I Like My Coffee Like My Women..Blue (Myst.& Pyro)

[Magneto]

It was business as usual at Starbucks, no different than any other day......well..at least not yet anyway. The suits and ties mingled with the college crowd as they waited for the morning pick me up before jumping back out into the rat race of the world. Idle chit chat bounced off the glass windows and walls of the coffee shop, everyone more interested in everybody else's dealings than their own. However, one old man sat by himself at a back table, watching and waiting intently for one single employee....one known to the drones here as Raven but to Magneto, she would always be Mystique.

Erik was dressed more commonly, as he had been as of late, trying to keep himself out of public eye. He wore a pair of faded blue jeans and a white button up dress shirt with a pair of sneakers. He rolled the sleeves up a bit, just past his wrist slightly and left the top button undone on his shirt, preferring a more relaxed look today. His stark white hair was neatly combed back as always and his ice blue eyes ever as penetrating. A large paper cup full of coffee sat in front of him, sans lid, and his arms were crossed across his chest. He would let his eyes wander from person to person within the room, giving a sigh every now and again as he tried to figure out the madness around him.

Erik knew confronting Mystique would be dangerous, but this was something that had to be done. He had had long enough to think about his mistake and just as long to ponder ways of undoing such an atrocity. Mystique had sacrificed so much for him and when the time came to repay her, he abandoned her like some coward. Those thoughts then led him to look for Pyro, who as far as the old man could tell was no where in sight. Of course Magneto couldn't blame the boy if he skipped out on this little meeting for if Mystique kept to her old ways, things could end up going rather badly for his side.

[Mystique]

Mystique let her nose crinkle up so slightly as she passed the bills through her fingers, straightening them out and sorting them before shoving them into their proper slots. The smell of coffee lingered about in the air and this only helped drive that nail deeper. It seemed that every moment she stayed here the worse it got... Alright, it was always this bad but she was becoming less tolerable of it all. She somehow covered that disgusted sneer that lingered just below the surface on her lips and handed the man back his change. They were pathetic, all of them.. They seemed so trivial and useless.. Of course that was because they were only content when they were sheltered from the real world around them. They wanted to have no threat but really.. I mean look at them.

Her eyes briefly glanced over the faces that were lined up before her. What a wonderful way to start a shift.. But then again that's what you did when you were thrown to the bottom of the food chain. I mean everyone she thought was any sort of family walked out on her when she lost her mutant abilities... Now she had gained them back but still, she had no where to go. She could blend in with the rest of society because her powers allowed her to do that. And that was probably the worse punishment she got, not having anywhere to turn but to try to make it as one of 'them'. Wherever Magneto was.. she hoped he 'got his' and more.

She moved and functioned like a drone, some simple minded fool as she waited on each in line. What she wouldn't give for some sort of release.. anything to take her away from here. Really why was she holding back? She could transform again and all.. But she was lost on a sense of direction at the moment. To fight for what she believed in would only be fighting Magneto's battle again.. And she couldn't join the X-Men.. nor did she want to. She was hoping for some kind of numbness to set in and alleviate this hell.

Something pulled at her attention and she glanced up, noticing a man sitting at a table. For a minute it made her stop, wondering if she believed her eyes.. It was a side glance but she noticed him all too well, even in this attire. She felt that hate and angst she already had brewing in her boiling over the top. It seemed that in this hell she found the devil.

She motioned for the girl behind her to cover her til as she took care of something, surely they presumed the bathroom. She didn't even wait for an answer before she walked away from her position, approaching him at fast speed.. What would she do here? What could she do against him in this environment? It wasn't like the chairs and tables were made of styrofoam.

As she drew close all in one motion she jerked the table towards herself, her anger filling her to where her nostrils were flared out. Her eyes started turning yellow around the pupil and spread til the showed that part of her true self.

[Magneto]

Magneto let his gaze sweep across the room one more time before he settled on the fast approaching figure of Mystique. As she grabbed the table and jerked it toward her, he instinctively reached out and steadied his cup with one hand, keeping his blue eyes on her, trying not to blink for he knew that was all she needed. If anyone around them noticed Mystiques actions, they failed to show it, instead conversations went on as normal. A slight smile crept across his face as he watched her eyes, flickering and threatening to reveal who and what she really was. He had figured she had regained her powers just as he had, but with her working here in this coffee shop, well....he was confused. Why would she choose to consort among the homo sapiens if she was back to her old self. Surely she had a reason for Magneto knew the skills Mystique possessed....or some at them at least and never knew her to be hurting for a place to stay.

