The More We Dance (Stephen, Open)

[Camila Reyes]

Camila knew that she was probably acting childish, but she also knew that her frustrations were building up. She would rather look like an idiot in front of her peers then hurl a yellow aura at Stephen that had the potential to piss him off even more. She saw a small frost in the air and frowned a little. It was kind of ironic how differently the two young men reacted to the same situation. One lit himself on fire while the other exhaled ice. And I’m about two seconds away from punching something… She acknowledged the fact that her powers did not manifest themselves unless she was in control of her emotions. And in the moment, she vacillating between angry, frustrated, regretful and several other feelings, so there was no way she could express her feelings other than to stomp her foot like a child. She felt a little immature, but she honestly did not care what anyone else thought. The look on Ash’s face seemed to mirror her own frustrations and she almost let out a chuckle. I guess I’m not the only one who’s close to losing her temper, huh?

“I’m not even sure what that was supposed to be… Okay, what I did was a little childish, but I didn’t light myself on fire over a little bit of flirting!”

She noticed Ash looking at her for a moment and flashed a weak smile in his direction She still felt bad for dragging him into the mess she had made, though he did not seem to care. A soft chuckle escaped her lips; she had almost forgotten they were a little bit alike in the fact that they liked to cause a little bit of trouble. For him, though, it was flirting. As for herself, Camila liked to be a little smart a-- and rebellious as she could be in a boarding school. Of course, she had not tried to use this approach on any of her teachers, but she knew better then that anyway. One day, though, she knew that she was going to say the wrong thing to the wrong person. However, she rather relished the idea as opposed to dislike it; after all, she needed to inject a little fun in her life. She knew that she had the potential to get herself in a lot of trouble if she did so, but she did not mind as long as she was continuing to train. Of course, she was training to help the battle front, but she was also training so she could defend herself, in case the government decided to storm the island and try to kill them all. But that would never happen, she thought bitterly, with a short roll of the eyes.

She noticed the ice in the air again after he exhaled and shook her head a little. Fire and Ice… Wasn’t that the title of a book I read once? she thought absentmindedly. She heard him apologize and looked at him with a mock sternness. The whole situation had hardly been his fault. He was just doing her a favor and she was grateful, even if the night had turned out to be an utter disaster for her. At least I know who my friends are, she thought, swallowing a little. While the situation had turned out badly, she was comforted by the fact that at least one person still seemed to be okay with her, even if she was kind of irritated at herself for not thinking of the consequences of her actions. How would she have know that he would have gotten so angry, though? She shook her head, trying to get all of the negative thoughts out of her mind. She opened her mouth to chide him for apologizing, but she was cut short by a strong, unexpected hug. She blinked in surprise, blushing a little bit since she was caught off guard by the action. However, it was not unwelcome and she returned the hug a little, smiling to herself. It was kind of nice to have someone who cared for once. Weird, but nice..

“Don’t apologize, Ash. It’s not your fault; he’s just… Well, a hot head.”

Camila let out a soft chuckle at his comment about her not falling when they danced. She promised to try her best, but there was no guarantee that she would not trip at least once during the night. After all, it was just part of who she was and she knew that she was far from graceful, so she never bothered pretending that she was. She followed him onto the dancefloor as the fast tempo of one song faded into the slow one of another. She danced with him in silence for a little before he looked at her and tried to soothe her about Stephen. She let out a soft sigh, giving him a weak smile. She knew she had screwed things up badly, and she was sure she had driven him away for good. However, she also knew that Ash was right. If things were meant to be, they would work out and she should not try to force things to happen that were not possible.

“You’re right, Ash. I guess all I can do and wait until things cool down so I can talk to him. Er, no pun intended. For now, though, I’m going to try not to piss anyone else off too badly.”

She gave him a cheeky grin to accompany her last sentence. She was going to try and put the whole argument behind her. She would have to confront Stephen eventually, but she would just ignore the issue for that moment and just have a fun time at the dance.

[Deleted]

Well, the night have definitely turned out differently than he planned. Originally a night to get around and socialize a bit, let himself relax and mingle with his peers without fear of a prefect lurking in the shadows. Maybe earn a few numbers and definitely dance his ass off. How suddenly it had turned when he found his friend and played along with a flirtatious act. Of course the guy just had to take it the wrong way and blow up. Nearly literally, his arms had gotten there anyway. Now, Steven had left a pissed off Ash, who wanted to run after him and deck the other hot head, and an upset Camila.

