Beach Party in Winter (IC)

[Moira Morley]

Faith noted her boyfriend's friends and foes with a mind like a steel trap. She couldn't wait to meet them with him, but that would have to wait. It was time for him to swim. Faith would happily jump in after him, but she did not know how to swim. The survival instinct would not let her put her in a dangerous situation, no matter how bad she wanted to be with her love. She found a lounge chair on the side and had a seat. She was perfectly fine watching her new friends having fun.

[alderwitch]

Alex watched Mark dive into the pool and then Faith's indecsion before settling on a pool chair. She glanced around at the rowdy pool and gave a little shrug. Alex kicked over to the side of the pool and floated out. With gesture, she sluiced the water off telekinetically and headed over to join Faith and try and make an effort to include her. Her smile was open and friendly, "Not a swimmer, hunh?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"Hey Mike," called Mark from the pool, glad to see Faith and Alex talking. "You know what I was thinking?" he said ingenously. "I bet it would be really awesome if you jumped in the pool from orbit." He floated up and down in the water, a friend full of good ideas. "That way you could do something really cool without having to make a big production out of it." He glanced over at Alex significantly, giving Mike a suggestive look. Who knew what she might think of such a manuever?

[angrydurf]

Mike chuckled at his friends enthusiasm. "You hit terminal velocity around two thousand feet anyway, and even just with that speed I might break the pool." He explained with a shrug not really sure what Marks point was supposed to be. He certainly didn't have Marks desire to be the center of attention and certainly not for being the guy who broke the pool with a silly stunt. "Not to mention the difficulty of aiming from that height, I'd have to get Alex to calculate an entry vector or something." He added with a smile.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Well yeah," said Mark with a laugh. "I wasn't saying you should come flying down like Captain Thunder fighting Talos. Just nice and graceful, like you fly. Maybe you can bring a satellite or two down with you, before you put it back." It might have been mean teasing from anyone else, but it seemed like Mark actually thought that sort of thing would be awesome.

[Moira Morley]

Faith smiled as Alex greeted her, "Nah, I sink like a rock," She said leaning back in the chair. She looked up at the clouds in the sky and then back to Alex. "I would say 'share my sun', but there is no sun to share." She smiled and chuckled, "Hey you can't have it all!" Patting the lounge chair next to her she invited Alex to have a seat, "So, how's your day been?"

[Cyroa]

The typical chaos and rambunctiousness that followed teenagers letting off steam was in full swing. The pool was definitely a big source of entertainment and release. But things settled down to the more normal levels of high school party fun. Soon, people had begun to spread out. Tables were there for people to sit and chat, the pool was there for swimming and fun. The volleyball court started to fill up as a game was started. And certain pairs did the expect teenage make-out time; some more discrete than other. People like Chris, Eddie, James and Mark had little trouble finding their own crowd and socializing easily. There were clics, there were looks, but there was no sniping or fighting just yet thankfully.

Basicallly, for all that the majority of kids had powers that could cause loads of chaos, this was a pretty normal party for a bunch of teenagers.

[quotemyname]

"Man, it's great to kick back and relax once in a while," Eddie remarked to James as the two made their way around the outside of the pool. "I live for the super hero thing, but once in a while you just need a break." It had been a trying few winter months for all of them. Eddie had come out of it with a better understanding of his own powers, so it hadn't been all that bad. But still, he was glad for the chance to put his feet up.

I wonder how long this'll last before someone flips out and starts a fight... He thought.

"Hot tub?" He prompted.

[angrydurf]

Mike just laughed and shook his head at his friends suggested antics, "Satellites going missing tends to ring alot of alarm bells out by star Island." He said with a grin. Mike had grown more accustomed to using his powers and feared them much less than he used to but he remained one of the more cautious members of the team when it came down to it. He clapped mark on the back, "Besides, if I start showing off megastar or someone will decide to start up and before long Bolt will step it up just to cheese you off."

[Electra]

Erin stayed in the pool longer than most of her friends, but eventually got out to explore the food offerings as well. Parties weren't something she was very good at, but she was obviously making a game effort, stopping to say hello to people she knew, bantering with the pyrokinetic grilling the hot dogs, even joining, very gingerly, in the volleyball game. Eventually she managed to relax a little more, falling in with a group talking about the latest exploits of the Freedom League as they ate junk food and sat around the pool. That wasn't too bad at all.

[alderwitch]

"Oh fine. This isn't my scene but James is happy and my friends are having a really good time. So am I." Alex saw Daisy circulating and her expression turned pensive. She glanced back to Faith, not liking the Daisy's usual mean spirited mood, "Uhm, someone may mention it so I suppose I should. Mark and I used to date. We're better as friends and it really wasn't serious but some people here like to, you know, make trouble for him. I don't wanna see you in the crossfire, though."

[Moira Morley]

Faith nodded happily. Alex was a nice girl from what she'd seen for the past week. "Thanks. That's nice to know," Faith said looking at Alex with relief. Faith had heard of jilted ex-girlfriends before.and how they could be. One with psychic powers wasn't one she wanted on her bad side. Though Mark would protect her from anything, and she would protect Mark. "Any friend of Mark's is a friend of mine. So far he's introduced me to some very cool people. I guess he might have been worried about perceived problems, that might be the reason the three of us haven't all met at the same time. He's so considerate." Faith sighed contentedly then blushed, "I'm sorry if I say anything wrong. I just, I've never felt this way about anyone. He's just so perfect in every way."

[alderwitch]

Alex blinked at her with wide, too obsevant eyes and she smiled gently, "He really isn't perfect, you know. Mark's a great guy but he's not all that emotionally deep. He is very young in a lot of ways. His powers buffer him from a lot of the more unpleasant parts of life. Its important to go into things eyes wide open, you know."

