In A Little Over My Head [Kelly]

[Chain]

Kelly had never really been one for silences but this one wasn’t so bad. She could tell he was trying to work things out in his head and she imagined she could see the conversation. Should he stay or run? Push her away or pull her closer? Take it at face value or look for the motive? Enjoy their time or fear it? The boy was conflicted she could tell that much she just didn’t know the extent of that conflict. She wanted to help him he wanted to be helped. Change him? Not her style since she believed that someone would change of their own accord when it was their time to do so. So yes she truly like the boy just the way he was and had no problems having to bundle up to be near him.

It surprised her that he kissed her back and her arms tightened around his neck. Her lips were cold but she didn’t mind. She let her tongue tease his bottom lip and then continued to kiss him again. Hell she’d stand there all night just kissing him if he’d let her. The girl was stubborn enough not to care if her lips turned blue.

[Iceman]

The kiss lingered a few more moments. He still couldn’t necessarily feel it; just the warmth of her. But he allowed that drop of his defenses enough to enjoy whatever this was. His arms stayed encircled around the blonde for those few more moments. Breath wasn’t necessary for him in those moments. Neither was the fear that he constantly clung to in order to keep himself grounded with those around him. He needed that doubt the way most needed the likes of foods. His body had changed so much that it was almost feeling like an impossibility that his mind wouldn’t change too. Hell! He’d become the kind of guy that Bobby used to hate in just the span of the last year or so because he didn’t know if he knew how to stop what was happening.

But for this short moment, he just let that go.

With her practically melding into his form, the warmth of her bundled form was enough to almost make him feel normal. He liked it. A lot, actually. That did not, however, mean that he trusted it. Just as quickly as he’d dropped his guard dropped down and he let his doubts go ignored, those doubts struck back full force. This was nice, but how long would it last? What if she really couldn’t deal with how he was? Sure, Kelly had made it more than blatant about how she felt in regards to not caring about his form. But how long would that last? That sent a self-conscious shiver down is frozen spine. In a last tender kiss to her lips, he pulled away and just kind of looked at her. Doubt manifested in his ice sculpted expression. He released his arms from around her waist before he caught himself and lifted his lips into a smile out of the reflex of pretending he was okay. “Want to try another slide?” he asked her lamely; knowing full well that Bobby Drake needed to distract the both of them from doing that again.

[Chain]

Kelly still couldn’t believe her luck. He was kissing her back a fatal mistake if the boy was hoping to turn her attention from him. Cold as it was his arms felt good around her and she’d bet money that they’d feel just as strong even in his none ice form. But then she still didn’t know this wasn’t how he truly looked so she was quite happy being right where she was. The cold was starting to seep through her clothes and bones at the prolonged contact but she really didn’t care about that. She was loath to pull away and make him feel bad. Besides it was kind of nice being held like this. Her last boyfriend would have been groping her by now and shoving his tongue down her throat. It could just be his frozen state but something told her that he really wouldn’t be that kind of guy at least that’s what she hoped. Kelly was usually pretty good at reading people even when they thought they were hiding from her.

She’d felt the guard go down on some level and it was probably the worst thing for the boy. It meant that she had a chance, even if it was a tiny one she’d take it. The poor boy wasn’t going to know what hit him. Then she felt the guard go up again and she wanted to growl in frustration. She’d have if the last kiss he’d given her hadn’t belied the fact that he was guarding himself. Kelly saw the doubt clear as day and she sighed. Then she took a moment to see things from his perspective and the perspective of other, stupid , stupid, stupid girls. ”You made a mistake Drake. You let me in, even for a second. That’s all I needed.” The blond tilted her head to the side and a bit of hair fell across her eyes. She left it there. ”Only if you are going to hold me again.” She knew she should back down a bit and get warmed up some but she didn’t want to and Lord can Kelly Wilson be stubborn.

