Guitar 101 (Anthy)

[Matt Davis]

"Oh.. Well..."

The blush that accompanied those words was not settling. Not in the least. Matt moved in a little closer and leaned against the counter as she poured the dry ingredients into a bowl to be mixed in. Matt looked over the young girl. She seemed so innocent. She probably bled glitter glue or something.

Matt listened to her explanation as to what happened. She spoke about it as if it was...no big deal, as if there was nothing out of the usual about some guy she didn’t know more than a day to be grabbing her and talking to her about kissing. What the hell was that?! Who the hell was that?! Did Anthy just come across… Jason Derulo or something in the club? Meet up, shack up?! His eyes were shifting and almost as if it was natural his arms lifted up and crossed across his chest. He continued to listen silently while trying to map everything out. He rerolled what she said about kissing… talking about it, him saying how much he liked it, and then grabbing her? Well of course he friggin’ liked tha-... Wait, he liked it? So they were kissing...and stuff. The hell was -stuff-!? His eyes scanned her as he considered all she had said. An air of disbelief washed over him, but Anthy was not one to lie… he didn’t think.

Were… were they really making out, or something? Anthy was cute, of course. It was very possible, he just didn’t think that she would do that. Matt shook a little out of anger and frustration with all he was thinking about. Even if they were kissing and Anthy was okay with it at first, it wasn’t right to grab a hold of someone to the point that they wanted to get away! Dalton had their fair share of abusive relationships, and they had even had a few talks about it before at his old school. This sounded just like what was happening. He was about to speak, thanks to a small silence Anthy allowed, but she quickly started to talk more. God could there be more to the story?

Matt listened intently to her and his eyes widened more. They were as wide as he could make them involuntarily as he stared at her. ‘Not comfortable with’!? ‘touching her cheek’!? ‘He stopped -this- time’!? What the hell was that supposed to mean!? Lucas. He had a name to pin to the slime, Lucas… Matt’s eyes knit together as he looked down at the table. This was not going to continue, he’d be sure of that.

“What the hell was that?! What kind of fucker touched you when you didn’t want them to!?” Nope… that wouldn’t go over well. He screamed the sentence in his mind, but knew he’d have to be more delicate with Anthy… especially if he didn’t really know who this Lucas was. While the name was familiar, it didn’t register with Matt as to who it could be. There were more than one Lucases. Heck, Luke was his middle name!

“Anthy…” Matt said cooly, though through a shaky breath. “... I… What… Anthy, you can’t let people do that… Iffin you aint comfortable with someone touching you, I don’t care about what they -feel-. What you -feel- and think is more important. You need ta tell them to stop…Even if y'start actually wantin' to kiss him…" Saying that actually felt a little painful, especially imagining her not wanting it. "… if it gets to any point y'aint comfortable, you stop it." Now he was being too soft. Far too soft. “Where did this happen? Where did you even meet this Lucas guy?... And what the-” He paused, not wanting to show his true level of anger just yet. He took a deep breath and counted to...well, to 1. It was all he could do before coninuing. “... What do you mean this time...he stopped this time?”

[Anthy Blacksmith]

When Matt began to speak, there was something off about his voice so even as she went to cracking the eggs into the first mixing bowl, she turned. The bowl was in one hand, held almost cradled by her arm while her other hand cracked the second egg into the bowl. She set everything down though and her hands went to her burning cheeks as Matt brought up Anthy kissing Lucas. She blushed so hard that it was all she could do to keep from exploding into light. No, she hadn't meant that at all. Not in the least!

But she didn't get the chance to say anything as he was continuing to speak, obviously having had the wrong idea. He went to speaking about how if she got uncomfortable, she should stop it, and then to asking where it had happened and where she had even met Lucas. And in the end of it all, he was asking her what she had meant by Lucas stopping this time.

"O-oh no... Kissing? I... I haven't even kissed anyone before. I.... I was talking about him liking my.... my glowing." Anthy said, nearly stumbling over her own words.

Yes, Lucas had offered to teach her how to, but she was much too shy to just kiss anyone. She felt embarrassed over the fact that what she had said had been taken that way.

"He liked my glowing, not... not kissing. He... he... he might have offered to teach me how but I didn't take it." She told him, trying to be more clear about what she was saying.

"And as far as what I meant by him stopping this time, he stopped touching me this time instead of putting his hand on my hip and holding me tighter and telling me about how he knew what it was like to lose control and he didn't want to see it happen to anyone else." She said, hoping she was being clear this time.

