Black Frost // John Proudstar

1.2 frosty

John had done it somehow. He had convinced Akira to come back into the building and so far, so good. Akira hadn't frozen anything, caused freak snowstorms, and hadn't even so much as dropped the temperature, as far as John could tell. He wasn't with her all the time but according to everyone else in the Mutant Underground, Akira was doing well. 

"Eye of the storm." Lorna had warned though. "That's all this is if anything." Marcos had shook his head at his girlfriend.

"Don't be so pessimistic Lorna." He said. 

"I'm being a realist." Lorna corrected. "She's hiding something from us, I just know it." 

"She has a right to." John argued. "She doesn't know us all that well yet."

"You spend basically every waking moment with her John. You're telling me you haven't learned anything about her?" Lorna demanded.

"It's not like we're going over our life stories Lorna. We're just training."

"Oh really?" Lorna said. "Why should I believe that?" John arched an eyebrow at her.

"What does that mean." Lorna half rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Whatever. I'm going to go do a food run with Riley and the others. See ya." Lorna said, blowing a kiss to Marcos who smiled at her before she walked out of the room. John turned his inquisitive look to Marcos who sighed and stood up.

"She just means that... She's a pretty girl. You two spend a lot of time alone where no one can see and people think that you're together... I guess." 

"We're not." John said with a shake of his head.

"I know that. You would have told me otherwise, I would think. You're supposed to be my best friend." John smirked a little as Marcos touched his shoulder. 

"And... You've got to admit John she does kind of follow you around like a lost puppy dog." 

"She's not comfortable around everyone else. She thinks she'll hurt someone. At least she knows I'm not as... Fragile I guess." Marcos shrugged.

"She seems fine now." John sighed. 

"Barely. " He murmured thinking back to that first night she had allowed herself to be back inside with everyone. 

John jolted in bed, startled awake by the sound of someone knocking on his door. He squinted a little and checked the watch on his wrist before sighing. It was two in the morning. Had something happened. "Come in." John called out, sitting up. The door opened slowly and John could sense that it was Akira but she didn't walk into his room.

"John, I'm sorry." She whispered.

"It's okay Yuki. Is something wrong? You can come in you know." Akira pushed the door open a little more and stepped into the room. John could immediately see how watery her eyes were. He pushed the covers back and stood up, walking towards her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine John. I just..." She paused, biting her lip. "I'm worried I'll have another nightmare and I don't want to hurt anyone and..."

"Yuki you're okay. You put yourself in the room farthest away from everyone and I'll be able to sense if..."

"Too late. You'll sense too late if I get wrapped up in one of my nightmares and I don't want to hurt anyone." Akira said, starting to cry. John put his hand on her shoulder, feeling a cold chill wash over him as he did. Akira's tears were solidifying into ice and falling from her face, hitting the wood floor with an odd plinking sound.