Forged in Anger

Ava stared at Alek totally confused on what she was saying, and that confusion was written all over her face. “I – have no idea what any of that means, but I’m glad it’s been fixed… Thank you.” She smiled letting out a little laugh. “Um – other things?” she chewed on her bottom lip as she sorted through the things she needed to do around the place. “I think – generally most things within the house side are fine.” She glanced over her shoulder towards the pool area and the club. “The hot tub is acting up a little, do you know anything about that?” she rubbed her arm somewhat nervously. She hated asking for anything, especially when people offered to do things for free. “I can happily pay you though, I know fixing these sorts of things can be – a lot to deal with.”

“Right. Well simple terms is the thing that makes the power go was not working, but now it is. The part replaced wasn’t that expensive so it would all add up to one hundred and fifty euros.” Alek’s offer to fix anything else for Ava really only had to do with avoiding going back home right now, she would much rather tinker with peoples simple machine problems instead of going back there. Especially since machines didn’t talk back to her and cause more problems than she needed right now. Following Ava’s line of sight to the pool did deter her want to fix whatever it was, but a hot tub didn’t sound like it would be too much of a problem. All she would have to do was give the pool a wide berth. Maybe not making any eye contact with it would help to. “If you insist on paying for it I won’t stop you, in all honesty I just want more projects to work on since I genuinely enjoy them.” The issue thankfully sounded like she was not going to need to be near the water, which was a good start. “It could most likely be the pump, I can’t be too sure unless I get a hand on it though. As soon as I touch it I can tell you exactly what the problem is and fix it. Mind directing to the hot tub?”

Jack hadn’t really been expecting to run into anyone at the grocery store - he’d had the twins in their double buggy, and was pushing them around, picking up some bits that Sasha had sent hi out for when a voice hit his ears, calling his children ugly. For a moment, Jack though as he turned around, wondering who in the hell would think that his kids were ugly, but he visibly relaxed when he saw it was his youngest sibling, Alek. “Oh, it’s only you. I was about to punch whoever called my kids ugly, but from you, acknowledging them at all is a compliment.” He spoke, wondering if his words were kind or not, but moving past them quickly. “This is your nephew, Ilya, and your niece, Elena. Look guys, this is your Auntie Alek!” He bent down closer to the crib, his eyes however still on his sister. “She’s not the nicest, she’s actually a bit meaner than your mother, but who knows, maybe she’ll like you half Russian little creatures?”

Ah, so they were his kids. Alek’s immediate reaction was a disgusted scowl when she heard her name and aunt in the same sentence, there was no way she was going to spend enough time with those useless babies for that label to stick. She was going to correct Jack until he mentioned that they were Russian, which made her expression quickly change to baffled. “You? Out of all people managed to get a woman from Russia to have children with you? I feel so embarrassed for her. This very obviously was an accident. Has he told you two you were accidents yet?” Obviously the babies were not going to answer other than maybe some nonsense babbling, but Alek still looked down at them to drive her point across to her half-brother. “Speaking of accidents, I only came over here in the first place because the engine I was working on for my project bike blew out. I can’t find the part I need anywhere, so... you are my next best option right now at getting ahold of it.”

Maybe she should have seen this heightened reaction coming a minute earlier, but Yona had never actually had a real encounter with Alek before. It was fun thing to know that her friend was dating someone that made them happy, and another entirely to meet that incredibly intimidating person. Yona yelped when she was pulled down to Alek’s level, and was a little dismayed that this did not appear to be some sort of hate-filled sapphic encounter. She wouldn’t do that to Mari, though- Yona wasn’t a homewrecker. The idea of having a girlfriend so ready to fight for you was super hot (even if in this case, Yona was the one to fight against). Still, though. What kind of person expected this kind of interaction to go down when meeting their girlfriend’s friends? “And what a choice you’ve made.” There was a weird, faint smell in the air, like fire had gotten to it. Hopefully it was nothing important. Clearly not paying much mind to Alek’s warning not to talk about the relationship, Yona just started talking like she was the one that had pulled the other girl to her level. “I mean, I get it. You’re clearly a deeply private and crazy passionate girl. This sort of thing is probably really hot in the right context with Mari, but if you’re not bothering to expect to meet her friends after- I actually have no idea how long you’ve been dating, but whatever- you’d better treat her well.” Bold words for someone that couldn’t throw a punch.

