The Last Pack

[Devyn Solway]

Devyn looked down at the pack of cigarettes in her hand as she leaned against a training dummy out on the training field. This was her last pack, a pack she had bought a while back before she had been scolded by a very important friend on how smoking was bad for her. Devyn knew it was, it was a very bad habit that she had picked up back when she was about fourteen or fifteen years old and brought the habit about a year after. It had been tough but she had done it, only to pick the habit back up when the whole breakup things happened months ago or so.

She knew she should have thrown the pack out, it kept being a source of temptation for her the whole time even after the scolding from Vera. She had managed to at least not smoke at all sense then and had gone out to toss the pack away but ended up where she was now, debating the matter. She figured smoking the last pack could be like her last time doing it, like a farewell smoke. A couple of farewell smokes. "It should be fiiiinnne." Devyn said out loud to herself, to better convince herself. She was however doing a quick look around as she pulled out a cigarette and a match, just to make sure Vera was not around with her fire extinguisher of doom.

It didn't take long at all to light the cigarette and Devyn could not help but to take a deep inhale and hold it for a moment before she released the smoke out through her nose. Why did something so bad have to just make you feel so relaxed? Probably because of the slight nicotine addiction, but who was looking at those details? Devyn tossed the match to the side, figuring her few shakes had put it out, but she had been wrong. Something that became quickly apparent when the dummy she was leaning on caught fire, not being one of the more fire proof training dummies.

"Crap." Devyn muttered out, keeping the cigarette tucked between her lips. She quickly moved back and removed her jacket, trying to use it to put out the fire that was quickly spreading across the burlap dummy.

[Nico Martell]

Do not interfere with people when they were doing stupid shit.

That had become Nico's number one rule since he'd arrived at a mutant academy. True, it had started with the Academy at Acton Vale, but he figured that the principle applied all too well to Bellefonte as well. If anything, Americans were likely to be crazier than Canadians. All the information that Nico heard certainly seemed to indicate as much.

Still: he could almost hear his mamá's voice: You saw a chica and you did not offer her any help? Que Dios salvar a mi corazón! I did not raise mi pequeño angel to leave a girl to burn!

And so Nico had grabbed a sandbag that lay at the edge of the field. He'd hefted it up and ran toward the fire, trying to get there as quickly as possible. As soon as he did, Nico reached into his pocket, pulled out a pocket knife, and quickly cut the bag open, flinging it toward the fire. Sand sprayed everywhere, and Nico could only hope that it mostly got on the fire. Because otherwise, someone was going to have to try and get the bag adjusted so more sand poured out, and Nico had a feeling that someone was going to be him.

[Devyn Solway]

Devyn was focused on trying to get the fire out that she didn't even notice that there was a guy that spotted what was going on. All she had wanted to do was enjoy a quick smoke, get rid of the last pack without wasting it. She knew she was supposed to be working on getting rid of the habit, but she just wanted this last pack. This was karma. Karma was getting back at her for trying to sneak in a few smokes before she would work on stopping. Dev was already debating if she was going to have to use her jacket to try and smother out the flames but she saw someone out of the corner of her eye.

It was a boy, one that she had not seen around before and he was caring something. She actually took the time to look away from the fire in time to make out what he looked like and what he was holding. She quickly moved back when he ripped open the sandbag and started to use it to try and put out the fire as best as he could. Why didn't Devyn think of that? She was in a blind panic for trying to think up an excuse as to how she burned a training dummy when her power had nothing to do with fire.

The sand was doing the job, for the most part, but Devyn moved quickly to shove the dummy down onto the ground. That would help better with the whole trying to use the sand to put the fire out and Devyn was already moving to pick up another bag just in case they needed more sand. It looked like it was going to be okay however. "Dude, thanks. You just saved my as-er neck." Devyn said. She was working on also not cursing as much, especially around new people.

[Nico Martell]

Okay, so his plan had mostly worked. the girl, whoever she was, knocked down the dummy as well, kind of rubbing the whole thing in sand. while she walked away, Nico nudged the whole mess with his foot, really hoping that he didn't accidentally phase out of his shoe while he did. He mostly rocked the dummy in the sand, working to smother it out as best he could.

The girl came back, and Nico looked up at her. He shrugged at her thanks. It wasn't as if he'd done anything spectacular, after all. Though he supposed he should probably say something to that effect: "No big deal."

Ever so eloquent. Nico rolled the dummy a few more times, lightly pushing it. He looked over at the girl, then back at the still smoldering figure. "Maybe a little more sand?" he asked, his eyes going back down to the bag she held. He flipped his knife around, using a trick one of his cousins had taught him years ago, catching it by the blade and extending it toward her.

