d a k e n.

“do I look like a peter parker variant to you?”

his dark brows softly furrowed together, gaze slowly treading to hers with a glint of amusement. “aurora...” he said “are you threatening to push me over the ledge?” the question stood as more rhetorical than anything else given the less than subtle nature of her joke. he took the bottle from her and glanced over the ledge. “might i remind you that even if you didn’t, i’d live.” he took a swig. 

“well in that case, here” he handed her a bottle of rum. “a role i’d be happy to fill”  

“a little naive to think that everyone of relevance flashes their identity around like tony stark, don’t you think?” he asked. 

his eyes rolled at the mention of orgies “please, laura, if that was the appeal, i could do that anywhere.” he smirked, a boyish and borderline brotherly attempt at grossing her out. “so is quicksilver--what’s your point? jean-paul is hardly a threat, he’s my teammate not a nemesis.” akirhiro replied, he shrugged his shoulders lazily as if to emphasize his lack of concern. then, at the mention of her, his knit together curiously  “--and what do you know of aurora?” he asked. 

“at the risk of sounding like an elementary schooler, i have to say: being that this is a public space and i was here before you--of the paths this could take--my leaving wont be one of them.” a beat as he sipped his drink ”at least, not until i feel like it.” he said. “now do you want a drink, or did you want a fight?” akihiro motioned to the blade with a gentle tilt of his glass, careful to keep it from spilling. “perhaps both?” 

as she shouldered past him, he exhaled slowly and watched her reach for the bottle. when she walked back, he stood and looked down at her. “sure--if you use your words.” he answered, side stepping. a please would be nice but he wasn’t going to bother asking. he wasn’t an idiot. “do you make a habit of grunting like a cave man when you want something?”

“so you’ll just stand there. chattering away even if no one responds? --what a useless brag.”

“and waste my breath pointing out something so monotonous?“ he replied, pouring himself a new drink. “let alone something you wear well.” he added, looking at the bottles splayed before him before he plucked one but the neck. he was tasting right now, trying to find something suitable for his pallet amongst slim pickings “i’ve had drinks thrown in my face for worse.” he then said, swigging his new cocktail and trained his attention back to her. “aren’t you one of the x-men?”

“we all have our fair share of baggage.” akihiro could have easily said the same for himself. he did have a certain reputation with those that knew of him. “well, now that you’ve lead with that little detail, i obviously have to ask what sort of misconceptions i might be having if i did know who you are.”

“that bored.” akihiro set a new glass on the table and poured her a drink. he pushed it with of the backs of his fingers across the counter. “you seem like you need it.” 

“yeah, well, you know what they say--first time for everything.” he shrugged. he watched her take the bottle and then busied himself with his own drink. which just meant he swirled the ice around in the glass.  “we all have issues. personally i think it might be nice to totally forget it all.” he shrugged. “and just, for the record--you always look good.” 

a fair point. “sorry.” he cleared his throat. a moment passed as he tried climb back out of the hole he’d dug for himself. “well, do you at least feel all right physically?” he didn’t know many people that had come back from the dead twice. 

“you really don’t remember anything?”