[Iceman]

It was true. That was probably all the blond needed and Bobby Drake had just given it to her in spades; an act that could possibly prove to be catastrophic later on. He wasn’t the type of guy to rush things with people. If he were like this as a guy made of ice, his human form wasn’t much better. He dealt with things in a veil of immaturity, sure, but the method worked in keeping those at a distance. If people got close, they could judge and reject him. Simple. If they never got close, how could they? Unfortunately what Robert Drake had just done was left Kelly wide open for any power play to get behind that thick layer of armor. What would she really think of him when it was made clear that Bobby hated change and himself for altering so much in the last few years? Again, it took a moment for Bobby to push that aside and smirk. “Oh don’t worry, that won’t happen again. I promise.”

Bobby’s arms dropped from Kelly almost immediately after he’d said that and he had to remind himself of the fact that he was a bad idea. It was hard to though. He’d not only let her kiss him but kissed back. He may as well have said ‘you win’ in a florescent sign. He was almost wary of putting an arm around her again. It was hard enough to keep that guard up, but who was he to say that if he held her again that wouldn’t happen a second, maybe even fourth time? “I suppose I could but this time you’ll be on the actual slide.” He said as he outstretched a hand to start the base of an ice slide and slipping his other arm around her waist. “Consider this your first real lesson in ice skating.” With that, his legs pushed them forward as he positioned himself behind Kelly to make sure she was steady on the slide.

[Chain]

A blond brow went up when he told her it wouldn’t happen again. She didn’t miss the significance of him dropping his arm either. ”I do believe you are challenging me, Mr. Drake.” Kelly knew it was a crock of crap and he was just trying to pull himself together. He’d kissed her back, he’d wanted to do it and he’d wanted her to do it. There was something inside him that wanted to break free of his ‘screw you’ attitude and she was going to help make it happen. Had he not shown the signs of it or the possibility it was even there then she’d have let it go. But there was something there and it wanted to reach the surface no matter how much Bobby wanted to keep it locked away. That had been what she was searching for to see if it was there and now she needed to rescue it. Operation Break Drake was about to commence.

Kelly’d definitely would rather he held her again but accepted the fact that it wouldn’t happen…. Yet. Her head tilted back when he said it was her turn on the slide. ”Don’t let me fall.” She trusted him, as much a douche as he tried to act like the core of him wouldn’t let something happen to her. Not intentionally. Kelly took a deep breath when he started making the slide. Her hands rested on top of his and she linked her fingers keeping the contact nearly as intimate as when he held her or when they kissed. It was the little things Kelly was a firm believer in the little things. ”Let’s do this.” Kelly moved her legs in time with his as if they were dancing. He kept her steady and she was already starting to giggle and soon it turned into a full blown laugh. ”This is amazing.” The awe in her voice was most evident.

[Iceman]

Bobby laughed softly for a moment. “I’m not. A lawsuit is the last thing I need on my hands,” he joked as the two continued to skate forward while he took her waist steadily. The bridge of the slide materialized in front of them with every glide. It wasn’t fair with her so close and knowing that he shouldn’t couldn’t give her the satisfaction of a real embrace. He hated this draw. It was near maddening to have someone be interested in him like this and having the feeling be mutual. Bobby Drake had to send sort of signal that he wanted no part of this.

He would, however, wait to lie like this until the slide was done.

He grinned widely behind her when he heard her laugh. It was like some kind of song that he refused to admit to liking. “This is how I get around,” he supplemented as they continued up what could only be a small slope and quickly lulled downwards and up another. “How do you like the Institute so far? Hope the joint isn’t too boring for you.”

[Chain]

Kelly pished at him. ”I wouldn’t sue you just maybe make you take me to dinner.” She was so loving this and watching the slide appear in front of them before they went over the edge was a rush. Her fingers laced with his she tugged his hands so his arms encircled her waist. She just hoped he wasn’t going to fight her on it. How could the girls not be interested? So one had to make a few minor concessions it was a compromise. Wasn’t compromise what made any type of relationship work?

”This beats a car any day. This is so awesome.” Her head turned to look up at him knowing he wouldn’t let anything happen to her. ”Pretty good, I don’t like the Danger Room though I almost got killed in there. Have met a few interesting people. I hear there’s a party going to happen. You want to be my date?” She was pretty much betting he’d turn her down flat, but she had to ask. Kelly really really wanted to get to know him better but she figured that was going to take a few meetings. ”Oh no, not boring at all.” She looked right into his eyes when she made that comment.

