The Fire Grows Bored (closed)

With a nod of thanks, the oriental woman accepted the cup of water, careful not to leave any lipstick stain along the rim as she drank. Her hazel eyes trailed James carefully on his path to the table, and quite instinctively, Jade stepped back when he began to light up with fires produced via his Meta Human ability. While she knew quite well that he would not hurt her intentionally, she would not risk burns from his flaming discharges, however, this moment of caution did not impair her from hearing out James’ story. She had asked him for his tale, and she would hear it through.

There was a flicker in her eye, a betrayal of her normally calm exterior, when she heard James recount the dream of fire he had had. She could share that much with him at least. The night she discovered her powers, she dreamt she had fallen down a crystal quarry and landed on some crystals. The following morning, her emerging powers had caused crystals to form under her palm, and the young girl had impaled herself on them unconsciously. Luckily for her, her powers were rather tame when they began to surface- plus her crystals had no way of destroying a family’s home. A thought then occurred to Jade.

How harsh of me to judge those who abandon their Meta Human children. I had assumed that they did it out of societal status concerns, but I overlooked the potential danger that ever presides in our powers. How much did James’ family lose in that fire? What memories cannot be replaced? What sentimental items can no longer be reclaimed? And what affirmations do they have that the incident will not happen again? How do they know that they will not be next on the list of things that accidentally burn down?

Suppressing her questions once more, Jade smiled at James and took her seat with an utter of thanks to her host. Under normal circumstances she would protest that she could pull her own chair, however she felt that this was an act not of social expectations, but of hospitality.

When Jade hadn't done more than just step back a little at his temper tantrum, James couldn't help but respect her more. He also felt a bit ashamed for not being able to quell the fire in his blood better. After Jade sat at the table, James opened the bottle of wine and poured a glass for himself. "Are you sure you wouldn't like a small glass with dinner?" He offered Jade one more time. As he took his seat, James chuckled a bit, "How rude of me. Here I'm the host and we've been talking only of myself. How exactly did your powers manifest? What was your life like before and after? That is of course if you don't mind."

The smile on her lips never quite faded as she set aside her water and took the cup of wine that was offered to her. As took a small sip of wine, she considered his question.

"Hm, I suppose it's only fair since you've told me yours. But I don't think mine is anything interesting." Where would she start first? The day before she got her powers? The night of? He had asked her about how her life had been different since she gained her powers, but she couldn't tell him that. It wasn't that she didn't want to, more likely, it was because she didn't know how it had changed. Life had been tame before she had her powers, and it had been the same after. She didn't magically evolve into a crime fighter over night, that took many years. "Um... I am the only daughter of two Vietnamese immigrants who loved me very much. I discovered my powers on the eve of my fourteenth birthday, and much like you I experienced a dream relating to my powers, it could be that our brains are adapting to our body's signals, but I digress. Anyways, I woke up the next day with crystals in my palm- which hurt like the devil, let me tell you. My parents took me to the emergency room who then told my parents that I must have fallen on broken glass in my sleep, they believed that story, and I believed that story. At least until I developed a crystal shard in boredom. That was then that I realized I was a Meta Human- however I didn't tell my parents right away because I didn't know how they were going to react, so I harbored the secret for..." Jade's face scrunched up as her eyes looked up, it was her thinking face. "Six years I believe. The time in which I became a vigilante in my local area, well if you don't count my time fighting crime while I was away in college. Anyways, I told my parents when I was twenty and they accepted me whole heartily and I-" She suddenly realized that she was talking about how well her life was going while dining with someone whose life had gone straight to hell after he gained his powers. "Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to go on..."

While Jade had told her story, James listened with his eyes closed that he might better visualize the things she said. James chuckled a bit about the apology. "There's no need to apologize," he told Jade sincerely. "I know some people still have their lives intact from before. It isn't anything to be ashamed of. My parents weren't ready to care for a fire elemental like me. It took me three failed attempts, three buildings catching fire, though less burnt down each time, for me to realize how much I don't understand about myself. You probably noticed everything that could be fireproofed in here had been," James gestured around the room, "Some people have an easier beginning, some people create an easier middle, others still make life as hard as possible. You seem to fall into the last group." James smiled at Jade as he lightly teased her. "So why did you choose crime fighting? Why not use your powers to make life easy?" He asked, the food completely forgotten in his interest of the woman before him.