Yep, tonight had turned out wonderfully. What made it even worse? He knew it was partly him to blame and it absolutely, one hundred percent sucked. That guilt that was weighing in his chest wasn’t for the human torch but more so for Cam. That had to be rough on her, to see the guy she was probably crushing on storm out in near tears because of them. And all Ash could offer was a few words of remorse. A small smirk came to his lips as she told him not to be sorry, if only it were that easy. Then again things never turned out to be easy when those pesky things called emotions got in the way.

Giving a slight shrug of his shoulders, a small smile graced Ash’s features as he looked down at her, now trapped firmly in his hug. “Yeah, I know the feel. Bit contradictory for me to be a hot head though, isn’t it?” Taking a step back he gave Cam her space as he held up a hand for a moment, a large ice crystal snow flake coming to form just above his palm. Dropping his hand it disappeared in the moment. “Doesn’t matter what you said, I’m partly to blame here and I’m gonna feel sorry for wrecking your date. So don’t try to brush it off and accept it, alright?” He grinned at her for a moment before whisking Camila off to the dance floor.

Dancing had always come fairly easy to the red head. At least it always seemed that way at things like weddings, school dances, or simply spinning with his family at home. Now, it was a bit different missing a leg. He tried to hide the fact as he looked over Cam’s head while their silence hung peacefully in the air. Leading with a stiff mechanical leg wasn’t exactly as easy as he first thought it would. ‘Ah well, just one more step in getting used to it.’ Ashton thought idly as he lead her around in soft circles, a bit off with the timing of the music flowing around them. Hopefully, his slightly less than graceful dance partner wouldn’t mind too much.

Finally, it was time for the red head to speak up and give her a peace of his mind on the matter. At best it would provide some comfort and guidance. At worst it just pissed her off more, but he didn’t see that happening. He took a slightly breath as his green eyes glanced down at her, curious to her reaction to his words of advice. A smile cracked his face as he nodded, “I think the pun fit nicely.” He chuckled a bit and nodded to her, trying to dip his mood back into a serious setting, “I think you two will be fine. But I’m not sure about you pissing people off, in all reality I think you’re gonna have to worry about me not starting anything.” He matched her grin and twirled her around once.

[Camila Reyes]

Camila knew that her little stunt probably disrupted more than just Stephen's night, though she could see that he moved on quickly. She rolled her eyes, letting out a sigh of relief; finally, he would leave her alone! She had no idea what the white-haired young man wanted with her anyway. She did not consider herself beautiful compared to the other girls milling around the gym and she was hardly the definition of sweet. In fact, she wondered why people were drawn to her at all. While this was confusing, she was grateful to at least have a friend like Ash, who seemed to used to drama that he just shrugged it off. Well, for the most part. She could tell that he felt guilty for the situation, even though she was the one who had brought it about. Her blue eyes glanced in the direction where Stephen had been dancing with another girl, though he was gone when she looked the second time. It's better this way, she thought to herself as a small scowl crossed her lips, He's better off with someone else. The thought was not bitter, forced, or anything of the sort. In fact, it was a welcome thought. She figured that the person for her would come along eventually, but she would just have to look more carefully to avoid being caught in another snare of fire.

She could see the guilt he felt in his eyes and shook her head a little. She grabbed his hand lightly and gave it a gentle squeeze, as if to reassure him. Honestly, she did feel bad that Stephen had left ready to cry, but she figured it was for the best. She had to focus on other things first; boys would follow eventually. Some girls might have looked at her like she was crazy if she said it aloud, but it was true. She was determined to be able to defend others and herself, but she could not if her mind was preoccupied. She needed one hundred percent focus on her training and studies so that she could assist in any way that she could. Without having a panic attack in the middle of a battle, she thought bitterly, shaking her head slightly. She noticed the smirk on his face and raised her eyebrow a little, as if she did not believe him, which, of course, she did not.

Camila looked up at Ash as she was trapped in his hug. She saw a small smile gracing his features and chuckled soundlessly. It was rare to see him smile in such a way, but it was nice. It felt odd being the source of someone's small amount of happiness after years of being a miserable reminder of her parents' failure. She laughed softly as he commented on the contradiction with his hot-headedness and his powers, which allowed the young man to levitate a rather large snow flake above his palm. She shrugged as she spoke with a small smirk dancing on her lips.

“It's part of your personality. Your powers are what they are. Sure, they're contradictory, but they both are part of you. I may only be able to speak for myself, but I think you're pretty cool for a hothead with ice powers.”