[Iceman]

“Dinner could happen,” Bobby said with a slight laugh while his eyes briefly rolled in jest. “Though that would be only if you fell. So I wouldn’t count on it.” It took a moment for Bobby to realize that her fingers had intertwined with his. It was almost instinct the way his arms wound back around her. Still in the back of his head Bobby Drake’s better judgment roared in the back of his head; bellowing for him to back off. As they slid along the ice slide, he let himself be lulled into this comfortable closeness.

“Yeah, saves on gas too,” he quipped and gazed down at Kelly from the corners of his eyes briefly before bringing his attention back to the ice slide and carefully creating the path they slid on. “No one does like the D.R. at first. Depends on the program you’re in though. You’ll get the hang of it though.” Ugh. Was he really rambling about the freaking Danger Room? Well, if that wasn’t girl-repellant, he didn’t know what was. With that nagging feeling that he felt like Scott. Someone shoot him. Please. He almost missed her invitation and blinked when it actually thought about it. He shouldn’t go. He barely socialized with the other kids here in the last year or so. Doing so now, yet alone as someone’s date was just a terrible idea.

The slide sped up as they continued; leaving the parameters of the pool and started traveling about the yard on the ice slide. “Um. Dunno. I mean I might have stuff that night or something but I can try to stop by. You know… for a bit or whatever. Just, you know, let me know if you end up snagging a better date,” That didn’t even make sense to him. He was interested! There was no way that he couldn’t be. Instantly, though, he had to remember that the point of this day was to repel her. That kiss had blown his shot at that, though and now, Bobby was left to improvise, “just so… you know… I don’t end up showing up in my party hat for no reason.”

Smooth, Bobby. Real fucking smooth.

[Chain]

Kelly tipped her head back and grinned up at him. ”We could just pretend I fell and you can take me to dinner to make up for it.” She winked to let him know she was just teasing but she really wouldn’t be opposed to going out to dinner with him. The tiny blond was thrilled that he didn’t pull away from her. She leaned back against him as they skated along the ice slide. Really she could so get used to this if he’d just let her. ”Do you realize the romantic applications your ice slide has?” She can definitely see the moonlit night, over the city all cuddled up like they were now. But she had a feeling it would be a bit before she got that far with him. If she got that far.

The girl giggled at his saving on gas comment. ”I didn’t know what it was. I looked like a big empty room that came to life. Mr. Marko and Ms. Danvers got me out of there. I guess it was set on kill.” Shudders at the memory. ”I really hope so. I mean it was a bit disheartening to realize the only thing I could really do was flip and hand spring myself out of the way.” It really did bother her when she realized how useless she would be if it ever got to a fight. Although she knew they’d be teaching them combat so she was excited to learn.

Kelly watched as they started to head out to the yard and she wasn’t going to argue. Who knew where they might end up. She chewed her bottom lip as he started to stammer his way out of going, sort of. The girl wasn’t stupid and knew how to play the game. ”Oh if you’re busy then... Oh I won’t find anyone else. I might just stop by then see what’s going on and stuff. I was just kind of hoping you know… Like we could actually go to the party together but if you aren’t interested…” She knew she’d been pushing her luck but was surprised she didn’t get rejected right off the bat. She tilted her head to look at him when he made his last comment. ”Hopefully, I’d give you a reason.” She actually used his arms so she could turn and face him. She rested her gloved hands on his shoulders and looked up at him. ”Is it bad that I want you to kiss me again?” It was both a question and an invitation, though she doubted he’d take her up on the offer.

[Iceman]

At her first question, Bobby initially looked onward only a tad confused. He had no idea that his powers could be romantic in the least. Though, it started to settle in as he felt her warmth leaning into him. Still he didn’t go further than anything Kelly had started with. He needed to match her; prove that he could, in fact, handle her. Then Bobby could go right back into the act of pushing her away. “Sort of,” he supplied; trying not to sound timid.

