Friends, friends, we all need friends.

[backwaterbelle]

who: Rogue and friends!
what: Catching up with people during the eye of the hurricane/shitstorm.
when: First two weeks of June.
where: Various.
warnings: Adorable kittens. Will update if necessary.


[ooc: Please let me know if you want a starter! She'll have an open post for the exploration log as well.]

Comments

[ragnarsson]

"He is crazy but like a fox," Ivar agrees. "I'm glad he was able to help you. Life has been more interesting for me since I met you." He was rapidly developing a strong friendship with Rogue. If there was something a little more he felt, well, he was ignoring that for right now. He's been burned too many times in the past to open up his heart to anyone else right now.

He groans happily when her hands are first in the muscles of his shoulder and then move onto his hair. Ivar has a great weakness that few know about when it comes to someone playing with his hair. It just felt so nice. "Yes, much better." She could just keep doing that all day and he'd be content. One of his hands goes up, careful to avoid the skin of her face, as he traces the streak of white in her hair.

[backwaterbelle]

There's a curious tilt of her head at the fox comparison, but it's really the next series of comments that capture her attention. She's still hovering above him when her eyes flutter closed to halt any threat of more intense emotions from escaping. Her happy smile betrays that, of course.

"Me too sugah." She murmurs gently. In the time she's spent with Ivar thus far, Rogue understands him to struggle with expressing emotions, so his words mean all the more to the mutant. "Ah'm glad ah met you that night." And she means it, wanting him to know that she values him in her life here. "You're chosen family and ah'd be upset if somethin' terrible happened to you."

She's got his back, but she doesn't want to overwhelm him by telling him too many points of truth, even if she feels he needs to hear them. Even as her feet return to the ground, Rogue continues to keep contact with him, returning to work on his shoulders once more, but her fingers slow to a relaxed halt as he fingers along her bangs. "Good. Wouldn't want to have ruined it all before the day ah got planned even started. You hungry?"

[ragnarsson]

She's so sweet to him, something Ivar is completely unused to. People always seem like they want something from him in return for their sympathies or for treating him decently. "You're too good to me." She makes him feel relaxed and happy, two things he doesn't have a lot of in abundance.

"I feel the same way about you." Not that he thought Rogue couldn't handle herself. She was definitely one of the strongest women he'd ever met. "You would make a good shieldmaiden." A compliment of the highest degree from a Viking.

He smiles at the mention of getting something to eat, completely in a calm and relaxed state now. "Food would be wonderful, yes."

[backwaterbelle]

Rogue's spent so much of her life taking from others, it's the whole premise of her powers, which might explain her giving, altruistic nature. That and she's been used by people who should have loved and supported her, used for her destructive mutation. She was taught to use them to rip apart others, stealing powers and knowledge for her own (or rather Mystique's) selfish plans. She's long since changed, learning better ways to reach out to others, to mend bridges rather than destroy them. Her deep capability for empathy has shaped her into the caring, protective woman that sees the good in even the most troubled souls. He's worthy of such chances at happiness too.

"You've done nothin' to earn otherwise," she reaffirms that this isn't just her taking pity on him or anything manipulative and self-serving. His return of affection as well as the high level compliment quirk a wide, fond smile over her features as she tugs him into a careful hug, hand going to the back of his head to pull him close. "You know that means we need to have a good spar finally, if you consider me shield maiden caliber."

She separates slowly and with care before motioning to the bike. "Fly, ride, or walk?"

[ragnarsson]

Kindness definitely goes a long way in breaking down Ivar's walls. He's been hurt so many times in his life, both by people who saw him as nothing but a cripple and by people he cared about leaving him, that to have people be otherwise made him nicer than he ever was otherwise.

His eyes glint at the idea of sparring with her. "Most definitely. I'm sure I can surprise you a little with what I can do in combat." He was a decent fighter even when he'd been in clunky braces from 818. In his new state-of-the-art ones, he would be nearly unstoppable.

"Let's ride." He's never been on a motorcycle before, but it looks like it'll be fun. Maybe a little like riding the chariot he's so very fond of tearing around the city in on occasion.