She rolled her eyes at his statement and give him a look that said This isn't over as she was pulled onto the dance floor. She hardly noticed this awkward movements, considering her own were more distracting. She had surely stepped on his foot at least twice, which made her grimace in apology. Dancing was not something she did very often, at least, not with someone else. There were times that she would try to dance in her room when it was quiet, but she would either end up face down on the floor or sitting on her butt, staring at the ceiling. I guess those lessons were for naught, huh? she thought to herself with a soft snort and small smirk. The thought made her expression suddenly blank before she blinked a little, forcing a smirk on her face. She could not show that something was bothering her, because Ash might jump to a conclusion that Camila was bothered by thoughts of Stephen, though that was not the case.

“Well, I have a tendency to be corny, so, I'm glad you liked it.”

She raised an eyebrow at his last statement, a small smirk crossing her lips as she was twirled around once more.

“Are you implying that you're my bodyguard for the night? Or does that imply that you're like my older brother or something? Either way, I can groove with that. I'll try to keep you out of trouble, but no promises.”

Her statement was punctuated with a wink, a smirk and a soft chuckle.

[Deleted]

At times the events at this school could be so amusing, others… not so much. Ash was a little disappointed with how the dance had taken quite the turn. However, it seemed to be getting a bit better as Cam and Ash swung into a dance. However clumsy and stiff hey may be, it was fun. Adding to his soft grin a laugh soon followed, “Oh you’re punny. Cool, ice manipulator. Clever.” He teased her fully aware that Cam probably didn’t mean too. But if he had a nickel for every time he had heard that, Ash would be the richest man on the island.

Looking down at Cam he grinned at her remarks. It almost disappointed him that they had so little interaction outside of the sparing room. Even the teasing, painful situation she helped put the human torch through didn’t damper his thoughts about her. Everyone made mistakes and she had evened out the ordeal with him. So he figured it was only a matter of time before she did so with Stephan. Ending her spin he raised an eyebrow to the small girl. Bodyguard? Hah, that was an amusing though. He could almost see himself in a bouncer attire, arms crossed and all.

Then, of course, it got even better. A big brother watching over her. “Geeze, didn’t even hit the friendzone. Drop me below that into the brotheerzone already? You hurt my pride.” Ash teased, sighing over dramatically. Yet, he already knew that he was very brotherly to his friends and family, so it wasn’t that surprising. “Besides, I think you could more than handle yourself. I don’t mind sticking around if you want me too.” In all honestly spending the night with a friend would probably be better than wandering aimlessly from group to group. Getting to know a fellow comrade also didn’t hurt.

[Camila Reyes]

She had to admit, there were times that the school she was trapped at became more interesting than other times. Of course, she knew she was a little responsible for some of the conflicts that arose, especially when it came to a certain white-haired boy with a temper. She idly wondered what caused his anger management issue; after all, he had burst into flames, or was at least near to doing so, at least four, if not five times in her presence. She shook her head a little, trying to clear the thoughts from her head; there was no use mulling over something that was not important. Not that much matters to me anyway, she thought dryly, pushing her negativity aside and letting the music change her mood. For the first time since she had arrived, and for once in her annoying and miserable life, she was starting to feel a little happy, even if it was a fraction of what a normal person would consider “happiness”. It was not due to any certain person’s presence or the absence of a person, though being around a (mostly) positive person certainly helped her good mood. She let out a soft snicker and shook her head a little before she spoke, a small smirk crossing her face again.

“Please. I’m sure you’ve heard that one more than a thousand times. Thanks, though.”

Deep down, she was a little surprised that Ash had not walked away from her after Stephen left. After all, what she had done was not exactly a noble thing. I doubt people describe me as noble. If they do, they’re just plain nuts, she thought to herself with a soft snicker. She noticed the quirked eyebrow, laughing a little bit. Usually, he was either joking around with her or completely focused on training. She was kind of glad she got to spend some time with him, though. He was a genuinely nice person and she kind of wished that they could become closer friends. Knowing my luck, people will think I want to date him, she thought wryly, He’s nice and everything, but, he’s a little too cool for me. She shook her head a little, a small smirk on her lips as she replied.

“Don’t take it personally, Ash. Besides, you’re too cool for me anyway. I’m just a nerd, really. I guess I can just keep it under wraps well enough. Or not. I can’t really tell sometimes.”

She lightly patted his shoulder and smiled a little, pushing the thoughts about her biological brother to the back of her mind. The thought of the brown-haired male made her eye twitch and forced her to breathe out calmly. It was hard to believe that the only person who ever paid any attention to her when she was a baby and cried had bought into their parents’ scheme. It’s kind of funny. They manipulated the hell out of him and then he killed them, she thought, snorting a little as she strode over to the punch table and grabbed a cup before returning to Ash, who seemed a little bored now that they were not dancing anymore. She smiled weakly and nodded toward an empty table nearby.

“I don’t know about you, but I could use a breather for a few. Care to join me? I don’t bite, I promise.”