Girl on Fire (Dex)

[Parker Matthews]

It was one of those days where Parker felt like training. It hadn't really been many of those lately, and he was starting to feel his body ache for a good workout. He felt more restless than usual, which was never a good sign. Not to him anyways. But none of that mattered right now. Here he was, out on the training field, getting ready to get his body worked up - one way or another.

He didn't really like being out here. There was usually too many people around this time of the year, but it seemed pretty calm today. Besides a few people training their powers and playing football. But they didn't pay him any attention, so he was in the clear. For now anyways.

He pulled up his phone and sighed. It wasn't really the same without his fierce training buddy. She always pushed him to his limits, which he didn't appreciate at the time, of course. But it was a good way to relief some stress. Unless she was the one who caused it. She was cool enough, a little unpredictable maybe, but Parker didn't mind. He could always just put up a shield or something if she ever felt like throwing shoes at him. Or rocks. He hated rocks. At least when she threw them. Then again, he didn't really like it when she threw anything, but by now he was pretty used to it. And he always had that handy shield power; Force Fields or whatever.

Sent to: Dextra
Hey, you busy?
I'm at the training field. Care to join me?

He rubbed the back of his head and sighed before putting the phone down. He let his hand drop down and kicked a nearby rock. He was wearing his usual white tank top and a pair of dark shorts. Nothing fancy. Besides, who the heck dresses up when they're supposed to train? That was just silly.

[Dextra Phillips]

As much as Dextra hated the world, there were a few select people she could tolerate in it. Jason happened to be one of them seeing as how he’d been pretty nice to her when they first met and he hadn’t jumped to the conclusion that she was a freak. Granted she’d been in a decent-ish mood that day and hadn’t bitten his head off so that was probably why. It was a very rare occurrence that she was nice to anyone and when it was, people should gladly take advantage of it.

There wasn’t just him though, no she happened to get along fairly well with guys though. Well, maybe just the dark-haired once it seemed. Parker happened to catch her on one of those lucky days as well and didn’t hesitate in taking advantage of it. It was even more rare that someone caught her in a good mood when she was running or working out because she typically did that to blow off steam, but at the time it had just been for the thrill of it and to keep her ability from getting restless. The first time they met though, she was in a pretty peppy mood for lack of a better term and when he decided to work out the same day, well she could see him wimping out and simply couldn’t let it slip past her.

That was probably how they became ‘workout buddies’ though she wasn’t sure if she could consider him a friend. It was more like a personal trainer and her trainee. She pushed him until he couldn’t go any longer and though it irritated him, she found it rather entertaining in her own sadistic little way.

Sent to: Parker
Just heading out there now actually. Meet you there in a sec.

With that she pulled her hair up and headed out in a Rocky Horror shirt and black athletic shorts to fit with the gothic girl’s theme. It just seemed to add to the fact that everyone expected her to like starve herself to keep thin. No, instead she worked out like a normal human being. Shocker right? She headed out towards the field and spotted him. Trying to see if she could catch him off guard, she smirked and her ability grabbed the nearest pebble before chucking it at him.

[Parker Matthews]

He should have seen it coming, he really should. It was pretty typical of Dex to do something like that. It was almost as if her favorite hobby was to throw stuff at people. He just happened to be one of those people.

The pebble struck him right on his right shoulder, and without even turning he shook his head and spoke. ''Nice to see you too, Princess.'' Who else would throw something at him? Exactly. He rubbed his shoulder and turned all the way around to face her. Luckily for her, he wasn't really the type to get mad. If he was, he'd probably end up having a truck crashed into his face. But this time he was ready in case she decided to throw something again. He was always prepared. Well, most of the times. It was just dumb luck that had kept him alive her so far, he was sure of it.

[Dextra Phillips]

Oh yes, he should have seen it coming, but she had to admit she was glad he hadn't. It was a good thing she hadn't picked anything bigger because then he'd have actually gotten hurt. Nope, she was being nice (surprisingly) and had picked a dinky little thing to toss at him and she hadn't even aimed for his head. See she was getting better at this whole being nice to people thing! What's sad is that throwing small objects his her being nice.

He didn't even have to turn around to know it was her which was refreshing because now everyone would know how to figure out she was around. She just had to throw things at them. Dextra's face scrunched up in disgust at the nickname and this time she got a bigger rock and tossed it at him. "Didn't I tell you not to call me that? Are you trying to get your face smashed in with a rock?" Honestly you'd think he'd know by now not to piss her off. He was lucky she tolerated him otherwise the nickname would have had a different reaction and it would have been something bigger than just a rock.