[Matt Davis]

Matt was lost in his head for a while. He imagined hunting down this Lucas and sowing him what it’d feel like to have someone grab a hold of him when he didn’t want it. In… a different way, of course. He pulled himself out of the clouds while looking back to this poor girl. Matt stared at Anthy as she explained herself, focusing on the blushing.

When she started to clear it up and mentioned that it was the -glowing- he liked and not kissing, and that she hadn’t kissed anyone, he let out a nervous chuckle. Wow! What a relief. Sure there was still some to be said, but maybe it was all a misunderstanding just like that?

That hope was shot dead in the air like a fat duck slow to take off. Offered to -teach- her. That was a bigger scam than a… There wasn’t really anything to compare that too! Kissing lessons. His laughter almost skidded to a stop as he looked over her. His face was growing a little red, but not out of embarrassment or anything. More out of anger while inside he was praying that this was a misunderstanding. It was hard for him to imagine that as the case though.

Matt held his hands up to her, as if asking her to slow down after she finished talking. His eyes closed and his head realed back as if he was just hit with some of the worlds biggest news.

“Woah...Wo-...Okay, can we just...stop for a moment, Anthy?... If I am understanding you right… This guy was grabbing your waist...holding you tight, touching your cheek, talking about kissing you, and talkin’ about...losin’ control… all while y’were thinkin’ about how t’get away from him… An’ didn’t just do it because… Why again? Is that all right? Jus’ to clarify… Oh, an’ he offered ‘ kissin’ lessons ‘. “

[Anthy Blacksmith]

He chuckled some whens he had explained to him that there hadn't been any kissing going on. Maybe he was feeling a little embarrassed too and that was the way he showed it? The misunderstanding had been a bit of an awkward one. One they might laugh about later. Or, now, if it was nervously. But that chuckling suddenly stopped as Matt turned about as red as a tomato in the face.

Oh boy.

Anthy picked up the bowl again and began sturring the contents of it, trying to keep from getting too embarrassed. This moment was awkward enough without her making him uncomfortable by lighting up again. Oh how she wished she had a better hold of this. She gave a small swallow, her hand moving rapidly as she went to beating the batter with the fork and focusing her nervous energy there.

"He held me tight the first time, not this time.The... the same with his hand on my hip and talking to me about losing control. That time, I couldn't handle how.... forward he was, I didn't know how impulsive he was and I ended up crying and running away because I felt so bad about how close to hurting him I'd gotten. It was really embarrassing." Anthy told him while stirring up the batter still.

It was getting mixed up pretty well from how actively the fork was moving.

"This.. this time he.... he had his arm around me and was touching my cheek before going on to putting his head on my shoulder and telling me the.... the warmth of the glow felt nice. But before he had put his hand on my cheek, he'd offered the kissing lesson, but the kissing lesson didn't happen. And he let go this time when I told him I didn't want to burn him." She said.

Oh no. Matt wasn't one of those friends that had stopped being friends and begun "hating" him? Had she just made it worse with this misunderstanding? Anthy didn't know what to do or say right then. What could she do?

"I didn't just pull away because he needed someone there and I.. I might have been uncomfortable but I didn't want to hurt him... Yes it... it was awkward but... but sometimes someone needs someone to lean on. And he was only talking about the kissing lessons because he thinks that it's possible that kissing him is the only way to help him if he loses control."

[Matt Davis]

Matt closed his eyes and tried to take all of that in slowly. It was...not easy to do. If he was with someone else, someone he knew better, he might show a bit more of the anger. He didn’t want to scare her away, though. Contrary to what academics and his father said, Matt had a good head on his shoulder. He knew if he was going to talk to Anthy...screaming at her or being a hulking rage-monster wasn’t going to do it. He cleared his throat and leaned against the counter, rocking some.

“Anthy...Do…D'ya not see the problem? With that? Problem-s-, there are...there are a lot of them, Anthy. That is -not- okay. You’re right. Y’shouldn’t feel comfortable about bein’ that close to someone y’only know for one day...an’... Someone y’know for one day should hardly -ever- touch ya, ‘specially like that! An’ God knows shouldn’ do it that intimately more than once! An' if you don't feel comfortable, people aint allowed to touch you. An' if they are, an' are talking' about… kissing lessons and such? It's…" Matt took a deep breath. He didn't generally like messing with his friends friends, or really with prying into anyone's lives. This wasn't the same though. This sounded…terrible. "That-... Anthy, that is… What he was doing, from everything y’ve said… Is very, very bad.”