"Its good to see you too Mystique," he said with a casual tone and a warm smile, although he knew he was only inviting further wrath rather than a more passive response. Mystique was going to be furious with him and if he was going to speak with her calmly, he had to get all this hate and animosity toward him out in the open and over with. "Care to join me?," he said as he nodded to the chair across from him before taking a sip of his coffee.

[Mystique]

Magneto was right, his words only fueled her rage and although she knew she should restrain it here... Because right now she had no allies amongst mutants or homo sapiens, she let her true nature get the better of her. She shoved the table back towards Magneto, definitely aiming to hit him in the stomach with it.

She leaned over the table, her voice now a dry hiss, "Now you want to talk Eric? Now that you know I am okay?" She made a jerking motion with her hands, drawing them back to her sides after pushing off of the table. She stood to her full height and looked down on him, a dark expression settling on her face. "What is there to talk about now?" She was on the verge of acting rather than listening. Understanding was not necessary because what was there to understand about him leaving? Was there ever any good reason to abandon someone that has followed you and trusted you for years?

Mystique let all of this stuff settle heavy in her mind as she watched him, waiting for some valid reason but all the time she knew that none was possible. She may be very bitter towards Eric, after all any strong feelings are unstable and easily become warped with hate - that only fuels this new feeling and there is no reason that he should ever be in her good graces again... ever. Still Magneto was not one easily chosen as an enemy, considering all that he could control.

[Pyro]

Pyro wondered vaguely whether Magneto was on a one-man mission to destroy all of his old haunts. First they’d torched Mimi’s and now it looked like Starbucks might soon receive the same treatment. If leaving him with nowhere to run to had been the old man’s intention he was succeeding admirably…

… but this latest excursion wasn’t about him, was it? Instead they were looking for another of Magneto’s little family, someone probably far more important to him (though his faith might have been near-blind, he wasn’t). The Queen in the set, wasn’t that how Magneto had put it? It seemed wrong, somehow, that this should be the setting for their reunion. With its clean lines, tan and chrome, it seemed a little too… classy. Dealings like theirs belonged in darkened rooms and seedy back alleys. Besides, if this really was where she had been working he had another reason to worry, caffeine addict that he was. Why hadn’t she said anything before? And why hadn’t he noticed? It wasn’t as if the face on the prison transport was easy to forget as they walked away… and he’d been in often enough she couldn’t have failed to notice him.

Scratch that. He understood why she had said nothing. Same reason he had struck out alone, hadn’t chased down any of those reports that the Brotherhood had reformed. Like it or not, they had settled into being normal, and once there had no desire to go leaping back into the line of fire. Each would probably have remained oblivious to the other, through accident or conscious choice… until Magneto had to go messing things up again. (Sidenote: Getting a job in Starbucks had been inspired – why hadn’t he thought of that? Probably because he didn’t have the legs to make up for never having finished school, or the cleavage to distract a manager from a criminal record… although if anyone had predicted who’d end up the whore, and who the wage slave, if the Brotherhood ever collapsed, then he doubted they’d have placed him and Mystique in this configuration. Reality’s stranger than you’d credit)

One person who did recognise him was the girl behind the counter (Maddy, or something like that. Blonde. Comfy floor. Low enough alcohol tolerance for drunken pity to be a sound bet, and susceptible to sob stories); she had his drink waiting, bless her, and only charged for 3 of the 7 or so extra shots which made up the steaming dark beverage. It was still more than he’d wanted to spend – the caffeine addiction proving a major drain on resources – and protecting that investment made a pretty good excuse for lurking at a side table and staying out of the way. What ever went down between Magneto and Mystique, it probably wouldn’t be pretty.