She folded her arms across her chest and she could feel her ability reach out to search him like it always did. He could deflect rocks all the time, but he couldn't deflect something that wasn't really anything with substance. She felt it traveling along his body and she had to admit she was looking forward to controlling that part. It was a force of habit, half-controlled by her and half of its own free will. Honestly people thought she was trying to sexually harass them because her ability wherever it touched left behind a sort of tingling feeling.

[Parker Matthews]

''Hey!'', he called out as the next rock came flying. He had expected it though, and he did kind of ask for it by calling her something like that. With a laugh he raised his hand and watched the rock fall to the ground right in front of him as it hit the invisible wall in front of him. ''Okay, okay!'', he said, making sure she wasn't throwing anything else and dropped the barrier. He shook his head, a smile still on his lips. ''What nicknames am I allowed to use?'' He could think of some, but she'd probably end up killing him, or worse. Yes, there was actually something worse than dying while being with this girl. She could torture him. That didn't sound pleasant, really.

He raised an eyebrow and looked at her, mimicking her stance. With his arms crossed over his chest he chuckled. ''You're doing this again? I know I'm hot, but sheesh.'', he joked and shook his head. He had gotten used to her power feeling him up by now and didn't care much about it. At this point he found it funny. Besides, as long as it amused her he wouldn't really complain. Lord knew this girl needed something to be happy about, seeing as she was always so dark and brooding. He'd happily be her puppet. ''My body for a smile?'', he said and grinned, arms still folded over his chest.

[Dextra Phillips]

Dextra was not so pleased when he deflected the rock this time, but of course she knew he would seeing as how he was watching her and all. She just wished it would have knocked his head off of his shoulders. After all she could only be in a good mood for so long, especially when pushed towards being irritated. Her eyes narrowed at him as he spoke again, smiling like an idiot. Then again as far as she was concerned, everyone that smiled were idiots. What did they have to be so happy about? She didn’t understand how anyone could possibly be happy enough to smile at every little thing. It was sort of annoying.

“Dex. That is it. Got it?” She said in a monotone. Pleasantries weren’t her thing and little cutesy nicknames weren’t either. Those were things Izabelle preferred. Princess was what their father called her. He had never bothered calling her things like that which was probably why it was such a touchy subject with her.

Her eyes rolled into the back of her head dramatically and she just shook her head, “Don’t flatter yourself, please. It’s disgusting.” She wasn’t about to let him know he was attractive, it’d only feed into that ego of his. The last thing she needed was to workout with such an egotistical dick-wad. “You clearly don’t understand the lack of control thing. And you should also know, smiling is for the weak,” She said with a shrug. Talk about a Debbie Downer right? She hadn’t always been like this, but once her mother died, all reason to be happy was sort of gone. It wasn’t like anyone tried to make her happy anymore anyway. Obviously her father didn’t give two shits.

[Parker Matthews]

He lifted his arms in surrender and took a step backwards. ''All right, all right.'' He knew better than to push too far, and he didn't really want to piss her off more than what she already was. Though, it did cross his mind, more than once, why was he hanging around this one so much? She was nice enough, but such a party pooper. He let his arms drop and looked away with a sigh. He wasn't one to judge, he knew as little about her problems as she did his, after all.

Parker didn't even bother to reply to her comments and kept his gaze away from her. ''You ready?'', he asked as if he was was trying to change the subject. Which he was. She couldn't really blame him for that, right? He bowed down and started warming up. It was bad enough that Dex pushed him, he didn't really want to be sore when he woke up too.

As he was warming up, he couldn't help but to notice the group of girls who was also training on the field. He wasn't all that interested in dating and all that, but when girls was bending down, stretching, jumping, you know the deal - one couldn't really blame him for staring. He was a guy after all. ''So.. Uh.. What do you want us to do today?'', he asked Dex, his voice distant, as if his mind was elsewhere. Which was pretty obvious seeing as where he was staring. Man, he felt like such a creeper.

[Dextra Phillips]

Dextra nodded and was glad he changed the subject because she really had no desire to get into it with him. The last thing she needed was to drain from using her abilities. She was sick and tired of throwing a hissy fit and ending up having to stay in her room for days just to recover. It wasn’t worth the fight and she had better thing to do with her time. After all, he’d probably just deflect everything and drain her faster.

She started stretching out her own muscles, starting with the arms. When he saw his head turn to the side she bit down on her tongue. For some reason it kind of irked her that he was looking at other girls with her standing right there. It probably shouldn’t have seeing as how she didn’t even like him, but it was kind of rude in her mind. Guys will be guys, but not when they were around her.

