MARS (upgradeyou) wrote in x_flashback_x, @ 2008-06-27 03:20:00 |
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Entry tags: | mars, zap |
Who: Mars & Zap
When: 2001 - 2008
Where: Xavier's
What: backdated tidbits
Status: complete
Rating: PG(-13?)
TUESDAY, MAY 29TH, 2001 - AGES 21 & 16 Being a mutant wasn't hard to adjust to. All the social and prejudice crap didn't really bother Zap. Being at Xavier's wasn't that difficult to grasp, either. Mutant High - hi-tech toys - principal's a mindreader, okie doke. But being able to turn the lights off with her mind was giving her the weirdies. And that's about all she'd taught herself to do, so far. She'd blown out light bulbs on a daily basis most of her life, so she decided to start from the bottom and work her way up. It had only been a few weeks since the death of her mother and the eruption of her mutation, so it wasn't like she'd had time to practice. But after settling in at Xavier's, she was told she'd need to visit 'Mars' and see what he had to say. Well, she knew what she did, so unless he could override it and show her the ropes, she didn't know what the purpose of the long trek down the blinding white halls would serve. When she reached the room in the sub-basement where she was told to go, it was empty. Zalika'd been pretty sure the guy was told she was coming. What a dick. Maybe he had to pee? She made herself comfortable in a worn out, cushy office chair and slung her backpack full of advanced!everything textbooks onto the floor next to her. Danger Room training was one thing that Ronan did on a regular basis to keep himself in shape. Plain old sit-ups just didn't do it for him. That was where he had been when Cyclops contacted him about him speaking with the new girl. So a little disgruntled, he ended his session to meet her in his lab. He felt the girl enter the room while he was pulling on his jeans. He clutched a clean t-shirt in his hand as he made his way in to greet the girl. She had taken a seat in one of the chairs (his, to be exact) and looked rather moody. He couldn't blame her. "Afternoon." he greeted along with a nod as he made his way towards her. "I take it ye already know my name." No use introducing himself or asking her why she was there, they both already knew those things. "What might yours be?" Holy crap. 'Mars'. It all made total sense, now. Both his name and the purpose of her coming downstairs. He was giving off a majorly aggressive energy - and he was a major freakin' hottie. What the hell was he doing half naked? And why was she questioning it in her mind? And then there was her name. Ugh. Wasn't that in a file or something? "Zalika Pallaton." Every day here felt like the first day of high school. "I usually just go by my monogram. ZAP." 'Cause who wants to be called Zuhleeka? Not her. She stared for a few moments, both out of nervousness at the lack of things to say, and just at him in general. "Yeah." The Irishman smirked a little at her response. Zap. How appropriate. "So, Zap," he started, after he had pulled on his shirt. "Was there somethin' specific ye wanted to know about?" His blue eyes looked down at her somewhat slouched form. "Uhh..." Aside from why he was putting his shirt on, not really. "I... hm." She paused. She'd brooded her way down the stairs and elevators, when she should've been thinking of things to say and questions to ask. "What can you tell me? I mean, I've blown up computers and light bulbs. Could I do that to a person?" Think morbid thoughts... "Ye're like a human electric chair, lass." Ronan said bluntly, "Ye could kill a man from ten feet." He watched her face to gage her reaction to the information. She had the potential to do a lot more with proper training. They, of course, would see to it that she received it. Zap pursed her lips at the bluntness of what he'd said. Morbid indeed. "Wow." That was kinda cool. She raised her eyebrows at the thought of what else could be accomplished. Of course, she'd had a long, happy!fun time talk with Professor Xavier about the whole 'with power comes responsibility' crap. The Peter Parker stuff. "So, like you, right now?" she gestured slightly with her hand, and sat up a bit as she was slightly more interested in what was being said. "Well, ye'd be dead before ye gathered up the energy ta try it." Ronan said quite seriously. He didn't play around with mutants he wasn't familiar with. He eyed her for a moment before he spoke again, "I think it'd best if ye try that kind of thing in the Danger Room. Have they told ye what that is yet?" Whoa. This guy was a pistol. Zap swallowed, easing slightly back into the chair. She shifted herself and leaned on the arm, feeling a little uncomfortable and trying to cover the blush that she knew was on her face now. "I don't want to kill anyone," she responded, just as seriously. She was using their distance as an example. "I mean, not right now." Her face was deadpan and she was still for a moment before a flicker of joviality swept her features. "Yeah. More or less," she let out a sigh and finally watched his eyes - looking into them for the first time. Yeah. She decided then that if he was going to be the one helping her train, she was going to work at it harder than anything she had before. Ronan gave her a nod before giving her a rare smile. This one was going to be a fun challenge. