#notyouraveragefirecracker

notyouraveragefirecracker

This was probably going to be a bad idea, and that should have been enough for Jessica to say: ‘you know what? Let’s not get drunk and stay in instead. Because nothing bad ever happens when you stay in.’ But she was starting to get cabin fever and the idea of drowning her sorrows with a few alcoholic beverages was beginning to overshadow any sensible notions she had once possessed.

At least she wasn’t going to be drinking alone this time. This time, she had Jubilee with her.

Jubilee the underage mutant who also happened to be a vampire. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.

Too late now, she thought to herself as she ordered the next round of drinks. The night was still young and Jessica only had a mild buzz going. Just one more round, it wouldn’t hurt too much, right? Then they’ll go home and everything will be fine and no one will get into trouble. Was that too much to ask?

Jessica carried the two large glasses of beer back over to the small table her and Jubilee had taken earlier on that evening. The bar was quiet, at least for New York, with only a handful of patrons nursing various drinks and sorrows. God, this place was depressing but funnily enough, Jessica liked it the way it was. There was something kinda homey about it.

"Aren't you proud of me? I just parallel parked in Manhattan without needing to phase my car through the other vehicles in order to avoid collision!" Kitty grinned at her friend, pulling her key from the ignition.

She was glad to be spending her night off with Jubilee. Kitty could be a bit of a workaholic sometimes, and Jubilee was the perfect person to unwind with. Her fun, spunky attitude always boosted Kitty's spirits. And a girls' night out in Manhattan seemed the ideal way for them both to be temporarily distracted from the pressing, stressful issues of X-Men life.

"So, where to now?" Kitty asked as she swung open her door, stepping out into the bustling nightlife of of the city. She dropped a few quarters in the parking meter. and waited for her friend to follow her to the sidewalk. Something caught her attention, though, out of the corner of her eye. A small purple creature came flying towards her, flapping its wings frantically. Sure enough, it was Lockheed, who, last time Kitty had checked, was planning to stay in tonight and grade papers, while catching up on Game of Thrones.

He seemed extremely distressed. He swooped down and perched in front of Kitty on top of the parking meter, smoke rising from his mouth, his eyes wild with fire and fear.

"Brood." he said, his scratchy, reptilian voice ominous and fearful. "Here. Now."

Kitty could hear the sound of hissing, and the eerie, metallic buzzing of hundreds of wings coming from the alleyway behind her. 

"Can't we ever catch a break?"

After a month of being away, Taryn found her old room dusty but still entirely hers. She supposed she might have been sad that no one had noticed that she was missing, but instead she was comforted knowing that the X-Men had given her a home to return to. She ran her fingers over the old quilt, and placed her backpack by the bed. She'd never completely unpack, but it was the closest she'd had to home since Ireland.

The blonde pulled off the black wig and ran a brush through her hair. With her gear unloaded, Taryn made her way into the kitchen. She was starving; she had run low on money and thus skipped all her meals today. She opened the refrigerator and looked inside. There was a large container of pasta right at eye level. No name on it. That meant it was free for all, right?