Troubled

[Alex Kaine]

Lana's gleeful reaction surprised him, and so did her warm hands clasping around his. He almost jerked away. Sometimes he still carried a charge after a fireworks show like that, but he must have grounded himself when he touched the fuse box.

Her skin was warm against his own. Strangely enough, the sparks always left his hands cold. Alex watched as the familiar translucent blue glow faded from underneath his skin between Lana's fingers.

He couldn't help smiling at her question. "Well, they don't really teach Mutant 101 here. I had to figure it out on my own. I mean... not really on my own. My sister and I sort of figured our powers out together."

Alex wasn't sure what to do with her hands on his. Not that he minded. He curled his fingers around hers.

"So, uh... what can you do?"

[Svetlana Ustinov]

It never dawned on her that taking hold of his hand might not have been the best of ideas. She watched, fascinated, as the glow disappeared from his skin, leaving his hand cool beneath her fingers.

"At home, my parents helped my brother and I figure out what our abilities were, even though all of our powers are so different. I guess that's what happens when you come from a long line of mutants." Lana said quietly, before tilting her head back up to meet his gaze.

Alex's smile and the fact that he curled his fingers around hers made her cheeks warm in a bit of a blush. It took her a moment to remember that he'd also just asked her a question, and was gazing at her rather expectantly.

The blush grew a bit warmer.

Slowly and reluctantly, she freed one hand while the other remained comfortably tucked into his. Lana held out her free hand, palm facing up, and concentrated for a moment, until the skin of her forearm and hand began to glow. With a soft pop, a small sphere of energy appeared, floating a few inches above her hand. A soft, golden color, it rotated slowly and extended tendrils outward much like a miniature sun.

"I can toss around bolts of light energy...mostly sunlight, since that's what I have the most exposure to, but I can store and use anything I can see. Which is really anything between ultra-violet and infra-red." Lana smiled softly and pulled the energy back in through her hand, the glow from her skin dissipating slowly. But as always, any expenditure of her power left her eyes glittering brightly after the glow had faded.

[Alex Kaine]

Alex stared at the sphere of light, dazzled. When Lana absorbed it again, he blinked and rubbed his eyes with his free hand, trying to clear the big purple spot from the center of his vision.

"Wow. That..."

He blinked again and laughed. "Is really bright. Are you kidding? The dark should be afraid of you. That's awesome!"

[Svetlana Ustinov]

A soft peal of laughter escaped her lips even as she shook her head, her blush brightening further.

"Its just a little light....nothing terribly...exciting." Lana manged to murmur after several moments, still holding to his hand, fingers wound comfortably around his.

[Alex Kaine]

"It's more light than I can make," Alex said. "And you said your whole family is mutants? That must be incredible."

[Svetlana Ustinov]

"They are...my mom, my dad, and my little brother. Its really incredible to not have to hide what I am all of the time." Lana replied, her accent creeping back into her words.

"When did you first figure out what you could do?"

[Alex Kaine]

Alex envied her; there was no way around it. If his parents were mutants, if they even understood what mutation was - Andrea never would have ended up...

He caught himself before he went too far down that dark train of thought. But Lana had to have noticed the cloud descending over his face.

"Andrea figured it out first, really," he said. "My sister. Up until then, we all thought we had really bad wiring in the house."

He slid his hand gently out of Lana's, then took a few lazy steps and pointed to the big dome lights at the top of the fly tower. They dimmed momentarily, like a cloud passing in front of the sun.

"That happens when I'm not focused, or when I get upset. Once when I was fourteen, I was in the middle of an argument with my dad, and a fuse blew out. Blacked out half our street. Somehow, I knew it was me, and I was scared out of my mind. I went into my room and started thinking of running away. That's when Andrea came in, and..."

Alex turned back toward Lana with a one-sided, melancholic smile. "I'd always figured she could read me like a book just because we were twins. That's the first time she told me she could really read my thoughts. After that, I started experimenting. Found I could make a light bulb light up in my hand. I saved up to buy some second-hand electrical equipment so I could tinker with it. My parents think it's just some weird hobby. I never told 'em."

[Svetlana Ustinov]

The expression that clouded his features made her wish she hadn't said anything.

Her hand fell to her side as he gently withdrew his own and stepped away, his voice emerging after several moments. Lana remained silent, glittering eyes cast slightly down as she gazed at him through her lashes.

Eyes slowly traced the line of his shoulders and paused, lingering as tension knotted them. She found herself wanting to step forward but couldn't make herself move an inch. She just didn't want to disturb him as he spoke.

Lana stepped forward without even realizing she'd moved, when he turned back and his voice trailed off. Fingertips reached up to touch his cheek, her thumb brushing the corner of his sad smile. Her mind worked as if mired in molasses, struggling to fiind something to say that wouldn't sound too terrible or even cliché.

"I promise I won't tell anyone...and thank you for trusting me. Even though you barely know who I am." Lana echoed softly.

[Alex Kaine]

This was unexpected. But Alex couldn't exactly say he minded the attention. It was definitely worth skipping seventh-period government class.

"Well, actually," he said, "last time I saw her, Andrea told me I'd be meeting someone else like us pretty soon. I'm just glad I guessed right."

He reached up to take her hand again. "Anyway... all mutants are brother and sister, so we're not exactly strangers."

[Svetlana Ustinov]

"I'll have to thank her someday."

Lana found herself smiling warmly at him, finally taking note of their similarity in height. And how close he was standing.

She glanced down at their hands and curled her fingers around his, lingering silently for several moments. It was something, she mused, that she could get used to. Her mind wandered off on that tangent for some time, before she found her voice again.

And even then, his words rang in her ears, familiarity trailing along the edge of her consciousness, until it came to her. Many of the pro-mutant groups in Russia had picked up the words as a bit of a rallying cry, though its origins were undoubtedly from the Brotherhood. The notion gave her pause, but she brushed it away in an effort to not mar the moment.

"This might sound a little weird, but I have tennis practice after this period...do you want to come? We could do something after..."

[Alex Kaine]

Alex's mouth came open and hung there for a moment. Being this close to Lana made it difficult to think with any great agility, especially when his thoughts insisted on shooting off in so many directions. And now... was she asking him out?

"Uh... sure! Sounds great!" Creepily eager, much? "I mean. As long as you don't ask me to play, 'cause you'll probably kick my ass. What, uh..." Something afterward? "What do you have in mind?"

[Svetlana Ustinov]

His reaction made her blush a bit, her cheeks warming as her mind wandered off on a tangent. Perhaps, she mused, she was being a bit too forward. Her offer could, after all, be interpreted in a myriad of ways.

That made her blush a bit brighter.

Lana smiled and squeezed his fingers lightly, dropping her gaze to their hands as she did. "You don't have to play me today...some other day, though? It could be fun. Anyway...today is technically my try-out for the team. The coach wants to see my skills for himself and put me up against his top players."

She paused for a moment, biting her lower lip as she through briefly.

"Well, there's a quiet park across the street from where I'm living that I keep meaning to explore if you want to come with me."

Oh hell...I'm babbling again...I must sound like an idiot.