[Magneto]

And there it was.....the hate that lurked in those eyes of hers. Mystique was a very lovely creature, whether she was at your back or trying to stick a knife in it. Magneto had spent too long with her and knew her better than she probably wanted to admit, although not even he would or could ever understand or know her fully. With a slight smile, Magneto pushed back at the table with just a slight alteration to the magnetic field around him, stopping the table short of hitting him in the stomach. He sat casually, watching and listening to Mystique rant and question him....after all, she did have every right in the world to hate him, to want to destroy him and inflict on him the pain he had inflicted on her.

Her eyes were so full of anger and hate as she stood there, staring through him, but as the old man stared back at her, he saw the hurt hiding there as well. In the entire time he had known Mystique, she had betrayed ally after ally but never him, she had remained true every step of the way. Oddly enough, he had been the one to betray her...a fitting punishment considering what she had done to others, but that bit of selfish thought wasn't enough to ease Magneto's abandonment of her. Of course, this little tantrum right now was only the beginning, Magneto knew this conversation would get worse....much worse, before it was all over and done.

"There is more in there....I know there is," he said casually, or at least did his best to appear that way, "Let's get all this out in the open and over with Mystique. I've come to give you this.....this bit of solace," he said as he stood, setting his coffee cup down, while keeping his ice blue eyes on her, "No tricks, no powers.....," he said letting her know he wasn't going to protect himself, "Do you really hate me that much...for doing what you yourself have done to countless others through the years?," he asked her as he put his hands behind his back, an suicidal act when in the presence of one such as Mystique.

[Mystique]

Magneto played the part of martyr.. or whatever you would aptly call this and it turned out quickly to be a mistake. She couldn't stand this passive nature, this casual 'tenderness' or counseling, whatever he was trying to warp her with.

He placed his hands behind his back and in a fluent motion she reached out and took hold of his shirt, shoving him against the wall and pinning him there (for what it's worth) with her body. She let her left knee rest on the wall behind him with her right knee in between his legs.. She moved her right forearm up to push against his throat, never once taking her eyes off of him as her true figure started showing, her whole skin.. er clothes turned to a dark blue color - fitting her figure perfectly then becoming her figure. Her black hair quickly changed to it's normal red-orange and her yellow eyes stayed narrowed on his as she leaned in against him, pressing against his throat a little more. She hesitated, why? "Is this what you want Eric?" she growled at him as she leaned forward, only inches from his face. "How much use I could be to you now? What I am still willing to do and capable of?" Of course it wasn't like she was backing off to let him answer.. But couldn't he do that himself?

[Magneto]

With quite the audible "thud", Magneto grunted as the air was forced out of him and grimaced through the pain. Of course, Mystique's forearm found his throat quick enough and there was some more pain for him to suffer through. By the look on the old man's face, this was something that was hard for him to let happen. He was used to being in charge, to wielding the power, but he had told her he would let her have her way, however, he hadn't actually counted on her doing just that. He watched with one half open eye as Mystique resumed her true shape, the one he knew so well. The customers around them all jumped up quickly, stumbling over each other as they tried to find some safe place away from what was going on and from the sudden appearance of one of those oh so dreaded mutants.

"Hesitation doesn't become you my dear," he said through a painful smile as he did his best to open both eyes and look at her, "What's the matter? Something holding you back?," he asked her in quick succession, making her come face to face with whatever inner demons she possessed, those thoughts which kept her from snapping his neck much in the same way a child would break a stick. This wasn't probably too bright on Magneto's part, inviting more wrath from someone who could show him a whole new world of pain even before he could even have time to think about reacting, but hey....what did he really have to lose?

[Mystique]

Mystique was somehow put at ease being in control, handling him roughly.. Perhaps that had been what she wanted all along. She merely clinched her jaw as he talked about her hesitation. What would she gain from killing him? - Not that he would probably let it go that far.. Still this feeling, this rush of adrenaline and ... arousal, this was what she was missing. She had Magneto.. Eric where she wanted him for the time being and she didn't even want to face what she had allowed to become her reality behind her.

She moved back just a little, pulling him with her. Mystique was flexible and quick, however her strength was no where near some of the other mutants.. Of course given her skill it didn't need to be.