Alex shrugged and her glance went back to the pool, "I kinda doubt he's given the rumor mill a second thought, really."

[Avenger Assembled]

Mark swam over to join them at that, missing most of the conversation as he came around to stand by the ladies. "Hey Alex," he said cordially, without the rancor some boys might have had around their old girlfriend with their new one around. But then they'd never been more than friends with benefits, really. If first base counted. "Nice party James has, huh? I like his way of thinking." Feeling confident in physicality with Faith, he pecked her on the cheek. "Hey, Faith. You wanna go see the rest of the party?"

[Moira Morley]

Not perfect? Surely Alex couldn't be jealous, could she? Faith wasn't going to call her on it. It would be rude to do so. She was shocked though, but she didn't show it. She continued smiling. Hopefully Alex wasn't reading her mind. Then Mark showed up. It was like he knew she was distressed and he was here to whisk her away. She blushed when he pecked her on the cheek. "I'd love to," she said reaching for him to pull her up. "I'm sorry our conversation got cut short," she said in a friendly tone, "Maybe we'll catch up with each other later?" She tried not to think about the incident and only think of Mark, trying to be considerate of Alex.

[Ecalsneerg]

Chris sidled up behind Alex as Mark led his new squeeze away. "Well, hey, at least you tried to warn her that he's going to break her heart. I mean, don't get me wrong, I like Mark, but when the only relationship he's had end semi-OK had Mike holding him by the throat... well, sucks."

He swigged from his beer as he adjusted the pimp hat to a jaunty angle. "She doesn't deserve that sort of high-school gossip when she's so new to the school..."

[quotemyname]

The hot tub and beer had been quite refreshing. Sadly, the beer did not last as long as the hot tub did. Eddie pulled himself out to go in search of a refill. Finding one, and recycling his old bottle, he decided to track down a few other members of his crew.

Stumbling upon Alex and Chris he gave them a friendly wave. He saw the backs of Mark and Faith as they faded away in to the crowd hand in hand. "Darn. Guess I just missed'em." Eddie punctuated his statement with a sip from his beer. Having caught the tail end of the conversation, Eddie couldn't help but ask. "I gotta ask. I mean, I've only been around this past year, but, has Mark always been like this with girls?" He waved his bottle hand in the general direction of where the couple had disappeared.

[Avenger Assembled]

A little while later, in one of the houses James had set aside for everyone, Mark made certain suggestions to Faith. "C'mon," he said with a breezy smile, "it'll be really fun. We don't even have to do anything, you know, we can just go as far as you want and see where it takes us." He bent down and kissed her sweetly, both of them standing by the window. "You'll really enjoy the ride, I promise. C'mon, grow me those wings again."

[Moira Morley]

Faith blushed the brightest red she'd ever blushed before. She loved Mark and wanted to make him happy. Would this make him happy? Would this make her happy? He said they could stop at any time. This could be the moment that bonds them forever. With a meek smile she hugged him, laying her head on his chest. Large fluffy angel wings sprouted out of his back and his muscles felt stronger. She was slightly trembling by the time it was done. Taking her head off of his chest, she looked up to him and smiled meekly. "Do you have some place we can go that's less crowded," she whispered softly.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Well, we could go flying," said Mark innocently, "but I know the wings don't last that long. Not that they're not really cool," he added with a smile. "Why don't we go back out to the beach?" he suggested. "The water's still cold, but that little grotto at the edge is warm enough with James heating up the place." He studied Faith, who was real cute and seemed willing to do all sorts of things to pass the evening. He liked that. "I don't think we'll be in the water that much."

[Moira Morley]

Faith nodded and they were off into the air. She didn't open her eyes, she just held on. Being in his arms was so comforting. She could stay lost in this momentuntil eternity. And that's what it felt like. Eternity. Time slowed down for that flight. The trip was quiet until they landed at the grotto.

[Avenger Assembled]

Once in the grotto, Mark and Faith commenced to the making-out. Mark could tell Faith hadn't done this a lot, but she was real enthusiastic and he liked that a whole lot. He wasn't much for a lot of talking in a romantic cliche, and so when things started going further, he didn't say anything, just took his time and enjoyed the moment. In his experience, if a girl didn't like what he was doing, or wanted to do less, she'd say something. That had always worked out well for him, so he kept at that here. If she was happy with what they were doing, why ruin the mood?

[Moira Morley]

An hour and a half later

Faith had always not being a virgin anymore would change your life. She didn't feel any worse. In fact she was a whole lot happier. She and Mark had consummated something magical and beautiful. Faith had no doubt in her mind that they would be in love forever. She clung to her boyfriend, as she was a bit weary. "Mark," she paused, that was the first word she had said in a while. It was almost like it echoed through her soul. "You were great." She smiled and kissed his chest and laid her head there as she clung to him. "I'm sorry for talking to your ex. If you don't want me to do that again, I won't." She sighed happily and looked to him. "Is there anything you want me to do for you, honey?"

[Avenger Assembled]

Mark felt very good, but he was also very tired and not a little sore. It had been quite an evening. "Maybe help me get back to the top?" he asked her with a little smile. "That was a lot of fun, but it was a little exhausting too. I'm sure I'll be better tomorrow after I get a chance to sleep." Sleep sounded really good right now. And maybe a shower.

[angrydurf]

Mike looked to Eddie, "Well I haven't known him much longer but I'm pretty sure the answer would be yes." He shrugged, "He handles girls the same way he does everything else I guess is te best way to say it. I just hope she can see that too before it gets ... messy." He blushes slightly and glances around as he thinks about the awkwardness till between Mark and Zarana.

His gaze settled once more on Alex and his blush deepened slightly as he realized he was staring and he tore his eyes away.