Alright, FREEZE! (open)

[Bobby Drake]

All his life he had taken them for granted.

Bobby sighed out, staring intently at the bottle of soda he held in his hands as if it contained all of the answers of the universe. However, it wasn't giving him any insight as to the nature of those answers. "Okay. Okay, you know what? You can do this. You can do this, 'cause...'cause...you CAN."

Alcatraz had taken a tole on everyone. Having to fight St. John...it had almost broken him apart. St. John had been his best friend, and the next minute he had been fighting him to the death. Stupid ball of flame, Bobby thought sadly. He could almost hear St. John's voice mocking him.

Dumb ass Popsicle.

A slight smile spread on his face before it slid into a frown again as he focused back on the bottle. What he used to be able to do without even thinking, he was unable to do now even if he popped a neuron trying. "Okay, c'mon Iceman, you can do this. Alright...freeze!"

A drop of water slid down the neck of the bottle, almost taunting him, and a sigh escaped his lips as he moved to lay his head down on the kitchen counter. "Great. This is just friggin' great."

Suddenly, he felt sick. He hadn't remembered a time without his powers, and without them now, he felt useless. He frowned, and moved to shed his hoodie with a frustrated groan. He was HOT. He was NEVER hot. The mansion suddenly felt like it was burning up.

Unable to give up, Bobby grasped the bottle in his hand once again, and sighed out an even breath. Closing his eyes, he tried to concentrate. "Okay. Okay, this is okay. I can do this." Taking a breath in through his nose, he exhaled it, before slowly opening his eyes.

"Aw come ON!"

[shadowcat]

Bobby wasn’t the only one testing the limits of his newfound lack of abilities. They all must have tried it at least a dozen times since that day, hoping against hope that something would give, but to no avail. It had been called a “Cure”, but it wasn’t until after it that Kitty Pryde started to feel sick.

This sucked! Maybe she hadn’t been so keen on her powers when they had first manifested, but as the headaches diminished and she gained some control and knowledge, her intangibility had become a part of her, something as normal as eating and breathing. To be without them now felt like someone had taken one of her senses. Things actually felt different, she was sure of it!

The whole mansion felt different, that was for sure, and it wasn’t just her lack of powers although that had a lot to do with it. She had had so much freedom before, no walls could hold her, but now? This place felt almost like a prison. Sometimes it was hard to even breathe.

Then there were the younger students, those that were still mutants in every sense of the word. The way they looked at her now...

Hearing sounds coming from the kitchen, Kitty cautiously approached the door. Realising it was Bobby she was relieved, yet that was quickly overcome by sadness as she noticed what he was doing. He was trying. Yet again.

“You know, I’ve never seen it happen, but if you concentrate any harder I think your head just might explode,” Kitty said as she entered the room, smiling at Bobby although it didn’t hold it’s usual sparkle.

[Bobby Drake]

"I'm gonna get it, just--just lemme try again."

Gripping the bottle, Bobby moved, bringing it to his lips. He blew one straight breath, and was not met by the chill from his lips, but a low poof sound that made Bobby frown deeply. "Dammit! That used to be like, my coolest trick!"

This sucked.

Setting the bottle down loudly, it clanked and clattered against the marble counter. Looking at Kitty, he sighed loudly. "God it's HOT in here!" he yelled, frustrated. "Kitty, I can't do this. I seriously feel like I'm burning up, and I've never been hot. It feels like my body temprature is all gone to hell. And--and I can't even put a millimetre of frost on my Crush!"

He sighed out, frustrated. "I seriously feel like I could hurl right now, Kit." He looked up and over to her. "What about you? Piotr told me you hit your head running into a wall."

[shadowcat]

Kitty knew she should have stopped him, saved him yet another disappointment, but she couldn’t, or maybe it was wouldn’t. Maybe, just maybe, she believed that this time he could do it.

She wanted to believe.

Then it didn’t work and he was freaking out and yelling and it just so was not helping anything. At all. Sure, she wanted to scream and beat on the wall and cry about the injustice of it all, but that would do nothing to help the situation. Instead she tried to remain positive, at least in public. She let her anger and anguish out in the privacy of her own room. Still, she didn’t interrupt his rant. Not everyone dealt with this the same way.

“Uh, yeah,” Kitty replied awkwardly, bringing a hand up to touch the small knot on her head that she was strategically hiding behind her bangs. “How did I know it wouldn’t be long before everyone knew about that? I’m just not used to, you know, the absolute necessity of doors anymore.”

