her talk about it because she seemed to be a little uncomfortable talking about it. "Hey I didn't want to make you uncomfortable. I just wanted you to have a good time tonight. You deserve it." Streak said. He was still trying to get her to feel at ease about this whole surprise date thing.

There was a slight pause as he looked contemplative. Streak continued to look at her for about a minute before he finally spoke up. "Ya know what? I think you're missing something." Shawn said before reaching in his jacket and producing the bracelet he'd made while he was outside and she was inside. "You could use this." he said as he got out of his seat and walked around the table to her and held out the bracelet for her to see it. "What'd do ya think?" He said fully aware of the answer that he was about to receive.

Lily looked at the bracelet; she could tell it was made of his own silver. Her cheeks turned pink again as she smiled up at him. Raising her hand, she held it above his; the bracelet rose into the air and twisted itself around her wrist.
"Wow. Thank you." she smiled, standing up to kiss him on the cheek "This is beautiful."
She sat back down, holding out her hand to admire the bracelet. Just like the rose he'd made her before, it felt good on her skin. She suddenly started to chuckle.
"'You could use this.'" she grinned at him "How many guys do you think give jewelry to a gal with that line?"

“Well unless they’re giving it to you I pretty sure I’m the only one that’s going to be getting away with that line. Plus I didn’t mean it like that.” Streak said to her after she’d kissed him on the cheek and she admired the bracelet. “I know you like my silver the best so I figured that you would like it better than anything I could buy.” Streak said to her. He told her the truth.

Shawn had taken into consideration the way that she had reacted when he first kissed her with his powers and he knew that she really liked it. Not to mention the way that she always seemed to like using his silver in fights. “I’m glad you like it.” He’d also remembered that all the silver she’d gotten from him was gone at the camps and what better way to start getting it back then as a gift. Just then the waiter came by to take their drink order and Streak looked over the wine list. After a minute or so he told the waiter to bring them a merlot. The waiter left them as he went to fetch them the wine. “Unless you wanted something different.” Streak said not sure what she had in mind or what she wanted to drink.

“I know you like my silver the best so I figured that you would like it better than anything I could buy.”
Lily smiled a real smile. "Well, you were right about that." she nodded, tracing the bracelet with her fingers.
And not just because it was a special kind of silver; something one doesn't find in nature, or even in jewelry and other objects created by someone. Unless there was another mutant with powers similar to his, it was unique. Nature's new way of creating something valuable.
And, above all, it was part of him. When they were in the Mansion, Lily could constantly sense him moving around; as long as he was withing her range, she felt safe.
"I really like it." she nodded. She let Shawn order the wine; not like she couldn't have chosen one, but it was something a lady let the man do on a date.
"Valentine's Day, huh" she chuckled "I completely forgot about it." she looked around "I guess it's because I missed the other ones so far."
It was ture, she never had a date on this day of the year. Few guys ever worked up the courage to ask her out as it is, let alone do it on this occasion. It could have meant all kinds of things.

It was more than obvious that Lily was enjoying the bracelet. He watched her trace it with her fingers and admire the work he’d done. Streak wasn’t too surprised that she had forgotten about it; after all it was definitely easy to skip a day like this from his and apparently her point of views. “I don’t normally do anything on this day because of all the crowds but I figured you could use a break from the walls of your room.” He commented to her. a little while later the server came back to the table with two wine glasses and bottle of Merlot for them. He opened the bottle and poured it into the glasses. Streak signaled for him to leave the bottle and once he did the waiter departed.

“So you’ve never been out on Valentines Day before?” It was more of a shocked statement than anything but he couldn’t say that he wasn’t in the same boat. It was actually a little funny that in just a year’s time he went from hanging out with friends at a mutant-human friendly party to a private date for two at a very nice restaurant. Funny how things change in such a short time; however, Streak couldn’t think of any better way to spend the night than with her. But change wasn’t always a bad thing. It was sometimes quite good; and this was one of those times when it was quite good.