This whole face off was only proving that Alek’s anger issues were getting worse. She used to be able to have an easier time holding back from snapping at people and setting off her powers, but now it was like the slightest irritation was causing outbursts left and right. She had to remind herself that this was Mari’s friend repeatedly in her head, and no matter what buttons she kept on pressing she needed to calm down. Before she caught any actual flesh on fire, Alek let out an irritated sigh, and shoved the other away once she was done with her weak attempt at intimidating her. You’d better treat her well. Fuck her. Maristela was the only person who deserved to be treated more than just well. “You know nothing of what I have been through with her to be making such empty threats. I would die for Maristela.” She said her last words with her whole chest, and then threw up a middle finger before spitting in front of her annoyance’s feet. “No matter how many times Mari calls you a friend, you will never hear me call you the same. Better you know now so our time isn’t wasted.” The exit to the arcade was off to the right of Yona, so Alek gave one last dirty look as she walked past her, leaving the poor Pac-Man to lose his three lives in a matter of seconds.

Yona was getting the idea that the threat of burns was not a joke, but self-preservation wasn’t exactly her style. Besides, it wasn’t her fault if someone else couldn’t handle themselves in public. “Mm, no, I don’t think you’ll do that in public. If you’re really that uninterested in making friends, I guess I can fuck off.” She really did not understand why someone would even bother to threaten violence in public to someone that they didn’t know well. Laws were… a loose guideline to Yona, but she thought they were convenient when they kept her from apparently getting literally burned in an arcade. She raised an eyebrow, surprised at Alek’s tone. Maybe it was her fault for assuming that short people were not necessarily devoid of intense anger. “Okay… You might be better at playing games, but you don’t know how much I know. You’re Mari’s girlfriend, right? Process of elimination, but if you don’t want to talk at all, kinda explains why she doesn’t bring you along to hang out.” There weren’t a ton of people on Icaria, after all. Wow, it would be really embarrassing to be talking about the wrong person. Part of the fun of her friends getting partners was that it meant a new temporary friend to add to the mix. 

She was technically in the right to call Alek’s bluff, but push her enough and it was easy for her emotions to implode along with her powers. It was more of a warning than a threat for people who decided it was a good idea to continue being a problem....Great. Of course she was one of Maristela’s friends. Apologizing for the sake of staying in her girlfriends good graces was an option she was going to have to consider now, until the last comment was dropped. Part of the plastic of the joystick started to melt in her grip, and in one motion Alek was inches from this girl. That same grip was now holding on tight to the front of whatever fabric she was wearing to pull her to her level, which was sure to leave a singe on the clothes later. “Watch your tongue when it come to talking about my girlfriend and our relationship. It is my own choice not to meet her friends, which should have stayed that way so distasteful interactions like these don’t occur.” She was sure it was her own decision to keep away from Mari’s group, right? She didn’t want to risk this exact scenario where one of them said something that rubbed her the wrong way, especially since Alek wasn’t one to hold her tongue once riled up. 

Wow, that was some kind of bad mood. Generally, Yona couldn’t figure out what kind of people Alek wasn’t a fan of at first. Gay people? No, that didn’t make sense. Probably just annoying people. Well, from Yona’s perspective, that just meant that Alek did not know her well enough yet. Hmm. That could change. Not content to be brushed off like this, she followed the shorter woman to the next machine. “Hey, question. Were you going to do me a favor in return if I fucked off? Because I don’t want you to forget about it the next day… that’s a joke. I’m joking. You know Pac-Man is way easier than Ms. Pac-Man, right?” Was Alek much for jokes? Eh, probably not. Yona did not know if she had much else going for if she was going to make any headway in this conversation, though.