“Well, that’ll be an instant turn off to the Danger Room. I’ve got a friend who can program that thing to look like a level of Super Mario… but less pixilated,” he joked in an attempt to make her feel better. He tried not to breathe in that subtle peach scent that drew him in initially when Kelly had met him by the pool. He let out a soft exhale and hoped it hadn’t drawn too much attention to his presence. “It’s easier when they actually train you for it.”

“Well… I guess I could come by. I don’t want you to like… be there all bored and stuff.” Dammit Bobby! Stop that! “I mean, I can go. I can check and see what’s going on that day, you know, since you apparently don’t wanna ask someone else. Don’t want you to go alone.” Bobby chuckled only slightly under his breath. “I mean… you know…” Honestly, he didn’t! He had no idea what the hell he was doing at this moment and as he realized the shift of the weight in his arms and found himself face to face with Kelly yet again and resisting that pull that seemed to drag Bobby’s attention from whatever doubts he had straight to her.

It was torture. If there was a moment he wished for flesh or even the slightest feeling in him where he could reaffirm every guess he thought of in how Kelly really felt when she had been pressed against him or just how soft her lips were against his. Her question was maddening; a question that just rattled him to his very core and was nearly infuriating to the fact that this girl was kissing a goddamned ice cube. Why would she want to do that? Yet alone more than once! “It should be,” he said with a soft scoff as he kept their skating pace up on the slide. “It’s not a good idea to get this close to me Kelly,” he sighed genuinely. “I don’t want you to get hurt because of how I am. Challenge aside.” With that, his lips curved right back into a smirk as he shifted to rotate their position so that he was skating backwards in sync with the ice slide to gently pull her with him.

[Chain]

”Seriously it is. I mean, well take now for example. The moon and stars are out, so can you take us like higher than the mansion? Sort of above the lights and things to that effect? Nothing that will cause a nose bleed but you’d get the feeling of seclusion. Then maybe you’d see what I meant.” Honestly she was pretty sure this was one of the more romantic moments in her life even if he didn’t realize it or even care.

”Oh now that sounds fun if they could really do that. I’d be so wanting to train then.” Kelly really did need to get more training since she felt she’d be rather useless if anything were to happen and she didn’t like that feeling. ”Think you could help me sometime? I mean even if it’s just like working with my powers. I could definitely link up with you then if we ever got partnered up I’d at least have an understanding of how your powers work.” And it would totally give her a reason to have to touch him.

”Well, if you do have that night free, call me. I’ll give you my number. Just in case we both aren’t at the mansion. Then maybe we could like, together unless you just want to meet up there.” Oh she knew he’d probably try to do the just meeting up thing and she’d take it. He said he’d probably go and even she knew when not to push. Kelly really wanted to find that boy, the one who was probably blushing right now as Bobby stammered his way through accepting the offer. He was in there somewhere and she believed he’d be amazing. Bobby was awesome right now even with his ‘whatever’ attitude. But if she could just reach the one locked away, what would he be like? Probably way out of her league.

He wanted to kiss her again she just knew it. When he scoffed at her she just shrugged. ”Doesn’t make it any less true though. I do want to kiss you again, but I won’t kiss you. I’ll wait until you kiss me. At least I’ll try, I can’t make any true promises.” He wouldn’t kiss her and she knew that but she knew when to push and when not to. ”It may not be smart but unless you can look me in the eye and tell me you don’t feel the same pull I do, it’s not going to happen. Maybe you need someone who isn’t afraid of what might happen ever think of that?” She reached up and cupped his cheek. ”I’m willing to risk it even if you aren’t. Tell me you don’t feel a pull between us and tell me you never want to see me again. I’ll walk away no matter how much I don’t want to. But I’d at least like to have a shot, just a chance to see if there really is something here or if it’s all just a romantic notion.”