[Bobby Drake]

"Just 'cause a situation happens, doesn't mean it stops the raging rumour mill at Mutant High. Even Jubes hasn't stopped the gossip." Bobby quipped, not even wanting to drink the crush that he had opened. "Y'want my Crush?" he asked, offering the bottle to Kitty before motioning for her to sit down.

"Y'see Professor Summers?" Bobby offered, wanting to switch the topic from their own faults, to Scott. "Wicked scary to see him, you know...sans-glasses. For a while there I wasn't even sure he had, you know...eyeballs."

He paused, looking down at the countertop before looking at Kitty. "What's gonna happen, Kitty?" He asked honestly. "I mean...it's like, yesterday I was normal, and now--" He looked down at his hands. "I still havn't heard anything from Rogue." he said almost sadly, though there was hints of worry in his voice. "I saw St. John on some news report. He's alive." He looked over at Kitty. "Why is that a good thing in my mind?"

[shadowcat]

Of all the things to stay the same, the rumour mill had to be one of them. It was both annoying and... comforting. Smiling a little at the thought, Kitty barely heard what Bobby was saying, but at the mention of ‘crush’, her head shot up, her eyes going wide as she looked over at him. Noticing the bottle of soda, she almost breathed an audible sigh of relief as she sunk into the chair he pointed to. The last thing she needed was for him to find out that little secret now... or ever.

“Oh, I know, right? Or that he had two eyes,” she jumped on the change of topic enthusiastically. “You live with someone called Cyclops long enough and you just have to wonder.”

Reaching over, Kitty took the bottle of soda and slid it over to rest in front of her. It was warm. How long had Bobby been trying to chill it? Unfortunately, any levity that might have been gained by picking on Scott was lost once again by the mention of two particular names.

“I dunno, Bobby,” she sighed, pulling the sleeves of her sweater over her hands and resting them on either side of the bottle. “Of course it’s a good thing. He’s our friend.” But he wasn’t. Not any more. “...was.”

She didn’t even touch on the subject of Rogue. What could she possibly say? She had no idea where the girl was, if she had left, been taken... who knew?

[Bobby Drake]

When Kitty spoke of Scott, Bobby had to laugh. Her smile was infectious, and he looked and her as she slid the bottle in front of her. As she admitted that she didn't know, Bobby found himself sighing again, moving to rest his chin on his hands. "Is...was..." Bobby said, waving a hand slightly. "Whatever. Though, it was oddly satisfying to headbutt him for some strange reason. He was being a dick and trying to burn me. So I guess he deserved it."

A defeted sigh escaped Bobby's lips as h e looked at Kitty. "I was thinking of going into town, but Professor Logan's been sitting nonstop at the news. They said Magneto's threatening to take over New York. And we're stuck sitting here like bumps on logs 'cause of that bastard." He scoffed bitterly. "If I could get my hands on that old geezer, I swear, I'd freeze his head and then punch it right off his body. Not to mention that blue chick. God, I hate her."

[shadowcat]

"You headbutted him?" Kitty almost squeeked, her eyes widening slightly. "He could have, like, set your hair on fire!"

Okay, so St. John's powers didn't quite work like that, but still! Fighting people with powers now that they didn't have theirs anymore so wasn't a good idea. Not that she liked the idea of just sitting around like losers, but what else could they really do right now? She knew Bobby was upset as well, but hearing him talking so harshly just made it worse.

"It's going to be fine, Bobby. There's no way Magneto can take over a whole city," she tried to reassure him, but she couldn't even believe it herself. She would have thought there was no way he could beat the X-Men either, but he had. Badly. "I mean, how could he enforce something like that? He doesn't have that many minions or whatever."

[Bobby Drake]

"You totally didn't hear that I headbutted him?!" Bobby asked, surprised. "Oh, it was AWESOME. I totally owned him out there. I mean, the Professor had been working with me for a long time to get that whole, you know, body covering thing under control? Yeah, I totally just iced up and BAM. Headbutt." Bobby nodded. "It was pretty cool. Sorta satisfying, too, for all those times he was a dick."

When Kitty said there was no way Magneto could take over a whole city, Bobby frowned slightly. "There's alot of people that could be swayed by him. I mean, looking at the entire picture...in a twisted way, he does have a point. I mean, if they thought they had a reason to fear mutants before...look at what they have to fear now. I can see alot of people just getting sucked up by the power. I mean, look at us. He took our powers from the X-Men. That's alot of power."

Was he agreeing with Magneto? Or St. John? The words felt right, yet sour in his mouth, so much so that Bobby stood up to go to the fridge to get something to drink to wash the feeling from his mouth. He opened the fridge, grabbing another Crush. He popped the cap and took a drink. "I mean, you've seen how some normal people are. They're obscenely submissive. There's going to be alot of shit going down before this gets better."