[Devyn Solway]

When she came back with the sandbag, it was a good thing that they didn’t even need it to get the fire under control. She didn’t mind brining it over, it was a good quick workout to lift something heavy up, over your shoulder, and move quickly to a destination. Now she was planning on adding that in to her workout, at least the moving bit. She did it basically with weights, but sandbags would be a nice touch, a bit more of a rugged look and messy. It would be cool and oh if she did it out in the rain the sand would get heavier, it would be so bad ass.

“Still, thanks. Sure it was just one dummy but could you imagine if it spread?” Devyn asked, chuckling slightly. It was more of a nervous chuckle, because the school had to deal with a fire and well she figured it would be really bad for her rep if she caused even a small fire. Devyn looked down at the dummy when he asked about a little more sand. More never hurt, right? She gave a nod as she bent down to pick the bag up again, lifting it up over her shoulders, and holding it. She admired his knife for a moment when he flashed it out.

Devyn knew that knifes were not really allowed, but she of all people was not going to tell on him for it. She carried around a pocket knife from time to time as well, they were useful and there was a ton of things to use them for besides self-defense. Not that Devyn really knew people carrying knives around for self-defense. “You cut it. Quick slash, right here.” Devyn said as she pated the spot perfect for him to cut the bag. She didn’t know the guy but she felt that she could trust him enough to cut the sandbag for her so she could let the sand fall out onto the dummy.

“I’m Devyn by the way. You a recent transfer?” Devyn introduced herself and then asked her question. She had not seen him around before so was assuming that he had to at least be sort of new to the school. Then again she had not been out much recently so she could have easily missed him, but she was going to go with her first guess.

[Nico Martell]

Girl didn't want to take his knife? Fine by Nico: he shrugged, again flipping the knife. He'd always been better at using those than guns, and you pretty well had to learn one or the other. Though Nico certainly hadn't been planning on using his "badass" knife skills cutting a bag of sand for some random white chica. Still, he'd been to Canada: stranger things had already happened.

"Nico," he offered, figuring that would be an appropriate response, "and yes," he waited another beat, jerking the sharp knife through the last few bits of fabric, "from Canada."

Because he just looked so Canadian. Nico flipped his knife back, looking up at Devyn's eyes and nodding. He then looked at the dummy, backing up to give Devyn the room to add more sand, since that seemed to be the thing she wanted to do.

[Devyn Solway]

It was not that Devyn didn’t want to take the knife; she would ask for it when they were done taking care of fire. She just didn’t want it now because she would take the time to look at it closer instead of doing with it what needed to be done at the moment. Dev kind of wished Nico would have done something cool, but perhaps he didn’t know how to cut something in a cool manner. She should not have assumed that everyone that carried around a knife actually knew how to use it.

Devyn herself was better with using hunting knives for well hunting and camping related things. “Nice to meet you, Nico.” Devyn said, putting emphasis on the ‘co’ part because the word just kind of flowed off the tongue in a very nice way; probably because of the ‘o’ bit. “Canada? Pre-fire or rebuilt?” Devyn asked, since of course she knew about the Canadian school burning down and how it had almost happened to BA. Imagine where all of them would have had to move if the whole school burned down…where would they go?

When he gave her a nod, she poured all of the sand that would leave the bag, basically burying the dummy, and smothering out the fire completely. Problem solved and only one guy knew about it was Nico and he seemed like the chill type. She tossed the mostly empty bag to the ground then, dusting her hands and self, off from any sand that had gotten on her. Thankfully not much because said was almost like glitter in the fact that it got everywhere and would show up randomly when you thought it was all gone.

Devyn was silent then for a moment before picking up her cigarette pack. “You smoke?” Devyn asked, offering him one. Yes, she learned her lesson but that was to make sure embers and any fire was out before tossing it aside.

[Nico Martell]

Nico nodded at her greeting. Yeah, he supposed this wasn't too bad as far as first meetings went, what with his putting out a fire. Devyn had apparently heard about the fire too. Nico hesitated for a moment, remembering how so very many people had asked if he'd had anything to do with it. He didn't catch that note of accusation in Devyn's tone though, and it wasn't like she had any idea about his record.

"Pre," he offered, nodding. Then he turned to making sure that the fire was put out, though Devyn did most of the work of covering up the dummy. Nico prodded it a few more times with his foot, wondering if they should try to pick it up or hide it or something. So long as they ditched the evidence, nobody would know they had anything to do with it. But if someone else came up right now, they were definitely screwed.