[Iceman]

Bobby didn’t respond to the idea of making this all romantic. He didn’t want to acknowledge that he could ever make something like that. He had taken a slide high above the lights to the point where he probably crashed through the clouds and dispersed them in an attempt to clear that translucent head of his. He knew when Kelly would go inside tonight, he would be up there again; trying to figure out just what all of this was and whether or not it was worth the agony of being stuck in this cold limbo between the frozen exterior and the Bobby Drake he knew he couldn’t be anymore. Would all of Kelly’s patience and his inability to shift back be a fitting price to pay for something that could be the only thing that could be making him happy for the first time in years? Bobby Drake was in torture thinking that he could be selfish enough to ask for Kelly’s patience.

He hesitated at the offer. He didn’t know how Kelly’s powers left, but it left a question that engraved into him. It sounded like she could use people’s powers somehow, but did that mean that if she were to do it… she’d end up like him? Would she become living ice and not know how to change back if she did that? Would her flesh freeze and loose its color and would she go completely numb to everything but the temperatures of those around him? Would she only know that someone was kissing her by that subtle warmth to her lips? “I can help you in the Danger Room. I don’t think it’d be a great idea to try and figure out how… this works.” To illustrate his point one of his hands lifted; catching the light that the Institute’s windows blared into the night and caught through his hand to illustrate just how transparent he was. There was a bitter tone to that statement; not wanting to discuss it further.

He simply nodded to getting her number to call if he were free. He would be. What he needed was to buy himself some time to figure all of this, all of him, out. He couldn’t just dive into this right now. But maybe if he had a day or two to get his head clear his head he could realize just how stupid he was being. For that moment, though, Bobby found himself distracted by Kelly Wilson’s new challenge. The side slowed and lowered flat onto the grass of the grounds while the ice slide behind him left this plane and the moisture reabsorbed into Bobby. His jaw set and he just looked at her in a hard frigid gaze; trying to force himself into resenting her. He needed to but there just was no way.

“Don’t ask me to say that,” he said in a sharp tone as he only subtly felt the warmth of her hand. His eyes drifted along her facial features before going back to her gaze. “Everyone needs to be a little afraid Kelly, I know I am,” his tone softened at that last part as he admitted aloud that he was afraid. He brought his own hand up to the blond cheeks, cupping it just so while his thumb momentarily traced her bottom lip. “I can’t feel any of this,” Bobby leaned in close to the point where their lips almost touched, “and I haven’t felt something like this in a long time.” His lips barely touched hers in a caress that was brief and as soft as the ice of his mouth could feign. “I want to kiss you. But we can’t always do what we want.”

His hand left Kelly’s cheek and he put some distance between them. The hand on her waist, though, lingered for a moment. He wasn’t lying. He wanted to kiss Kelly the way a person that could feel a person’s lips could. He wanted to let her in the way a guy with no complications could. He couldn’t feel any of it and it wasn’t selfishness of what was in it for him that allowed him this hesitation. Kelly ran the risk of being a casualty of his helplessness and the asshole that Bobby Drake knew he could be. She would be pushed away in every sense and Bobby knew that he would never be able to stop himself from it. Not while he was like this.

[Chain]

Kelly almost wished she knew what he was thinking but at the same time didn’t want to know. Part of her wanted to walk away out of guilt for putting him through this, but she was too damned selfish to do that. There was more to Bobby Drake than even he realized and she desperately wanted to help him see that. Did she want to change him? No. Did she want to fix him? Not in the sense that most believed. Did she want to help him? Yes, because she saw the potential for a great man and a powerful mutant in him. If only he’d see it too. So she wasn’t going to walk away unless he looked her in the eye and told her he didn’t want her.

”Helping in the danger room would be nice. My powers are hard to describe yet so simple and they only last for as long as I keep contact or turn them on. But if it makes you feel better, until you start to understand them more and get to know me more, I won’t do it.” She felt them start to descend and looked up at him. He couldn’t tell her and she knew it. She watched in fascination as he set his jaw and fought with himself on whether or not to draw her in or push her away. It was a harsh challenge she knew, but she need him to understand she wasn’t going to walk away from him.