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31ST, 2002 - AGES 23 & 17 Over the past year, Zap had found a niche in the school and amongst the junior team, and her mutation was well under control. On the day of her favorite holiday, she couldn't have been feeling any better. A group of the younger X-folks was headed out for some Halloween hijinx and she had already donned her costume, as the clock was pushing six. She wore a short, black dress with a white collar and long sleeves, and she'd put her dark hair in braided pigtails that hung over her shoulders. She rode down to the sub-basement to see if Ronan wanted to come along for the festivities. When she reached the door, she clutched the hand of the headless doll she'd been carrying, and moved her other hand behind her back. You couldn't sneak up on Ronan, but when he knew it was Zap, he rarely glanced up, as there was rarely an issue. She took advantage of this, then, and moved to where he was working and moved her arm around him. Zap dropped the bag of M&M's she'd gotten him amongst the pieces of the gadget he was working on and said in a monotone, "Happy Halloween, Mr. Murphy." She moved back a bit then, and smiled. "Eh?" she held up the headless doll and waggled it a bit, waiting for a reaction. Ronan smirked as the bag of candy landed in the middle of his work. "Evenin', Zap." He turned to look at her. "Or should I say Ms. Addams?" He knew who she was only because Zap had conned him into watching both the Addams Family and it's sequel one afternoon. She had a thing for the nerdy kid with the glasses, apparently. "Thanks, cailín." he gestured to the candy and smirked. "Where are ye headed?" She wouldn't be dressed up like that just to scurry around the mansion. Well, maybe she would. "Trick'r'treating," she said, "There're some clubs downtown that set up so illegals could gather some candy and do some damage, on account of we can't go door to door or go get schnockered. A lot of us are gonna go, so," she found the arm of the chair she sat in most often and pulled it toward her, then sat, "if you wanna come, that'd be cool." She smiled, which probably looked a bit odd in her current attire, and kicked out her foot to nudge the side of his, once. "You could get us some beerz," she rolled her eyes then, and chuckled. It would've made her night if Ronan would come - and she was sure he could've used some time out of the sweatshop. "Heh, I could be Elvis." he smirked at the thought before continuing, "I think I'll pass. You'll have more fun without me." He knew he made most of the people she socialized with uncomfortable. Not that he cared what they thought, but if they weren't having fun, Zap would most likely get grief for it later. "I will buy ye booze if ye want, though." As long as no one went and told on him, anyway. If they did, he'd find out who it was and kick their ass. Zap gave a bit of a pout and shifted so she was leaning forward, her hands clasped and elbows in her lap. She thought carefully for a few moments and then replied, "But I want you to have fun," her tone was earnest. She smiled when he said he'd buy the booze. She wasn't too interested in drinking - it tended to make her sick. But the offer was sweet. Ronan was awesome. "I'd have fun, if you came..." Half of her smile fell, giving her a goofy, hopeful half smile. Ronan sat back to think for a moment. It wasn't everyday he was offered the chance to get out of mansion by someone who didn't want him to do something for them. Of course, this was Zap and she didn't generally ask for things. Still, he knew his presence would be a major downer to her friends. Not that he gave a shit what they thought, but the look she was giving him was making him a bit leery. "Eh..." he said, running a hand through his hair, "I don't think I'm gonna." "Why not?" came the short reply. "I have a date, lass." Zap's eyes immediately shifted away from Ronan's and she concentrated on the counter beside them, still clutching the doll in her arms to her chest. She squeezed a bit harder, then. Well, that was reason enough not to go, she guessed. The brunette sighed and shifted back a bit, her chair wheeling a few feet away, and she stood. "Maybe next..." time? "year." She gave the Irishman a completely empty smile and turned for the door. "Have fun, then..." WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16TH, 2006 - AGES 27 & 21 If the lights in the garage weren't as dull as they were, Zap would've been inside the building. However, this wasn't the case. She was in the shade, for the most part, though, half-buried under the tiny hybrid car she was examining. She had a few books and some manuals laying around her arms and under her elbows and referred to them every few minutes as she tested around the vehicle's undercarriage. Most of her pay from the past few years went into the vehicle (which ran on twenty-four 12 volt batteries) and now she wanted to know what made it tick (aside the obvious). Having a car that was powered by electricity made more sense to her than any other option - environmentally, financially and with her mutation considered; it was perfect. The cherry red color and uber!cute body didn't hurt. Despite the heat, she'd been getting some sun on her legs, so all was well in Zapland. Ronan distinctly remembered Zap telling him she would be tinkering with her weird little car