Dex shook her head at how obvious he was being and merely smirked before saying rather loudly, “Why don’t you take a picture of their asses, I’m sure it would be perfect for you to look at in bed later.” All of their heads swiveled in their direction and the snapped up and started muttering to themselves. Her power reached out and moved his face so that it was looking at her again, “Now if you’re paying attention, we’ll work on running. And we’ll be running a lot.” Oh how devious she was, though she had to admit, it was kind of satisfying seeing how creeped out they were.

[Parker Matthews]

''Why don’t you take a picture of their asses, I’m sure it would be perfect for you to look at in bed later.''

He let out a sigh. Of course she had to embarrass him in front of everyone. Even after he had been nice and dropped the whole princess-nickname thing, she just had to go out there and do something like that. It annoyed him more than it should have and when she forced him to look at her, she was met with a glare. ''So, I have to be nice while you get to be a bitch all you want? Nice.'' He knew he shouldn't be rude, or even dare to step on the line like he was, but it didn't change the fact that she also stepped on the line from time to time. ''Whatever.'', he said, clearly annoyed, before he started into a light jog.

He tried pushing the annoyance out of his mind, but it wasn't all that easy. He was even surprised over how much it annoyed him that she had acted that way. It shouldn't have, really. But then again, he had been feeling a little on edge lately, and Dex didn't exactly help his mood. The thought of Jace crossed his mind, which only made him jog even faster. Nope. He wasn't going down that path. Not now. Not today. They had broken up and that was that. He looked over his shoulder to make sure Dex was actually following him, and not planning on killing him or something. One could never be too sure with her around, especially with those mood swings she was having all the time.

Luckily the girls had stopped staring and didn't bother him with all the whispers, pointing and stares. If anything, they should have taken it as a compliment. And they did kind of ask for it, when they trained like that out here. Anyone who walked by and would stare.

[Dextra Phillips]

Okay so she knew she kind of went a little overboard, but hey it was only a little joke. He shouldn’t take things so personally. It wasn’t her fault they happened to hear her. Again, that was a total lie and she even knew it was a dick move. She wasn’t even quite sure why she did it. She was just going to say he had been distracted and she was trying to keep him focused. Yup, that was totally it. As he looked at her with the annoyed expression she met his glare with one of her own. His comment was a slap in the face, but even she could admit it was well-deserved. He should expect this sort of thing from her though, it wasn’t like she said she would be nice to him.

He started jogging and she was so tempted to trip him for making that snide ass remark, but she refrained like a good little girl and applied what Zack was always telling her to do; control her emotions. Mood swings were her enemy seeing as how they were tied to her ability and if she got angry so did her ability. He could deflect objects all he wanted, that didn’t keep her from tossing his ass around from time to time. She gave him some time so that they had distance between them as to not get on each other’s nerves much more and so each of them could cool off a bit. He was just lucky she was giving him that courtesy.

Dextra let out a sigh and shook her head, clearing her mind again. It was time to work out, not worry about his hurt feelings. She took off and set her pace which was a little faster than his, so in a matter of minutes she’d catch up to him. She was in no hurry to do so. He glanced back at her and she refrained again from giving him the finger or a smirk and a little wave. Instead she just focused straight ahead, her mind drifting. It didn’t take long for her to close the distance and now she was running just behind him.

[Parker Matthews]

He didn't really care if she ran past him, behind him, next to him or wherever the heck she decided to run. She didn't really deserve the annoyance he felt, even as bitchy as she could be. He was good at faking it, he had been doing it most of his life, and that was exactly what he was going to do. Fake being happy. Again. It wasn't like there was much else he could do anyways. And taking it out on everyone else wasn't fair either, heck, he'd be just as bad as Dex. Granted, she probably had her own reasons for being the way she was, but so did he.

''You know, laughter prolongs your life.'', he looked at her again and gave her a plastered on smile. He never said he was good at faking it. But heck, even Dexie could use some laughter in her life. She was far too serious about everything. ''Not even a little smile?'', he pleaded and turned around, now jogging backwards. He tried egging her on by grinning like a maniac, though he doubted it would work. She'd probably just end up smacking him again. As always.

''Oh, come on. Not even a tinsy winsy smile?''

[Dextra Phillips]

What was the point in faking happiness? Dextra didn't understand it. It was one big lie trying to pretend that you feel something like that when really you feel quite the opposite. It was also a big wasted effort. Dex was good at lying, probably one of the best liars one could find, but she wasn't about to lie to herself and plaster on a smile that didn't quite fit. It was just useless to her. So when he did, she just had to shake her head. He should have known that he didn't have to fake things like that around her.

"Fun fact, too bad I don't care," She said still staring forward. Laughter could prolong life all it wanted, when she found something funny she would laugh. Until then, she was going to continue frowning and being all brooding. It was what she was good at after all, why would she stop? He turned around and started jogging backwards and she literally wished he would trip and roll into the fence. That would make her laugh, though it probably wouldn't last very long.