Was there an off switch on this girl? Because Alek sure as hell would love to use it right about now. Her teeth gritted in irritation as she tried to ignore her questions, but couldn’t even get herself in the right headspace to start up the machine because of her new leech. “Well the joke was in poor taste. Your favor was me not giving your third degree burns in the next ten seconds, offer still stands if you leave me alone right now.” As friendly as her own girlfriend was, she never found Maristela this annoying. Maybe the blue hair girl just set too high of a standard for her to like anyone else around their age. “I know more about these games than you do, I don’t need any of your input.” Her words were spoken as if it was simply facts as she finally booted up Pac-Man. It was clear she wasn’t bragging, Alek genuinely believed she was more knowledgable in certain topics, and felt the need to shut anyone up who tried to explain them to her. 

Yona had two instincts: apologize for staring, and say something sassy. The latter won out because she made poor decisions under the threat of being burned alive by cute girls, dating her friends or not. Seriously, that hand was pretty terrifying. “Mmm, no, you made you lose. I just watched it happen,” Yona fired back, regretting what she said immediately, and wondering if she stood a chance at running away before Pinball Lizard made local news. What was she supposed to say, if she didn’t take off, though? “But you’re really good at this game. You don’t expect people to want to watch? …I guess I could have asked to, but it’s a public arcade.” She figured that most people wouldn’t totally hate the attention if they were good at things and a showoff.

Alek took a deep breath to stop the flames from burning, however the controlled breathing didn’t do much to calm the rest of her emotional anger. Unfortunately for Yona, The short brunette wasn’t a fan of onlookers judging her while she did anything. Seclusion while she was preforming was always preferred. Instead of replying back with something harsh Alek simply stepped away from the Street Fighter arcade machine, and shoved past the annoying girl to try and find a different machine where she would hopefully be left alone. “Whatever. I find you extremely distracting and annoying so do me a favor and fuck off. I am not a fan of people like you.” As soon as Alek spoke her part her eyes caught pac-man, and started to head towards the machine with a determination to forget the others existence.

“That’s very kind of you. I don’t need you to believe the same things that I do, though, when you phrase it like that. It would be nice if you could see the world like I can,” Chloe said with a small smile. She did not know that much about Alek, but it seemed like that was on purpose. The people that kept themselves private seemed to carry a lot more pain than the average person. Noelle was one of them; it used to be like pulling teeth to learn things about her girlfriend. There had been a lot of changes since it had been that bad. Noelle was not the one with communication issues. “That’s so cute. I think you can be really good for each other. You do seem to enjoy spending time together, which is a big part of a relationship.” Chloe did not think it was a good idea to offer advice, so she had gently tried to encourage something that she knew Alek would probably do anyway- have a nice time with someone she cared about. Testing the balance of her chair, she said, “I’d appreciate the help very much if you’re willing. As long as you think it’s a good way for you to pass the time, thank you! You don’t owe me anything, but I really appreciate you.” It was kinder to accept the help than to argue about it. 

It would be nice to think the way Chloe did, but it wasn’t going to happen when Alek had never ending bad luck and traumas that kept on stacking up. “Trust me, if I could trade lives so I could enjoy your point of view, I would do it in a heartbeat.” On the contrary, It would be punishment to wish someone to live through Alek’s life. she was barely holding on by a thread already and had to keep a tight grip just so she didn’t hurt anyone else in the process, just once it would be nice not to worry about being a ticking time bomb. “Cute. Not a word I’m used to but I guess you are right. Do you think I’m being too clingy with all the time we spend together though? I feel like I’m too clingy sometimes.” She found it hard to want to fill her days with a lot of other people though, Maristela is the only person who has made her happy in a long time. Without her all Alek was left with was her own thoughts, and she was not a fan of being alone with those guys. “I offered, so of course I’m more than willing.” She picked up one of the boxes nearest to her, her prosthetic arm moving a little delayed with her regular one but after a moment settled itself into a good position to carry it. “Are these going to a car outside?”