It was something that she hadn't realized until James pointed it out. Judging from the material that most of the apartment was made of... it was as though a fireman lived here... well one did. Quite literally too. Jade took another small sip from the glass of wine and set it back onto the table to consider the question that was asked. It was indeed a good one, and it was a question that she had not thought about in the more uneven portions of her life. She often sat up to think about her powers, sure she had the ability to create and manipulate crystals, so why didn't she use it for the benefit of herself? She could conjure up diamonds, rubies, and topaz. With such gems wealth would surely follow, but Jade supposed that it was her upbringing that kept her from the cruel path.

"Well," the reply came after a brief pause, "I always said to myself: 'My mom didn't survive a war and travel across an ocean to raise a vagrant,'." She pursed her lips, "But I'll be underestimating your intelligence if I told you that was the only reason. " There was a slight chuckle. "I can't say that I've never been guilty of attempting to... profit off of my abilities, but the thing is that my constructs do not last longer than a day, and so I've never had the courage to peddle off the gems and just vanish off the face of the Earth. Some would call me cowardly, me? I like to think of myself as virtuous," another chuckle, "maybe only because it's a much better alternative to being called cowardly. How about you? Can't you manipulate fire as well as generate it?"

James thought for a minute about that. First of Jade's reasons was the need to please her mother. That was an idea he'd all but given up on. James had failed at that the moment his powers had manifested. Secondly, Jade had said her constructs are only temporary. She didn't want to have to move around, avoiding those that she cheated. James smiled at the way she felt she had to justify doing the right thing. "I don't think that's cowardly. That's smart. If you sold a lot of those, it would cause instability in the market. One of the most expensive items wouldn't be worth anything as no one could trust how long their purchase would last. Their insecurities, as happens with sheep, would only continue to grow to other products as well. Only chaos would ensue. Of course, you would have to do that a lot in order for any of that to actually happen," James said to Jade. He then answered on her question, "I can't actually generate flames at all. I can only manipulate them. When it looks like I pulling a fireball out of thin air, I'm actually drafting flames from my blood through my pores. When I light on fire, I'm intensifying that same source so much, it has nowhere to go but out. I can also suppress fires as well as expand them. When I use my physical body, I can increase the rate my body burns fuel, allowing my muscles to work in ways that most don't think possible." James smiled as he said, "You might ask why I don't use my powers to help people instead of trashing expensive cars." James sat quietly for a moment, a look of thought on his face. "I would have to answer that I don't really know who I am or where I belong. I've spent so much time alone, or with people so shallow they may as well not be there, that I've lost touch with the world. I'm just unsure," he replied in answer to his own statement.

"Then perhaps I can help you," Jade commented when James finished, stating that he was confused about where he fit into the world. "I've been thinking about finding others like me and you, those who wish to live in this world in relative peace and ignore the conflicts that other Meta Humans tend to get involved in. In a sense I want to find a place where those who want to live a normal life can just settle down and not worry about how their powers might one day get them in trouble."

It was wishful thinking but Jade had rights to hope. The government would keep such an eye upon the place that it would be impossible to breath without agents smashing through windows, that much was true. Meta Humans had powers, and people were afraid of those with powers. Jade did not like to be feared, but she knew the general populace had good reason. How many innocents had already died? How many had perished simply because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time? It was unacceptable truly, but there was nothing that could be done about it, Jade suddenly realized. True, they could register every Meta Human in the world, but then newer Meta Humans would arrive, and the entire fiasco would start again.

"Enough of this political talk however, you made us a fine meal so let's not let it go to waste." She cut off a bit of the chicken with the utensils afforded to her and took a bite, moaning as she did so. "This is good. Much better than anything I am capable of. Then again, my best recipe is an omelet so I suppose I have a relatively poor sample size."

James thought about the idea, the idea of a place where metahumans were considered normal. A haven that would house their community, where neighbors could be chatted with. It just felt too good to be true. "I would love to be by your side," James replied to Jade about gathering support.

At the compliment of his cooking from Jade, James smiled. He tried a bite and found it to be delicious. James took a small drink of the wine and watched Jade try a few more bites. "I enjoy cooking," James explained, "I had to try and find a balance in my life. I can destroy with the smallest of effort, but fire isn't well know for creation. I found that most cooking depended on precise control of great to get it to cook just right. So I tried it and found I had a knack for out."

After having a few more bites, and a few more sips of wine, James felt he had had enough time to think this through. James wasn't sure about this decision, but he wasn't sure that not launching himself into the ocean to rid the world of Flashfire wasn't the best decision either. James said to Jade, "You sound like you have some kind of plan, but need help convincing others. I don't know which option is truly best, but I would love the excuse to see you often. So what can I do to help you? How can I impress you with my assistance?" James ended with a big, charming smile that came from the happiness of purpose.