Not the Day (OPEN)

Chris had been in New York long enough to call it a new home, but he and Violet hadn't lasted. He'd gone from a nice penthouse with a beautiful girl to just barely getting by living in a crappy apartment in a bad area of Manhattan. Control over his power had improved with her, though, and he wasn't as prone to outbursts or blackouts as he had been at first. He constantly felt the surge of electricity in his body like blood through a vein, though it was part of him and he'd accepted that.

It was getting dark and as he moved through Central Park, his hands in the pockets of his black pea-coat, he knew he was asking for trouble. He had no mutants to talk to and every time he had spoken to one, things hadn't turned out well or ended badly down the road. His life was lonely, but he suspected it was the price he paid for such a, literally, high voltage personality. Then, like clockwork, trouble showed itself in the form of a masked mugger, the shine coming from his hand indicating that of a gun aimed at Chris.

"Hold it! Give me your wallet," he barked at the mutant, raising the gun.

Chris' brows furrowed, not in the mood to deal with such nonsense after everything he'd already been through. He spoke back, a tone of warning in his voice. "You are about to make the biggest mistake of your pathetic life, friend... I suggest you reconsider this and walk away. I won't warn you again."

As anticipated, the arrogant mugger laughed at Chris' words and shook his head, stepping forward trying to gain the advantageous position. "You're warning me? Look, friend - you see this? This is a custom forty-four caliber magnum handgun with six rounds pointed at your skull. So, no... I'm warning you. Either fork over your money or I'll put a hole in your head and take it from your lifeless corpse, you hear me?!"

With the mugger standing closer and focusing on Chris' face, the mutant was able to slip his hands from his pockets and direct them at the man. "I hear you. But you didn't hear me." With that, and no further warning, he cast blue electrical bolts out of his fingertips and into the man sending him violently into a nearby park bench smoking and literally fried. Chris then nonchalantly walked over to the man's lifeless corpse and looked down at it, musing softly. "You have a look of shock on your face."

Chris took in her words, but kept walking, and shook his head, "It's fine. I know you didn't mean anything by it, it's just that it's a bit soon, okay? I'm worried about her. She could be in MRD custody for all I know. I haven't spoken to her family, either." He didn't say it, but he was afraid to; not of what they may do to him, but more along the lines that it may start a fight between the Grimms and the MRD that wouldn't bode well for any mutant. With no facts, he didn't want to go to them with nothing but speculation that may have happened to her, or worse, find out she did leave him for one reason or another which would only hurt him more.

"The streets would be a bad idea, Skye and you know that, but if you don't agree with the Brotherhood then going back there is a bad idea too," he stated inputting his opinion on the matter with the facts he had on hand. "I don't know what the MRD did, but I do know there's always a place for mutants. You may not like it, but the Xavier Institute would probably offer you a place to stay just because they're like us." He didn't like the idea of her being on the street, especially in her condition. She was a walking lightning rod and it was obvious from a mile away. Anyone in their right mind would call the police or ambulance at such a sight and only trouble would come from it. When the light transferred electricity into her, Chris was unmoved. It had happened to him a few times before, so it came as no surprise though from her looks, she didn't need any more electricity in her body. "You should try to stay calm. Any more electricity in you and you may become the equivalent of an electro-magnetic pulse."

The young man listened to her explanation of how her bangles worked and they did, in fact, sound like they'd be painful to remove so it would require knowing exactly what to do. Guess-work would only result in more pain than necessary and possibly uncontrolled electrical output. "Experiments mean records. And records have to be stored someplace," he explained, "if not fight them, then spy on them and get those files. Chances are the answer to your bangle problem is in there. Believe me, government types love their records." Having spent time in the military, he knew all too well how thorough the government was at keeping records on just about anything under the sun. From terrorists to even birds flying over the White House lawn, they had everything but he suspected the MRD wasn't as crafty when it came to securing them as the military had been.

"Hey, I'm just going over all of the options," he retorted when she made it clear she wasn't going to the Institute nor the Brotherhood. There really wasn't anywhere else for a mutant to go save for the street or lockup. And she was right about no one renting a room to her. One look at her and they'd turn her away or call law enforcement. It wasn't worth the risk. The young man nodded at her words clicking his tongue and looking toward the ground in thought.

"Room with me," he questioned with surprise in his voice, stopping and arching a brow over at her. He hadn't expected that to come up, though given the conversation was heading that way, he had to curse himself for being so short-sighted in that respect. He hadn't cohabitated with a female since being with Violet and wasn't sure what to make of it. It wasn't like Skye wasn't desirable, she was gorgeous and damaged like most any mutant was in some form. "Uh... my apartment is really small and..." He sighed shaking his head, realizing it was the right thing to do. He couldn't let her get caught by the MRD by sleeping on the street or worse, killed. "Sorry. Yeah. I guess you can stay. You're just going to have to work on not short-circuiting the building. Being evicted will be bad for us both." He nodded, confirming his decision mentally as he turned and started walking again.

"Do you always poke your nose into other people's business," he replied casting a look over at her followed by a grin indicating that he was only joking. He shrugged and looked back at the trail. "Nowhere, really. I like to come out here and clear my head. It's quiet and easy to forget about the rest of the city for a while. Here... I feel like I'm the only man on the planet. Just me and my thoughts."

When she first mention she'd packed, running off ahead of him, Chris stopped in confusion watching as she pulled her bag of clothing from a trash can. Initially, he suspected she had been waiting for him to turn up at the park with her clothes ready knowing he was stupid enough to wear his heart on his sleeve and let her stay. When she mentioned that she intended to sleep at the park and packed earlier, he stopped himself from saying something he would have regretted.

"Yeah, about that," he began when she mentioned working a television, "the cable doesn't really work in the apartment. It doesn't really matter for me since I've not been home with work and... stuff, but maybe I can talk to the landlord about it since you'll be there." He started moving again then his eyes widened and he stopped turning back to her. "You cannot let him know you are living with me! He made it clear when I moved in that I was to have no pets, no overnight guests and no drugs. So... we'll have to keep your being there quiet until we can figure something out."

If he didn't make it clear that they had to lie, he felt it was only a matter of time before the landlord dropped by and she let him in or answered the door. That would get them both evicted and both would be on the street. Chris shrugged off her explanation of her question, guessing she hadn't caught on to his joke about it. He nodded at her appreciation of the park, taking the chance to finally look on her face and see it in more detail than before. She truly was beautiful which made Chris feel a bit of sympathy for her being so attractive and her gift not allowing her to express it. "I always liked being out alone at night, especially when I was on the road before Violet found me in St. Louis. Some habits just stay with us, I guess."

Hearing her confidence in her ability to hide and stay quiet should have put Chris at ease, but it really didn't do much in that area. He had been lucky to get the apartment he had and knew too well of his landlord's attitude and knack of dropping by unannounced like a parole officer trying to catch their parolee doing something they shouldn't. So far, he hadn't done anything that violated the rules, but having a girl staying with him, especially a mutant girl, would be the icing on his eviction cake if it were discovered. The young man nodded at her thanks, "It's fine. Really. I can't leave you on the street and mutants have to stick together, right?"

"Good," he replied with a nod, "I'll let you know if it's a pizza man or something that doesn't matter which is fine. But the landlord - he's a... well, he's a dick. So...yeah..." He was taken by surprise when she hugged him and his eyes widened at first before relaxing and he absorbed her electricity as it came into contact with him leaving his skin feeling a soft tingle. When she released him, he took a breath, allowing the energy to become part of him before speaking. "It's okay. I was just a bit surprised is all."