“Oh.” Alek’s brusque approach to conversation was disarming for Chloe. Knowing of someone could mean anything, and Chloe had so many questions. From her actual conversations with Alek and secondhand knowledge from Mari, Alek would probably not handle too many questions well. Knowing of someone did not seem like enough of a reason to ask Noelle anything other than casually, though. “I mean, I’m sure it wouldn’t be Medusa herself doing that. Planning for the worst is helpful, but assuming that everything will be worse is no way to live. It’s going to be okay here. But thank you. I’m looking forward to it.” Chloe was not entirely sure that Alek had used the right word, but she did not do well enough with vocabulary to correct her. She was sure it was ‘domesticity’ rather than ‘domestication’. Wasn’t the latter what you did with farm animals and things? “I didn’t want to talk about your relationship with Mari without being sure it was comfortable for you yet. She’s really liked you for a while, so I’m happy that everything worked out for you both.” It did not seem too much of an overstep to say that Mari had liked Alek for a long time, right?

Chloe could lie to herself about everything on the island, but Alek was going to stay realistic. Something bad was just waiting to pop up and ruin Icaria all over again, she felt it in her bones. It wasn’t like she could up and leave the island all over again though, there was nowhere else for her to go and she had a new person to care about deeply. “Okay. If saying everything is safe now helps you sleep at night then I’m willing to play along with the idea for your sake.” Alek felt her face heat up slightly at the mention of Mari liking her. The blue haired girl had told her already she was enamored with her for a while when they admitted their feelings for each other, however hearing it from someone else's mouth made her feel even more flustered. That meant that she was gushing about her to Chloe, which gave Alek a small spark of happiness on the inside. “I appreciate the caution. She told me about how long she had liked me, and... I had feelings for her the first time we met so I’m glad we are dating now.” She paused and looked around at all of Chloe’s boxes, maybe the least she could do for all of her and Noelle’s help was to try and offer some in return. Being a more caring person was on her to do list after all. “Do you... need more hands to help you move all of your things? I feel like I owe you at least assistance with this. I was going to just be waiting around for Mari anyways, wherever she is.”

For the moment, Chloe put down what she was holding so that she did not do something with furniture that she regretted. “Oh! Uhm. I’m moving in with my girlfriend! Do you know Noelle? I don’t remember if you do, but she’s amazing, and I’m incredibly excited. It’s not a horrible island. There are so many wonderful people here, and it’s going to be safer now.” Chloe wondered why Alek was still living on Icaria if the other girl disliked it so much. Maybe it was a Mari thing? That made sense. Maybe. Chloe was still not really sure how much she was supposed to know about Mari and Alek’s relationship, and tried not to ask too many questions. “But I actually just got back from London. How have things been for you? And, you know, I promise that if you don’t want to talk about anything, I’m not forcing you to. I just think you’re really great, and I’m glad i got to be your neighbor.”

Everything coming out of Chloe’s mouth was very nauseatingly optimistic, it was as if the personalities of every fairytale princess was crammed into one person. She wasn’t sure if that was a compliment for the woman’s character, but she still made sure not to blurt any of it out just in case. “I know of Noelle.” With the kind of conversations and situations Noelle and Alek put themselves in, she should probably be referring to her as a close friend. Not in a million years would she admit that to her girlfriend though. “Right. I will remember your words of encouragement when Medusa probably shows up and starts turning people to stone. Congratulations on the move though, I’m sure Noelle can’t wait for the next step of domestication after you settle in.” She would have to make a mental note not to break into Noelle’s house now that Chloe would be wandering about more, especially if she wanted to avoid seeing anything she wouldn’t want burned into her memory forever. “I am...fine. I thought-” Alek paused, she needed to practice being comfortable with saying the new word for Mari out loud, and Chloe was probably the best person to start with. “-my girlfriend would have told you about what has been going on by now. She usually is the only part of my life that I care about at the moment.”

@fieryofaleks​

“Nikhil, I already told you that you can hang onto the nightstand. I can’t tell if you actually like it or- Oh, you do? Okay, let’s talk later. I don’t want this to stay in the hallway and take up space. Yes. I love you! Good-bye!” Chloe closed the door even though Nikhil had not said that he also loved Chloe. Not that he ever did, but she was sure that he did somehow.

Turning around and leaning against the front door, she came face to face with Alek. “Oh! Oh no, I am so sorry for the inconvenience. I was just going to get this chair out to the truck parked outside- it’s not heavy, I swear. Just… big. uhm. How are you doing, Alek? I’d love to catch up. I know I’m moving, but I’ll be happy to bring you food if- Did I tell you that I’m moving? I’m sorry, I don’t recall if I did. Or if Mari told you…?”