that afternoon. Instead of working in the garage like a normal person, he found her out in the yard. He had to suppress a grin as he approached her. It was a very amusing sight seeing her under the hood of a car. "Better watch out now, lass," he said as he got in earshot of her, while losing the battle of keeping his smile off his face, "Ye might break somethin'." Zap nearly bumped her head when she heard the voice behind her. She ducked lower and acted as though she hadn't heard him for a few moments, giving her hands a brush off on her shorts. Finally, she cleared her throat, turned her head and acted surprised to see Ronan standing near the vehicle. "Like your face?" she batted her lashes and smirked impishly, before backing up a bit and standing erect. "I wouldn't do that." She called her own bluff and chuckled. He was too pretty. "You better not stay out here too long, Uwasa, you might burn." She gestured skyward at the blazing sun, but kept her gaze even with his blue eyes. Ronan chuckled as watched Zap stand. He had actually come to find her because he needed help with an invention he was working on, but this was much more entertaining at the moment. "Eh, the sun isn't gonna hurt me fer a while." Ronan gave her a wink, telling her that he didn’t intend to go back indoors any time soon. She was stuck with him. Not to mention the fact that Matrix was indoors and he didn’t want to listen to her go on about the computer equipment that needed to be worked on. Zap's lips shifted to the side in a half smile and she placed her hands on her hips while she got oriented. Her head had been buried for too long. "Y'know, I'm only gonna be able to get 40 mph with this thing, but I can run it myself, so I'll never have to stop for gas. Makes me wanna knock up a Circuit City and make off with the swag." She grinned then, and turned to fumble through the stack of literature, then gathered it all up. "You should let me give you a ride sometime." She offered, holding the stack in her arms, close to her chest. Her bare toes clenched and relaxed against the warmth of the concrete as she awaited his response. While Ronan admired her ecofriendliness, he preferred gas powered vehicles. His eyes watched her as she picked up her books. He stood with a hand to his chin in half-mock thought, “A ride might be nice.” he said giving the car a skeptical look before continuing, “I could probably design ye one o’ those that would go at least one ten. If we’re gonna be robbin’ a Circuit City, we’ve gotta be able to outrun the police, don‘t ye think?” She winced at his teasing. "I thought I'd just wear 'em down," Zap said. She could go for hours. "If you're gonna drive, we could go 'cross country and avoid 'em." She grinned. "But if I'm gonna out run cops, I better have better booty than some USB drives." She moved to the car's side and dumped the books in. "Well, when I was telling you I was going to buy an electric car, you didn't make the offer. You could've saved me some major coin, good-lookin'." She stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry over her shoulder. Ronan gave Zap a toothy, teasing grin before he responded, "If we're gonna take the time ta steal, then we're stealin' equipment that's worth a damn. Ye didn't ask me to build ye one, lass." He moved around the car where he lifted the hood to look at the car's batteries, he leaned forward and put his weight on his forearms as he rested them on the side of the open hood. He inspected the batteries skeptically for a moment. "Pretty clever of ye ta get a car ye can power on your own." Zap moved after Ronan back to the car's front end to see what he was checking out. When he leaned forward against the car, she stepped in fairly close and planted her feet next to his, then leaned her hip against the vehicle, angled to face him instead of the mechanics. She moved her left arm back and braced herself with her arm against the latch and nodded to what he'd said. "I'm always thinking," she retorted. Like now. From this position, there were several possibilities. The electrokine shifted her weight to her left and forward, moving her face dangerously close to Ronan's, then watched his eyes carefully through half-lids. She was so close she could smell him. It made her heart skip a beat. When Ronan felt Zap's power fluctuate slightly as she stood next to him, he turned his head to evaluate her face that was inches from his. "Aye..." he said with a small smile as he took a small step to the side. She had been acting this way more often than usual lately. His eyes grew serious as he watched her for a few moments. "Zap, what're ye doin'?" 