He looked over at Devyn, ready to suggest something, only to stop at her comment. Nico leaned over to look at the package, then shook his head. "Not that brand, and not for a while," he said. He turned back to the dummy, nudging it. "Should probably hide this," he said, looking back up at Devyn before bending down to begin working on picking it up.

[Devyn Solway]

Devyn could not assume Nico had anything to do with the Canadian school fire, she didn't know a single thing about the guy. Well other than his name, what school he had gone to, and that he helped her out with her little problem. That made him a decent guy in her books and nothing else really mattered at the moment. "Ah, must have sucked to have to go somewhere else after. Or did they have like some other kind of housing for you after the fire?" Devyn asked.

She remembered most of the students transferred to BA after the fire, but she did not recall seeing him. Perhaps he transferred to another school or they had some other places for the student who didn't want to leave or something. She didn't know and while she was curious if he made it clear he didn't want to talk about it she would drop it. "Never mind then...I should probably not smoke around you then. So you don't pick the habit back up or something..." Devyn said. She let out a sigh as she tucked the box away instead her jacket.

"Mmm...I could probably bury it somewhere. Or are you thinking like dump it in the lake?" Devyn asked, teasing a little. She could not help but to tease a little since it felt like they were talking about getting rid of a body. They kind of were, but just a dummy body and not a real one. Thankfully. Dev had honestly planned to just leave the area and leave it up to staff or another student to come up with own ideas of what happened.

[Nico Martell]

Nico gave Devyn a short look at her question regarding housing. That had actually been a bit where he'd erred: taking advantage of the temporary lull to go back home and check on his family. Well, she was just another student: no need to share information or answer if he didn't want to or have to.

Plus, there was the whole smoking thing. Nico was tempted to suggest that he likely wouldn't pick the habit back up from the brand she had: they tasted like crap. But again, he didn't see the point in offering something when she hadn't asked and wasn't in a need-to-know position herself.

Besides, they had the actual dummy to worry about. Devyn almost acted like it was a body or something, which had Nico giving her another long-faced look. "I was thinking dumpster," he said stoically, adding a shrug. "Not like it's a body or something," though Nico did remember hearing conversations about how to best hide one of those too. He worked more on getting it up, managing to lift it slightly before he felt it slipping. It literally slid through his fingers, and Nico sighed, his head looking up as the dummy phased through his body and landed back on the grass.

[Devyn Solway]

There was silence between them after Devyn asked her question. She figured that he was either trying to remember or that he probably was not comfortable talking about it. Not that she understood the latter because it was just talking about where you went after the fire. She didn't see it as a big deal but Nico must have viewed it as too person, seeing as he didn't answer her question. Devyn made a mental note on that to not ask him anymore about the Canadian school fire then, which limited down her already few topics to talk about.

Some people just didn't make socializing easy, but that was nothing new to Devyn. He also didn't say anything more about the cigarettes so Devyn let that conversation drop there as she put the pack away along with the matches. She would just smoke after this when she was not around the boy or do the right thing and throw the pack away. She had not decided yet but she figured with the likely silence between them she would have time to think about it. "Dumpster works. Taking all of the fun of pretending that it was a real body, dude." Devyn said as she chuckled a little.

A hand then reached up to scratch at the back of her head for a moment. "Then again, I guess that it should not be something you joke about." Devyn said, giving a small shrug. Making light of things was always how she was able to deal with or get past serious topics. She looked away for a moment to try and recall where the closest dumpster was. When she looked back she saw that he was working on picking up the dummy. Just as she was moving to help him out, the dummy just started to slip right through his hand and fall back to the ground. Like it literally]/b] fell thought his fingers.

"Whoa, never seen a power do that before." Devyn said as she could not help but to start to stare now. She could not help but to have a small level of interest when it came to powers, since she had a habit of making sure that people liked their own powers. She was already starting to wonder how often he had to deal with things just falling through his hands. A hand was reaching out to try and touch his hand but she hesitated and stopped. "I'm not going to like end up pulling out an organ if I reach out to touch you and phase through, right?" Devyn asked. It would have been cool to be able to pull someone’s heart out, but not for reals.

[Nico Martell]

Fun? Hiding a body was...? Nico gave Devyn another long look. Clearly she'd never actually had to hear the conversations about it, nor had she ever actually had to do so. Though at least Nico hadn't done the latter... though if he'd stayed in his hometown a little while longer...

No, definitely not something to joke about.