”It’s the only way you are going to get rid of me Bobby.” Her thumb slid along his cheek as she looked up at him. ”I’m afraid every day. I’m just not afraid of you.” Her heart nearly stopped when he cupped her cheek and caressed her lip. Instinctively she kissed his thumb. Her eyes looked into his and her breath caught at the slight touch of their lips. ”I still want you to do it anyway.” Her voice came out whisper soft. ”As long as you want me, I’m not going away.” She shifted so that she was right there, not even an inch away from his lips. ”I want to help you to be able to feel it again. I want to be there for you. I’d be happy with just the kissing even if it was different. This isn’t what drew me to you.” She motioned the length of his body when she said that last line. ”It’s the man inside that is trying so hard to get out. I didn’t even know you had another form until tonight. You could be like this forever and I wouldn’t care it was the man I saw inside you.”

She as much felt him pull away as saw him do it. She felt that emotional distance he was trying so damn hard to put between them. Kelly wasn’t having it she knew she had to keep him off balance or she’d have to start all over again. When he pulled away she stepped up and rested her hands at his waist. ”You are one of the sexiest guys I’ve ever met. Did you know that?”

[Iceman]

He was losing. There was no way around the fact that this girl was not only good, but she just very well might be genuine about all of this. He felt that and it was infuriating. It made him wish that he could control all of this. The situation at hand, his powers, his relationship with his family… everything. But, like all of those previously mentioned things, Bobby had no control over this what so ever. It was different and Bobby did what he did best and delayed the approach of whatever “this” was.

The man inside of him… Bobby wanted to almost scoff at that. He was ice inside and out and was just a hairs breath away from that last bridge to cross into being absolutely subzero. She caught his attention, though. Kelly Wilson had flounced right up to him and plunged straight into his chest to try and kick start that polar mass that was his translucent heart. He couldn’t stop it now. It was too late, he supposed. They were both stubborn and Bobby had the feeling Kelly wouldn’t back down. Now, even if he lied and said he wanted nothing to do with her, he had that distinct feeling that she wouldn’t believe him. There was a certain comfort in this all, though. The attachment he had worked so hard to avoid was now starting to melt away, so to speak; letting the years of resentment and fear runoff the surface into a slush at his feet that still needed to be waded through. He looked down at Kelly, still feeling that impulse to bitterly laugh at her for trying so hard with this but he knew he couldn’t. Partially because he knew that this was almost natural. It wasn’t the reaction she had to his gestures or even their debate on whether or not the idea of “them” were a good idea. It was the fact that Bobby Drake was having the first inkling of something feeling or going right after so many years. He didn’t know if there really was some kind of man that Kelly saw that drew her to him, but he felt his trepidation take back seat to this potential idea that someone could be comfortable with him and vice versa.

He felt the temperature of her hands go to his waist. Surely her temperature was going to start to drop soon and run the risk of having to warm up soon. Her comment shot up one side of his mouth in a lopsided smile. “You prolly haven’t met that many guys yet,” he teased; finding absolutely nothing about him to be sexy. He didn’t move away again; making the mistake of allowing himself to get close. Maybe he shouldn’t fight all of this. Maybe he should just let all of this be.

[Chain]

Kelly was wearing him down she knew that, but she also knew it would only last for as long as she was with him. Give him a day or two and she’d have to start all over again. It’s one of the reasons she didn’t plan on letting him forget her. Oh she’d have to do some serious planning for her Operation Break Drake but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle. Neither of them were going to back down or give up, she knew that. Her goal wasn’t to make him back down but to make him want to move forward. Kelly wasn’t the type to care about why she was driven to do something. The why doesn’t always matter it was the how that she was focusing on. One thing for sure she was going to study as much about his powers as she could and see if she can help him.

”Have you not seen me? Please, I’ve met several. But you are by far the sexiest one I’ve met.” Honestly she wasn’t lying either, she thought he was sexy as hell. He didn’t move away so she stepped closer until she was pressed against him. The cold was starting to get to her but she was going to fight it until she had no choice. Her lips were blue yet so she was fine for the time being. But ghost of one it was, Bobby did kiss her. All bets were now officially off and Kelly went on tip toe and kissed him again.