She let her arm slip from his throat and she let her fingers find their way to his white hair, pulling his head back a bit as she leaned forward. Strange how things can take a turn and though Mystique was no where near the point of backing off... Her intentions were starting to change, ever so slightly. Her voice was a little rasp as she drew near his ear, "What do you want Eric? To come in here and taunt me and then leave me just as you did before?" She moved back just enough to look him in the eye as she loosened her grip - a little - on his hair.

Mystique was no doubt a 'physical' creature and things like this could become such a delicate matter. She had never accepted why she had followed Magneto all those years and stood by his side.. Why it effected her so when he walked off and left her. Of course she could not recall any other time in which he called her 'beautiful' until that day he used it in past tense. And at this recollection her eyes narrowed a bit more. "To see what more you can try and take from me?" He wouldn't know.. she wouldn't give him that much of an advantage over her. Still he must already be wondering what lurked in those dark corners of her mind that no one ever got to explore.

[Pyro]

… like the man said, far from pretty.

At first he’d hesitated, seeing the raw power which still lurked in Mystique despite her human form and not really wanting to get in the middle. Magneto could handle himself (so he hoped, though from the looks of it he wasn’t doing to well at that) and given as how after the Mimi thing they’d no doubt be top of the wanted list blowing his cover wasn’t the smartest move. There was no way he could take even a human Mystique without using his ‘gifts’, and even with them it would hardly be easy… and having waxed lyrical about saving his skin to Magneto risking his neck like this didn’t exactly have the greatest appeal.

That worry, at least, was quickly enough done away with when everyone else started with the screaming and running, which meant there was little point hiding the fact he was an Oh my god! Mutant!, although for a fleeting moment he considered joining the fleeing masses. This wasn’t his fight, was it? How much, exactly, was Magneto’s admiration really worth if the price was having his neck snapped? He had no doubt that Mystique would do it without a second thought… that there was very little she wouldn’t do any more.

Thing was, though, that all that thinking, all that looking-before-you-leap, was great, but impulse was always going to have the edge. However much he tried to rationalise it, by the time he’d come to some sort of conclusion the lighter was already out and he’d already thrown himself out of the frying pan. Like now, when everything was screaming run he was going in completely the wrong direction…

He couldn’t really think of anything much to say, being more the eight year old interrupting mommy and daddy’s ‘conversation’ than the cocky super terrorist, so announced his presence with a Click-fwoosh, staying just far enough back to kid himself he’d be able to run if her attentions shifted.

[Magneto]

Mystique pushed him as much as Magneto pushed her, she taunted him seeing how much he would take before reacting to her and giving her the excuse she needed to break him. The whole messing with his hair thing was almost enough to push him over the edge, his eyes clearly showing so, but he held his hand for just a moment longer, letting Mystique whisper he questions and taunts. The screams and shuffles of the crowded coffee shop were nothing but distant and minor distractions at the moment. The old man thought nothing of the homo sapiens who fumbled with their cell phones, no doubt calling the police or perhaps the mutant squads, if those still were in effect that is.

"Don't play the sweet innocent martyr with me my dear, that's one disguise that you certainly can't pull off," he said forcing a smile just as he heard the sound of flame and heat coming to life from behind Mystique. It seemed Pyro had fell right back into his old routine, as much as the boy might hate to admit it. Of course Magneto knew that if Pyro pushed the incineration thing, then things really wouldn't bode well. Mystique was quick, she would probably only walk away with a few burns but Magneto was sure he wouldn't be so lucky, but that thought really didn't matter. What did matter was the fact that Pyro had butted in and took to Magneto's side.....or so it seemed for the moment. "How many have you left behind Mystique? What about Sabertooth? Stuck a knife in his back lately?" he asked, his face as casual as he could muster at the moment and his tone rather arrogant, "Your just as guilty of abandonment as I am," he said but as he did, his arrogance left and his face went a bit.....softer....weaker. "I shouldn't have left you....I'll admit that much Mystique. I should have took you back with us....a mistake I nor you can undo. A rash decision made during rash actions my dear.....an old man's foolish folly," he said as he pulled away from her grip a bit, trying to free his hair from her grasp.

[Mystique]

Mystique heard Pryo's little .. interruption, however she didn't turn his way, fully. Her yellow eyes took only a second to glance over her shoulder and see just were the next one lie. You know, just in case things got ugly - because at this point it wasn't all that bad.. just yet.