[Anthy Blacksmith]

She stopped stirring and it was a good thing that this wasn't the bowl with the chocolate chips in it or they would have likely been reduced to a goop by this point due to her vigorous mixing. She then went to mixing in the margarine which really didn't take too long with her keeping up the pace from earlier due to how what Matt was saying, was making her feel. What did she feel right then? Nervous. Embarrassed. And a bit of desperation as she didn't want to.... Oh crap.

Anthy was at it again and she stopped looking at Matt as she didn't want to catch any sign of him being scared again. That piled on top of her thinking about how people thought of Lucas due to his impulsiveness problem... It was getting her all kinds of worked up and she swallowed the burning out of her throat, trying to keep it together. She bit her lip to keep it from shaking as she went to putting neat little globs of batter onto the cookie sheet in almost a uniform pattern. Somehow she managed it even with how much her hands were shaking and mind was racing.

"Crap!"

It was a soft outburst, but it was still an outburst and Anthy put everything down before rushing to the stove and quickly turning the oven up to three hundred and seventy five degrees.

"I-I-I forgot to... to... to turn the...."

She turned so he wouldn't be able to see her face and brought her arm up to cover her eyes for a moment. Anthy cleared her throat.

"I swear... I'd forget my head if... if it wasn't attached..." She said, a couple of soft pants following after as she tried even harder to get herself together.

[Matt Davis]

Matt took a deep breath as the light decided to come from something other than the lights. The glow that many would consider ‘gentle and serene’ was still a source of grief and unease for the young man. He winced and turned his head slightly as if he truly was staring at the sun and his eyes were burning. He forced himself to stare, however. Screw his sensitivity, right now there was more to tend to. Anthy needed help. More importantly...Anthy had no clue she needed it.

Matt almost jumped when Anthy let out the ‘Crap!’. It was...really about as loud as Matt would have said it in normal conversation. Anthy, however, didn’t speak up like that. She was so soft, that level of elevation in her tone… It was practically a scream. Matt’s brows knitted together as she ran to the stove and turned it on.

“It’s...a stove, Anty...We aren’t rushing, it doesn’t… have to be on that quickly…” He watched her curiously as she turned away from him and drew the arm up. His eyes grew wide. He didn’t even need to hear the broken words or the pant. He was familiar with the concept of a woman running to the stove, and trying to hide when hurt. It wasn’t that different from what her mother did when he was taken.

Matt stared at her in silence and listened to her whimpered words. His heart felt like it snapped in half when he heard it, though he… he had no idea what to make of it. Was she crying because of what this Lucus slime had done? Had he been far more rough? Had he… violated her? The pain of all those thoughts was met with something nearly as painful: Did Matt make her cry? Matt himself, not what he brought up. His words and actions, did they hit her as hard as this was hitting him?

“An-...Anthy?” He asked, now taking up the role of the meek friend as he stepped forward towards her. He stopped a few feet back and turned his head away one last time. The brightness of her mutation grew. It was as if it was being shoved into his face. “...Anthy, look at me please…? Why a-...Can ya...talk with me?”

[Anthy Blacksmith]

She needed to get control. Not just of the light but of her emotions. Anthy didn't show the down side of her feelings. Not to anyone. At least she tried as hard as she could to not show it. She was there for her friends, not the other way around. She was supposed to help them be happy, to not worry them, to... to do anything but show any hurt feelings. Especially not cry in front of them. Maybe she was out of touch when it came to keeping things in. Or maybe she was just feeling a lot more right now than she was used to handling. None of it was a good excuse. She needed to get back to her normal self, and do it fast.

A soft hiccup came from her shortly after he said her name, another soft hiccup following before she held her breath to try to keep silent. His voice was a little closer the next time he spoke, and she was a little surprised. Anthy had half expected him to try to make his way to the opposite end of the room or something with how bright she was. She was probably like one of those Christmas ornaments by this point.

He had asked her if she could look at him and talk to him, but she didn't think she could do either properly right then.

"I-t it... it... it's c-c-c-c-coming out of... of of my eyes... y-y-y-you pro-prob-probably d-d-d-don't w...."

Another soft hiccup.

".... don't w-want to s-see that..." She finished, her voice quivering.