There was a lot of commotion going on in the apartment hallways, it was all very confusing for Alek since she just wanted to check in with Maristela after a work call and then try to have a nice peaceful evening for once. When she saw that it was all of Chloe’s things being moved out of said girlfriend’s apartment, there was even more confusion that crossed her face as she stood there and tried to remember if Mari told her about this or not. She wouldn’t ever tell the blue haired girl to her face but sometimes she had a habit of just zoning out while she spoke because she would get too distracted by how pretty she was. “Uhhh... No. Or maybe yes... Where are you going again? Did you find a place as far as possible from this horrible island? Best do it now before another shitty magical thing happens.” She wasn’t a fan of Chloe leaving out of all of the people that lived in the complex, wait was was going to Maristela’s rooming situation now? She wasn’t about to come over to her place more if it was just that one weird dude and her, Alek wasn’t jumping up and down about having to possibly be around him for more than five seconds. 

“We can figure it out together,” Maristela assured Alek brightly, positively beaming at her new girlfriend’s confirmation that she wanted to be hers. “Hmm…” She hummed, considering the options Alek had presented her with. Away from the ocean definitely seemed like a good idea, but beyond that - what should she suggest? There were all kinds of places they could go that would be great for a date - the museum, the zoo (though maybe not the aquarium), or even the arcade. But at the same time… “Maybe we should just go back to your place?” There was definitely some sort of undercurrent in Alek’s suggestion that she couldn’t quite figure out. Did she want to kiss some more? Something else? Mari wasn’t really sure how far she wanted to go on day one, but she figured they could figure it out when they got there. “We can have our first date-date later. I mean, if you wanted to hold off on that? I just, um. Really want to kiss you more than is probably a good idea in public, unless we’re going to be one of those constant PDA couples.”

Her heart skipped a beat when Maristela went along with going right back to her place. This was really happening. “My place it is then.” Alek was going to have to calm herself to avoid getting too excited, she was feeling a lot of different emotions right now that were big and new, which meant she wasn’t sure how or if they would make her powers flare up in a potentially dangerous way. Plus, she wasn’t about to ride back on the motorcycle ghostrider style and potentially give Mari third degree burns. “I very much want to kiss you more too...although I would rather throw myself into the ocean than make out where everyone can see. I will gladly do it privately where it can be a much less awkward situation.” Showing affection publicly didn’t sound all that appealing to Alek, and it would probably stay that way. This side of her was exclusively for Maristela, there was absolutely no way she would let anyone else catch her being this endearingly warmhearted. “I guess we should get going then. The bike isn’t too far from here.”

They were actually having a serious conversation, which was weirding Dmitri out. Where was the mention about him smelling like garbage? The mention of his unemployment? Why wasn’t she telling him to fuck off? His mind was in a whirlwind looking for the right words to say to this version of his sister he’d never seen before. “Maybe…it’s good you want to change? For her? I don’t know.” He listened to her talk about their mother. Dmitri himself never really got to know her, and he wasn’t sure if he ever really wanted to. When he came to Icaria to confront Alek about their mother, it was a gut reaction based on curiosity. A why did you do this rather than a how could you do this. He wanted to get the reason out of her, if there was even one. “That’s pretty shitty of her,” Dmitri said, picking up his mask and making it spin around his hand. Almost absentmindedly, he admitted, “I don’t really have any experience, either. I was always the weird kid with the weird powers back at the circus,” he couldn’t remember if he ever talked about the circus before. “I think now you could really use your Human Torch shit to get the girls.” This probably wasn’t helpful at all. “I have no fucking idea,” he answered her truthfully. “I think you guys care about each other a lot. And you’ll make it work if you want it to.”