Nor was his power, though Devyn seemed less joking and more amazed. Nico added a slight sigh as she went on about how it was impressive or what have you. Her other comment had him opening his eyes again, turning to look at her. Her hand was only a short distance from his body, and he lowered his eyes to it. Why did people always think that touching him would be a good idea?

"Doesn't work like that," he said, raising his eyes back to hers. "At least, not for me," there, let her think that he could pull out her organs or something. Nico didn't think he could, though, well, he really didn't want to think about what it would be like to be caught halfway through a person.

Nico pushed the thought aside and focused back on the dummy, bending down, trying to will himself solid as he made another look. His fingers slid, but he wasn't sure if that was his power or the dummy itself...

[Devyn Solway]

Devyn just scratched at her head and gave a sort of embarrassed and awkward smile at the boy when he looked at her. She didn't really see the conversation as a big deal, but then again she had killed both animal and human in her other form. She also killed animals in her current form, but that was more so for hunting purposes. Perhaps that was why she was a bit more laid back when it came to talking about burying a body and so on.

Nico didn't seem so comfortable with it or at least didn't approve of the conversation. She didn't know, the guy was not giving her much in the ways of words. He didn't even seem at all pleased or that he cared when she started to talk about his power. So either he is just in a bad mood or one of those types. Devyn thought to herself, going with that maybe he was just not having a good day for the benefit of the doubt. He did at least speak up about his power and how she would not end up pulling out one of his organs but then added a bit of mystery if he could do it himself.

"So you could say rip someone’s kidney out then? Just phase through them, grab a hold of it, and just pull it out. Talk about a horror movie." Devyn said as she thought about it. It would make for a great power if you could do such a thing and you were like a mass killer or something. Hopefully this guy would never end up being a mass killer or anything like that. He did seem to be at odds about the whole burying body but Devyn was not sure if it was because he had actually done it or could not even fathom doing such a thing.

Devyn's green eyes went back to the dummy as Nico seemed to be trying to pick it up again. Devyn moved to give him a hand, planning on picking the whole thing up completely if he seemed to struggle for too long. She didn't have to worry about something slipping through her fingers and he seemed set on dumping it instead of burying it with sand so she was game for his plan. "Closest dumpster is over there." Devyn said as she pointed off in the direction. It was not a few steps away, more like a few feet away but it was the closest and it was not like they had to go a mile or anything like that to get to it.

[Nico Martell]

Nico shrugged. "Haven't tried," he offered by way of explanation. He didn't add the whole Didn't want to part, at least not for now. Anyone who thought that pretending to bury a body was fun might be just a little off. Nico knew that some people couldn't handle the whole being a mutant thing. Part of them just snapped or something. He'd dealt with a handful of those back in Acton Vale.

Though Devyn didn't seem all that bad. She bent down and helped Nico heft up the dummy. Between the two of them, it wasn't too bad. Nico might have been able to drag it on his own, but carrying it with help was definitely a preferable option. He nodded at Devyn's suggestion and started walking that way.

A few potential questions came his way, but he didn't see any reason to really bring them out, particularly the ones that came off as a little more sarcastic suggestions than anything else (or comments as to how Devyn had seemed to know precisely where the dumpster was). So he opted for what he felt was probably an observation: "Not the first time this has happened?" he glanced over at her, only sparing a few moments: he needed to keep track of where he was going, after all.

[Devyn Solway]

"Can't say that's not a bad thing." Devyn said as she chuckled a little. It was good that he had not tried and she hoped that he never did. It would suck if she was the reason he thought to do it now, but then again she would take the blame. If she had the power she could not say that she would not have tried it out on at least something. Was she the only one willing to do a bit risky things in order to figure out and understand her power better? No she was not planning on killing anyone with her power; even if she had already done so, but she had tried biting someone back when she first came into her power.

It was what allowed her to know just how much of a threat and danger she could be to those around her if she was not careful. It was easy enough to carry the dummy and she could have even carried it by herself but things were always easier with teamwork, even if she didn't always play nice with her teammates. Working on the whole little security squad the school had helped out a little bit in the ways of learning how to work with a team better. There was also that whole events she did with Beau and Riley that helped out a lot in the ways of the benefits of working together with a group of people. Devyn chuckled in a slightly embarrassed manner at the question that left Nico’s mouth regarding what they were currently doing.

"Uh, well the first time that I have burned one in this manner. I have done other things to the dummies and uh...animals before so I kind of know where to get rid of things at. I mostly tend to burry things then dumping them out, however." Devyn admitted. She would not have been surprised that if they dig up the field the number of animal bones or dummies they would find from over the years Devyn hiding things away because she didn't really know how certain people would take what she had done in the sake of training or on accident because she lost control.