[Matt Davis]

Matt had been frozen in place… He tried to take all in, and in truth, he wanted to run. This wasn’t the sort of thing a man ran away from, though. Matt knew that he needed to stay there, and he knew that he needed to try and make this right. He caused a problem. Well, this Lucas caused the problem. Though he obviously had no small part in the act. He took a deep breath and tried to figure out what to say, but then she hiccuped. All he could prepare to say just fell through.

When she told him that she was glowing from the eyes and that he didn’t want to see it...she was right. He didn’t want to see that. It sounded...painful and blasphemous, and just...wrong and profane. To bleed light from the eyes. It just...it was more than the rest to take up. The eyes were how you could see a person, their intent. You could almost see a soul, and hers would be...shining brightly? He only considered how the ‘see the soul’ and the ‘heavenly light from the eyes’ seemed to prove his point for a moment. The purest girl he met could shine gold out of her eyes… Still, it was unnerving, and the thought was..terrifying.

This wasn’t the time to shrivel up and worry about yourself, though. Anthy was his friend and he had to do -something- to help her. He scooted a little closer, still keeping enough distance to keep things from being awkward, or to make her feel like he was looming over her. For all he knew Lucus could’ve taken her and… well, towering and imposing over her might not set the best visual.

“I...I don’t care about the light… I wanna see you….C-...Can y’look at me, please?... D’...D’ya need somethin’... A hug, or...somethin’? I’m… You know, I’m here, an’ I needta...talk.”

[Anthy Blacksmith]

Her chest felt like an elephant was sitting on it and she was still having the hiccups no matter how soft they might have been. She had not done too well when it had come to keeping herself in control. Not in her power, and not in her emotions. Her power, she could understand because it had a mind of it's own and reminded her at every turn just to make sure she couldn't forget who was in charge. But her emotions? She was ashamed of herself for putting something like that on display in front of anyone. In front of Matt.

He was talking again. Speaking about how he didn't care about the light, even if his tone screamed something else. He did care about it. It was bothering him, and she wasn't helping things by continuing to glow like she was. Next, Matt was telling her that he wanted to see her, and asking her if she could look at him. But.... But she didn't want to. Not in knowing what it seemed to do to him. Her power, that was. And anyways, covering her eyes because of the glowing seemed like a perfectly good excuse to keep her arm over them and hide what else was coming from her eyes.

Matt was asking her if she needed anything, giving a hug as an example before telling her that he was there and he needed to talk.

"I.... I don't...... I don't want to scare you..... It's.... it's the worst feeling ever."

[Matt Davis]

Matt stared down at her before practically falling backwards. Her words hit hard. Like a lineman breaking the line and pounding you, or a car plowing against your chest. Anthy was his friend, and he cared so much about her and he… He gave her the worst feeling ever? There was no more delusion as he fell back some more, almost in disbelief but with so much more clarity to what he was looking at. He made her cry, he caused her pain. Not this Lucas guy, whatever he did...she claimed wasn’t as bad as what he did. What he -was- doing. When his foot shuffled again he stopped and looked down to his feet, and then to her.

“I’m…” Matt didn’t know what to say. In truth he wasn’t frightened of this girl. He was concerned about her powers. He was frightened for her. The powers unnerved him and made him feel… strange or ill, but he was not frightened of her. Matt thought on this, thinking of what he pondered. The excuses he made. Going around it as if trying to find a loop hole. ‘I’m not afraid, i’m unnerved’. Why would a friend unnerve someone? If he was really ill, or sick, he wouldn’t be standing here… On the verge of his own tears for harming something as pure as this.

It seemed to come to light, then, as he looked down at her. It didn’t matter to him what she was. She was a mutant, or a meta, or a freak, or whatever, sure. Just like she was a blonde, or just like she was shy. With her… it was different, this was just a part of her. Not something to be feared, or to run from. Something to… acknowledge, and work with. Matt looked down at her and cleared his throat. He felt something choking up in him, and a few tears pooled around the crevice of his eyes. He blinked, attempting to get them away, but instead giving a cool sheen to his green eyes.

“I’m...I’m not afraid of you, Anthy. You’re my friend…an' you're wonderful.” Matt said the words, and they came naturally. There was no hint of lying, or even discomfort. They just preceded him stepping forward and coming much closer. He abandoned the idea of not wanting to loom, and moved close enough to set a hand against her shoulder. Palm open, and the touch attempting to be soothing as he neared.