[shadowcat]

Bobby had come a long way since he’d started at Xavier’s; they both had. And this newest form of his mutation, being able to completely ice over his whole body? It really sucked that he had just gotten the hang of it in time to lose it all.

“I bet it was. I mean, we were friends and all? But even when he was here he could be a real jerk sometimes. He had a major chip on his shoulder,” Kitty agreed. She had cared a great deal for St. John, and he could be a fun guy, but he could also turn really mean in the blink of an eye. Still, it didn’t mean she didn’t miss him.

“So you think all the people in the city are just going to lay down and give up? And that all other mutants are going to join him?” she asked, watching Bobby with concern. It was a horrible idea, but a completely plausible one. The X-men had always stopped Magneto before, and without them... “They’ll send in the army or something, they’ll stop Magneto.”

And probably hurt a lot of innocent people in the process.

[Bobby Drake]

Bobby shrugged lightly as Kitty spoke of Pyro. "Yeah, he was a jerk." he muttered, and then looked at the girl as she spoke of the city. "I dunno. I mean, I know if I was just a regular person that knew nothing of mutants or whatever, I'd be scared. Magneto's got a lot of power, and he'll show people that power every chance he gets. I wouldn't be surprised if people just, you know...give up."

When Kitty mentioned the army, however, Bobby felt himself snort. "Really, Kit? The Army?" he asked, looking at Kitty. "It's a uber-nice thought and everything, but the army's got those big giant metal tanks. And metal guns. I doubt the army'll get very far." However, in that thought, Bobby wondered if the X-Men could do much better, really.

Bobby found his eyes looking down at the counter. "I'm really scared, Kitty. I just--I have a feeling things aren't gonna get better any time soon, y'know?"

[shadowcat]

Bobby had a point. Damn, she hated when he was right. Really, what could the Army possibly do with all their metal weapons? And even if they stood a chance against Magneto, how many innocent people would get hurt or killed in the process? She didn’t even want to think about it.

“Somebody has to do something,” she muttered, more to herself than to Bobby. Snapping out of it when Bobby admitted to being scared, though, she looked over at her friend’s downcast eyes. He was usually the one putting on the bravado, so for him to admit to being scared...

“I know,” she replied. Getting up from her seat, Kitty walked over to where Bobby stood near the fridge and took his hand in hers. “But we have to try to stay positive. I mean, things have looked bad before, right? But we got through them, and we’ll get through this too.”

[Bobby Drake]

"Somebody has to do something. But we have to try to stay positive. I mean, things have looked bad before, right? But we got through them and we'll get through this, too."

Looking down at their hands as Kitty took them in her own, Bobby sighed out slightly. "Yeah." he said after a moment. "I mean, when the Mansion got attacked, that wasn't exactly tops on the list of best days ever." Bobby pointed out honestly. "But we all got through it."

Bobby moved, slipping his arms around her as he pulled her into a hug. "You know, I'm really glad you're here. Even if you, y'know, lost your powers and stuff...I'm just really glad you're here."

Rogue wasn't here. He wondered if Rogue was somewhere hiding out. Or if she had gotten the Cure. Silently, Bobby wished that he was telepathic like the Professor so he could search Rogue out and just make sure she was okay.

Laying his head on her shoulder for a moment, he felt himself sigh out. "Y'wanna go see if anyone'll play basketball with us? Or y'think they still think we'll give them cooties?"

[shadowcat]

Stepping up on her tip toes, Kitty wrapped her arms around Bobby in turn. Closing her eyes she lay her head against his chest just letting his warmth envelop her. Warmth, huh. That wasn’t normally a word she associated with Bobby. Normally his body temperature was much lower than everyone else’s, and he always seemed to have that cold hand syndrome... or he always had.

“Exactly. We got through that and we’ll get through this too,” Kitty agreed. That had been a horrible night, and what had made it even worse was when they had all gathered, Bobby, St. John and Rogue hadn’t been there.

Rogue. She had no doubt that was who Bobby was thinking of right now. Of course she was glad that he was glad that she was there, but she would have been even more glad that he was just glad that she was there because she was there, not because Rogue wasn’t. Ouch, the thoughts made her head hurt slightly.

“I’m glad I’m here too. Or that you’re here. Or that we’re here together,” she stumbled over her words that weren’t making much more sense than her thoughts. Blushing slightly, she let out an awkward giggle. “You know what I mean.”

Strangely enough, he probably did.

“Well, it wouldn’t hurt to ask, right? Alright, so it might hurt, but I’m up for it if you are.”