Was it good she wanted to change? Or was she just putting on an act for Maristela so she would like her? Since coming back from Russia Alek recognized she didn’t feel like her usual self, or maybe she never was her own person. She was so conditioned into thinking of herself as a hazard to others, that any other perspective confused her. “Maybe. Or maybe it is just temporary. I still act the same with everyone else, it’s not like I have changed my attitude about you. You still suck.” As his sister she felt the need to remind Dimitri he was still a piece of shit despite their strange heart to heart right now. The only reason she was talking to him and let him hang around was because they had the same mother, which put him on a higher pedestal than the irritating ones from Hephaestus. He was also the last connection to her, and in a weird way Alek wanted to cherish any piece of the woman despite how horrible she was to her daughter. “The more I think back on memories with her, the more I have come to accept plenty of things she did weren’t okay. It’s fine though, I know she was only doing it to keep others safe.” Was Alek’s way of accepting her trauma was probably not healthy, but dismissal was better than actually having to deal with it. “My powers aren’t something that can be used for something so ridiculously stupid Dmitri.” She gave him her usual scowl and rolled her eyes. “Thank you. Those are such reassuring words coming from such a bum of a brother.” 

“Yeah, of course! If there’s ever anything I can do to make it less scary, let me know okay?” She was a little worried to hear that Alek had been scared and still was, but - it was probably fine, right? Liking someone was just a scary thing, generally speaking. “Um, I’m not sure! I don’t think there’s any exact criteria to something being a date except that it’s where people do something together and… probably go somewhere, I guess? So this can be a date if we want it to be! And, um, that means we can be dating too, I think. Which. I’d like to be your girlfriend, if you’d like to be mine? I don’t know if that’s usually something that happens on the first date, but I think we can probably make an exception in this case, if you wanted to.” She wasn’t really sure if her answers made any sense or not, but she hoped they did. She wasn’t really used to being the person with more experience in a couple (or not-couple?), so she wasn’t quite sure what she was doing.

It was obvious that the both of them were not that good at approaching the whole idea of a relationship, but it was the effort that counted. “Okay. It is just my first time...doing this so I’m not used to any of it.” Alek wasn’t scared right now though, mostly relief and the urge to hold onto the other girl and never let go was running through her thoughts. Her hand reached out to hold onto Maristela’s as she thought about being able to call her girlfriend, which made her genuinely smile. “I would like nothing more than to be yours. I think, considering that we have spent so much time and slept in the same bed together we can skip a lot of the technicalities. Although, how about we go somewhere nice that isn’t near the ocean and then spend the night together at my place so we can make sure our first date wasn’t me panicking most of the time. Or we can skip right to the my place part. Either is fine.” There were some heavy implications with the my place suggestion, however she wasn’t going to rush Maristela on anything. She had just spent too much time imagining making out with her that she was kind of a little too excited that it could now be a reality. 

Maristela did her best to follow along with what Alek was saying, but she couldn’t quite figure out what to make of it both being her fault and not her fault. Still working on puzzling that out, she hadn’t expected Alek to pull her in for another kiss, but she certainly wasn’t complaining. Her eyes fluttered open again as Alek pulled away, thrilled to see that this time she was still sticking very close by. “All this time?” Mari asked, somewhere between relieved, surprised and giddy. “I, um, definitely had a crush on you right from the beginning, too. I’ve been trying to tell you since December, but things kept getting in the way, and –” she she changed tracks. “You know what, it doesn’t matter. I’m just so, so glad I can do this.” She leaned in to kiss Alek again. “I can do that now, right?” She confirmed. It seemed fine for now, but she still wanted to make sure that it was an all the time thing and not just an okay during heartfelt occasions by the beach only type thing.

“Yes all this time. I can admit I was scared about the feeling, I still kind of am so I hope you can be patient with me about it.” It was strangely reassuring to find out Maristela was having a hard time telling her, it meant that for every time Alek spent worrying about if she would hate her for having a desire to be more than friends, she was trying to find out how to tell her she wanted the same thing. “Of course you can. We have to make up for all the times we didn’t right?” Which knowing them, was a lot. “Does this mean... we are dating now? Or do we need to go on an official date to be able to say that? Is this a date?” Usually Alek wasn’t the one to be asking millions of questions at once, but this was a whole new experience for her. Gods, she was going to have to watch endless hours of romance movies as research secretly to figure out how to do couple things now. If everyone in those films always have happy relationships than clearly she needed to take notes to know what the standards are.