[Anthy Blacksmith]

She heard the dhuffling of his feet and it was all she could do to keep her knees from bending from the pain she felt in imagining him just walking out at that point. They shook a little. Her knees, that was. But she managed to keep them from going too weak. Was she that much of a people pleaser that something like someone being afraid of her would effect her like this? It seemed like it right now, didn't it...

She didn't hear him walking all the way out though. No, he was speaking up, telling her that he wasn't afraid of her and that she was his friend. Then, he was telling her that she was wonderful. How could he think that she was wonderful, if she made him so uncomfortable? Anthy was a little confused now, and even more so when she heard him stepping closer.

His hand came to her shoulder, resting on it. She couldn't help but to worry about how hot her skin might have been right then or how uncomfortable he might have been right then. But feeling his hand there caused her to slowly lower her arm and in an even slower manner due to her heightened timidness from this moment, turn her head so she was finally looking at him. Well, looking in his direction. She couldn't really see him all that clearly right now due to the light filling her eyes.

"Th-thank you..." She said softly with a sniff.

It helped her. More than she had realised that it might. The glow was even dimming down even if it left that tiredness behind. A stray hiccup came from her.

"I'm sorry... I.... I don't usually get like this. Promise.... Are.... are you okay?"

[Matt Davis]

Matt saw the golden light intensify for a moment and lighting up the culinary room with more strength than the overhead light, at first. When her arm lowered and her head started to turn his fingers fell closer to her skin and he gripped her. He moved in some more so that he would be closer to her, closing in the distance that left enough room between them to give birth to doubt.

He chuckled to himself when she thanked him and he could actually see her eyes. They were so bright and just beamed out light so that he couldn’t make out what was supposed to be the white of her eyes or the pupils, though the rest of the light started to die down as she relaxed.

Still the heat emanated off of her. Bypassing the strangeness of it all, the mutation that was causing it, and what pain it may cause them physically or emotionally… the warmth was not something easily looked past. Her body was warm and soft where he held. It felt like he was touching an electric blanket and helped soothe the nerves he was rolling through his mind.

He moved the hand on her arm and sat it against the top of her back, pulling her in a little closer to him, trying to guide her in as if he was going to embrace her. “Come here, Anthy…” He said softly and in a cool voice and a calm tone. When she came close enough he’d lift his large arms around her and pull her tight against his imposing form with a soft touch.

"It isn't about me, I'm feelin' great right now. Really. So don' let y'self think nothin' of it." 

[Anthy Blacksmith]

She didn't miss it when his grip tightened a little and her bottom lip trembled some despite her efforts to keep it still. She was worried though, worried that he might have been pushing himself too far beyond his comfort level when he moved to be a bit closer. She knew what it was like to do that. The uneasiness, the awkwardness. She didn't know how it felt to have fear mixed in with that though.

He was moving more, his hand moving from her arm to her back before he began to pull her a little closer. Anthy gave a small sniff even as he went to telling her to come here. Next, he was hugging her. And due to the timing of it and how she felt, she didn't shy away right then. Actually, her arms came up as she hugged him back. A relief went through her from this as she probably really needed a hug right then. And that relief grew when Matt went to telling her that he was feeling great right then and not to worry about it.

Maybe he liked the warmth of her glow too? She didn't know.

"Th-thank you." She said softly even as she began to be able to see a bit better due to the light subsiding.

"I.... I really appreciate this."

[Matt Davis]

Matt continued to hold her. He didn’t want to let her go. Some sort of instinct, maybe? Or perhaps it was just his own fears? He worried that if he wasn’t holding her together, she might just crumble...like he was holding together a broken statue. He felt like he had broken her, and if he had to hold her until the glue set in he was going to.

He turned his head some and pressed his cheek against the top of her head. She was quite a bit smaller than him, and it helped wrap her up further in his embrace. his long arms could completely wrap around her without a problem as the tight hug continued.

“It’s what I’m here for… not for makin’ you sad… I never wanna do that. I will be here for this, though. The aftermath… th’fixin’ part. Always, y’understand? An’ never act like you’re some sort of ...inconvenience or that it’s somethin’ I’m havin’ a hard time with. I’m just gonna be here for ya, an’ tryin’ to help.”

His hand slowly started to move up and down her back, though he would pull away at the slightest hint that she had enough, or wanted out. Or if the heat became unbearable, or the glow shined harder.