She drew her attention back to Magneto and heard him talking on about who she left. "But I never turned my back on you. If I had perhaps you could justify your own actions a hell of alot easier." As he was trying to pull his hair free from her grasp she let go, of course with a slightly violent shove.

"And what now Eric? You getting up in age so much that you have to bring the young ones with you? Don't you think you can handle me all by yourself?" She leaned forward and let her finger slide down his cheek, her breath tickling the skin that she touched as her gaze followed it. Her words were taunting, and perhaps now 'mommy and daddy' were playing the game on the same level. Magneto knew how to calm Mystique in one way, letting her get this close to him and calmly letting her do as she wished.. She had not killed the fool yet and he now knew she had hesitation to do so.. That didn't give her much of an advantage but then again Mystique could turn on anyone at any given minute. "So many times I have gave you what you wanted and you denied me mine." she whispered in his ear as she softly held the side of his face. What had to be said? Words defined things and she didn't like to let 'things' become so clear.

[Magneto]

Magneto played a dangerous game with Mystique and he knew it, but then again, that didn't mean he didn't enjoy it. He had to choose his actions and words very carefully for with her, unlike others, her actions could not be predetermined or predicted. Her release of his hair was a step in the right direction, so Magneto took in her words and thought for a moment, nodding slowly as he smiled in contemplation of her own question. What she wanted was something that was a mystery to everyone.....everyone save Mystique. Time seemed to stop for them as the silence hung heavy in the air, the only form of movement being Mystique's slight and seductive touches. "Perhaps," Magneto finally said, very quietly of course, "it is time we moved in the direction of what you want my dear," he said as his voice and demeanor seem to become "him" once again.

Magneto hadn't really considered just how much he relied on Mystique, nor had he realized how much he.....enjoyed, her company. She was a very stunning creature and one who seemed to have some sort of attraction to him. He had always wondered if she followed him for him or for her own reasons and now, facing the problem that had plagued his mind for a while, he had his answer. Mystique had indeed done many things for him, never once asking for anything in return, only expecting. "Forgive a foolish old man just this one time....won't you?," he asked her, knowing she would see he was being Erik and not Magneto, knowing he was being something much more true.

[Mystique]

Mystique was unsure whether Erik was speaking the truth or not.. However curiosity was a strong force to reckon with and this time she not go against her own. If she returned with Erik back to the Brotherhood and was at his side again.. and he proved no different, nothing changing, then she could finally break all ties she has with them.

Her eyes narrowed on his in thought, knowing that if she turned down his offer it may never come up again. There wasn't much of a choice here.. Homo sapiens and blending in with their sorry lifestyle, or something she was used to.. something she sometimes found pleasure in.

She let go of Magneto and took only half a step back. "Perhaps this one time.. Or at least you will be given the chance to undo what you have done, if that is possible.." So Mystique wasn't the kind to come out and say you are forgiven, especially when there was nothing to compensate for this wrong doing. But voicing this right now, this verbal agreement to.. go with him.. that should make it clear that he was being given a chance and that he would be tested. It wasn't a 'the slate's wiped clean' deal.. No, it was something he would have to work for - more than just smooth talking.

[Magneto]

Mystique's rejoining went a whole lot easier than expected and caught Magneto off guard a bit. He looked at Mystique for a moment, narrowing his eyes as if he were in doubt of her words, but then, he shook his head and smiled, his hands finding their way behind his back. Another piece was added to the board once again and now it was time to procure a few more. The two mutants he trusted the most were now back with him, so that would give him a moment of rest and some time to plot his next move. He was unsure as to which direction to run in next and as to which mutant to coerce back into the herd so to speak.

"One big happy family once again," Magneto said jokingly as he looked to Pyro, already anticipating the boy's look of disgust and annoyance. Magneto knew just as well as anyone that his little band of mutants were far from being a happy family, at least right now anyway. The old man was still one of the more despised and hated mutants, both among homo sapiens and his own kind. Holding his arm out, in a gesture of days gone by, Magneto looked to Mystique, "Not above escorting an old man back home are we?," he asked her with a smile, even though he was sure she would walk out on her own.