'Getting nowhere.' Zap thought. She relaxed her body back against the car and moved her arms so they were across her chest. "Did you need something?" her face donned a mixture of disappointment and frustration, but she forced her eyes to grow just as serious as his were. All work, that's how things had to be. And she knew full well - but after she had expressed her feelings to him a few years before, she had never quite worked out how his rejection of her made any sense at all. She'd never accepted it, but she pushed the subject only once in a while. Maybe it was time to ease up. (Uwasa = 'Alone' in Cherokee/Tslagi - a fun nickname for Ronan) SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23RD, 2008 - AGES 28 & 22 After taking Evelyn to speak with Xavier and staying for a bit to hear part of her survival story, Ronan made his way back down to the sub-basement to think about what had happened on the mission regarding Zap and Pete. Stuck on an elevator with flesh eating zombies would be traumatizing to almost anyone. When he reached his lab, Mars paused before entering, feeling the electrokine's familiar buzz in his head coming from his room (which was nearby). What was she doing? She should be in bed trying to rest. He stepped into the room and he took a look at the girl who was sitting on the edge of his bed. "Are ye all right lass?" he asked when he read the expression on her face. Zap wasn't sure how to answer. She squinted into the light that poured into the dark room from the hall now that Ronan was standing in the door. She stepped inside his room because she knew it was empty - it was always empty. She was in it more than Ronan - catching naps or grabbing odds and ends for him. It was a quiet place for her to catch up with herself, and she hadn't expected the mutant-sensor to pop in on her. After a moment, though, she nodded and swallowed back a sigh that wanted to escape. She wasn't ready to let it all out yet - it was still too fresh in her mind. "Mmhmm. Sorry," she gestured around the room, excusing her presence. Her hair was a bit disheveled and her uniform was half-shed, but she hadn't planned on company. Ronan knew better than to ask her what was bothering her. People needed time to let things sink in before talking about them. He wasn't going to pressure her about mission details. From the looks of her, she wasn't okay. But once again, he wasn't going to press the issue. "It's okay, cailín." he said tenderly (probably more so than he'd intended). He barely paid attention to her semi-clad body as he moved steadily towards her and planted himself next to her on the bed. Zap took in a much-needed deep breath and let it out slowly as Ronan sat beside her. She hunched a bit (back to the posture she had before someone came to the door) and finally sighed after hearing someone say 'it's okay'. It felt like someone understood. And it was Mars. She was feeling several severely overwhelming things at once - none of them positive. In the back of her mind, she was regretting bringing Evelyn Ormand to the school, mostly because of the fondness Ronan had had when speaking of his encounter with the woman. The fact that Zap was wishing she'd left someone to die made her feel insanely guilty. The fact that Piotr had been a perfect gentleman in the elevator didn't help matters. They'd been an item... and they could've died... why hadn't he been more forward? Regret and rejection were bubbling to the surface as she reflected on the whole experience, and when she remembered the faces of the mutated humans that were gnawing and gnashing, hungry for their skin, it caused Zap and suck in and bite her lower lip as tears welled in her eyes. She didn't want to be eaten. She didn't want to see that crazy woman hitting on Ronan. And she didn't understand why Pete didn't want her. She shifted to the side and went a bit limp against Ronan's shoulder, then pushed her face against him so her nose squished into his shirt. "I was so scared..." she sobbed. "Ah, lass..." Ronan whispered into her hair when she sagged against him. His arms wrapped around her and he held her close and rocked her gently, resting his cheek on the top of her head. It tore at his insides to see Zap so despondent. He wanted to make her fears go away. He knew what it was like to be so frightened that it's hard to think, hard to breathe. He didn't want Zap to feel that way - ever. Had Pete been supportive in that elevator? If the two of them were as in love as she said (on occasion) they were, then what was she doing down in his bedroom crying on his shoulder? Where was Pete? "Ye're safe now." he whispered as he stroked her back in slow circles and held her tighter. Pete could go to hell. All at once, Zap felt release. It came the second Ronan's embrace encircled her and she let her tears fall onto his sleeve. They rarely touched - and this felt like a rare gift, at just the right time. If she'd ever truly needed a hug from anyone, it was now. Aside rough housing, Zap tried to avoid touching Ronan too much for more than one reason, but she raised her arms and clutched to his shirt in front and back and adjusted her face so it rested against him. After a few, shaking sobs, she closed her eyes completely and sat as still as she could while she righted herself. She wouldn't spoil this comfort by nattering. There wasn't much to say other than what she had, anyway. Then he spoke. 'Ye're safe now.' She felt the words, more than he could know, and shared them in return. She knew he was opening up to her, and she wouldn't take advantage or try to hurt him. Not ever. When he felt Zap relax, Mars expelled the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Christ. For as long as he'd been alive, he'd never held anyone the way he was holding Zap at that moment. He was supposed to be a cold and unfeeling person. Thanks to the girl in his arms, he was beginning to experience feelings that he hadn't felt since childhood. He had thought those murdering assassin bastards had robbed him of his feelings. But now, he found himself thanking God for Zap's safe return. |