"I'll give you a smile when you stop faking your own," She said finally gracing him with a look. Dextra knew that she was a downer and she knew that it was part of the reason no one liked being around her, but with the life she had been given, she couldn't quite muster up a good reason to fake happiness. That would make her like her sister and that was insulting to say the least.

[Parker Matthews]

''Aw, come on, don't be like that.'' He was sure she'd look pretty cute if she smiled. He wasn't quite sure if he had ever seen her smile, or laugh, or anything besides glaring, frowning, etc, etc. She was a typical example of a ice queen. It was refreshing and all and he didn't really mind it. At least not most of the times. But when he was feeling down, she didn't exactly help him feel better. Parker didn't really expect her to or anything, it wasn't like they were friends or anything. She had made that pretty clear with her behavior.

As soon as she spoke, his smile instantly vanished. He hadn't expected that. Well, he had expected her to throw something in his face, but not that. Was it so obvious? Did his unhappiness show that clearly? Crap. He had been trying so hard to stay positive and keep moving forward, but it was as life kept throwing shit at him as if it was going in loops. All the thinking made him lose focus of what he was doing, and probably to Dex's great enjoyment, he tripped and fell on his back. He rubbed his face and sighed. Typical.

Parker sat up and shook his head all the while rubbing the back of his head. Nothing seemed broken, so that was all good. He leaned his arms over his knees and looked at Dex. ''Sorry. My head's not in it today.'' She could be as pissed as she wanted, if he was so much trouble for her, she could always do this on her own. It wasn't like he needed her or anything. He didn't need anyone.

[Dextra Phillips]

“Be like what? Honest with myself?” She knew she didn’t help keep everyone’s spirits up and she probably should have cared more, but she just didn’t understand why she should. It wasn’t like anyone gave a shit about how she felt. No one asked her why she was like this, and honestly it was probably best that a lot of people didn’t. But Dex wasn’t a horrible person and she wasn’t unfeeling either. No one bothered to ask because they were scared of what she’d do in response to the question. No one realized though that she was dying for someone to care enough that they would ask.

Seeing his smile vanish, she felt a slight, very slight, pang of guilt. She hadn’t meant to be so cold with her response to him, but it was better than lying to him wasn’t it? Even he had to know she wouldn’t lie to his face because she hated anyone who lied to her about things like that. And then he tripped over his own feet and ended up flat on his back. She skidded to a halt and frowned. Maybe she shouldn’t have said it to him while they were running. She could have just not answered. Gosh, why did she feel bad about this?

Dextra walked back over to him and sat down beside him. For once, she was going to actually give a shit about someone else’s personal life. Something was clearly up because usually her negative remarks didn’t have much of an effect on him. This time it seemed to have a huge effect on him. She pulled her knees up to her chest and looked down at her hands, “What’s been going on with you lately? I mean, you usually don’t listen to my pessimism.”

[Parker Matthews]

''Pessimistic.'' Was it really that hard for some to just be happy? Okay, sure. Everyone had their off and on days, but with Dex it just seemed like every day was an off-day. He didn't expect her to fake it all the time, but that didn't mean she had to drag people down with her? Maybe he should have asked what was up with her and why she acted the way she did, but really. She couldn't blame them for not asking. She was quite the scary girl sometimes, especially when she was mad or offended. But then again, if anyone was more suited to ask, it would have to be someone with a defensive power who could protect themselves if she ever decided to go lunatic-stone-thrower on someone's ass.

''What’s been going on with you lately? I mean, you usually don’t listen to my pessimism.''

What do you even respond to something like that? Yeah, even after two years I'm still dealing with a petty broken heart? Oh and as if that wasn't bad enough, she considered him as one of her best friends. Gather around everyone, come see the ultimate friendzoned guy who got a kick right in the groin. He let out a laugh and shook his head. Well, it was his own damn fault. He let himself be dragged around, twisted around her finger like a God damn puppy. Most of the time he didn't really mind. ''Let's just say I went back to haunt the past, and it served me a well-deserved kick in the groin.'' He shook his head again and looked at her. He put his hand on her shoulder and gave it a good shake. ''Don't worry about it.''

He turned to look at her again and chuckled. ''What's with you anyways? Aren't you supposed to drag me off my ass and force me into continuing to run?'' That's what she always did, right? What was with the sudden caring personality. ''Oh, no... Is my dear Ice Queen melting on me?'', he said, faking a shocked, horrified expression and grabbed her hands. He pulled her close. ''Don't you die on me, Dex! Don't you die!'', he said loudly with a overly done dramatic tone.