Let It Burn

[Gabriela Moreau]

Gabriela smiled warmly at her newest friend's happiness. It did seem everyone in the school had known about the inevitable union that was Beau and Liz. They may have taken the long, scenic route to each other's arms but love had found a way. Or some sappy bullshit like that.

Gabriela couldn't help but feel a little left out. Everyone she knew seemed to be pairing off and finding someone. Hell, it seemed lately as soon as she started crushing on someone they either found their soul mate, like, the next day or she found out they were already totally head over heels for someone else. Ugh. Gabriela just couldn't catch a break.

She snorted a little and rolled her eyes. "Not in that way." Gabriela couldn't help but let a little bitterness sneak into her voice. She didn't really want to saddle Liz with any of her petty problems, but she'd asked. And Gabriela did feel a need to tell someone. "I had a boyfriend back home." She paused, scrunched her brows, then corrected herself. "Well, I thought I had a boyfriend but I guess I was just being a stupid girl, holding onto something that had ended years ago." She used the words her now ex had said to her over the phone. That probably wouldn't have bothered her so much if she had been aware they had drifted apart over the years. For all Gabriela knew, they were doing just fine until he dropped the bomb. "We'd been together since we were thirteen. I came here and we stayed together. I thought." She mentioned again. She tried to stop herself but it was all coming out now. Not in an emotional torrent, but rather in a calm, if not slightly bitter, tone. "He was supposed to come out for prom but the day of he decided to inform me we hadn't been a couple in over a year."

[Elizabeth Edison]

When Gabriela responded, Elizabeth knew training time was over. Hell, she was waiting for a break. Not because she was tired of training with the brunette, rather she was just very tired of controlling her own emotions. It sucked having to hold back excitement and happiness just because it could potentially blow something into smithereens.

Elizabeth patiently listened, giving appropriate facial responses and little noises to show she was quite invested in Gabriela's story.

"That rat bastard." The blonde hissed, instantly not liking this person who had basically broken her newfound friend's heart. Well, the girl didn't sound heartbroken. She just sounded...a bit indifferent if the blonde had to guess.

"I say you're better off without him. If he didn't appreciate the fact that you've been together since you were kids, then he just doesn't deserve you." She shook her head. Turning to face Gabriela, Elizabeth offered a reassuring smile before slinging an arm around the other girl, squeezing lightly.

[Gabriela Moreau]

For the most part Gabriela was indifferent, at least she was now. Sort of. It had hurt, still did, to hear something she'd held onto for so long wasn't as she thought. It felt like a year's worth of feelings, thoughts and emotions had been wasted on something that hadn't existed. But, in a way, Gabriela had already known it, she just didn't want to admit it. It had been so long since she had seen her now ex-boyfriend it was difficult to feel sadness. It was almost akin to not missing something that wasn't there.

Gabriela offered a half-defeated, half-reluctantly accepting smile and shrug. "Yeah, I know." He agreed with a nod as she leaned more into Liz in spite of the warmth the blonde radiated. "I'm not heartbroken." Her brow scrunched up, though, as she thought of the situation. "But I'm not apathetic. I've been bummed, but I didn't cry over it." It was a strange mix of feelings that Gabriela had yet to fully sort out. "I do know I'm ready to put it all behind me and move forward though." Of that, the petite brunette was sure.

[Elizabeth Edison]

The confirmation that Gabriela wasn't heartbroken was met with a nod. It was definitely a different reaction to something like that but the blonde thought it felt appropriate.

"That sounds like a plan. Hey, we should go celebrate your newfound confidence in training and your newfound freedom." Elizabeth suggested with a grin. She didn't know what they could do but alcohol should be involved. And music. Loud, loud music.

[Gabriela Moreau]

Gabriela's eyes lit up and she snapped to a straight sitting position. "Yes!" She said looking to Liz. That sounded like the best idea she'd heard in such a long time. She'd been admittedly mopey since prom but some sort of celebration sounded just the ticket. "That'd be awesome!" She nodded hastily, her pony tail bouncing. "What do you have in mind?" She quickly raised a hand and went to get to her feet. "Nevermind!" She said before Liz had a chance to answer. "I really don't care, I'm sure whatever you're thinking will be awesome so long as I can get drunk." Gabriela had already committed herself to that the moment the word 'celebrate' escaped the blondes' lips.

"You have no idea what kind of monster you have just awoken." Gabriela grinned as she went to take up Liz's hands and pull her up too. "I don't even care if we get drunk, eat a whole tub of ice cream and watch crappy horror movies all night." Yes, Gabriela was truly that easy to please when the moment struck her. She was already moving to drag Liz out of the training room to whatever pleasures the rest of the day had in store.

[Elizabeth Edison]

The change in Gabriela surprised and amused Elizabeth. It was absolutely contagious and Elizabeth was already excitable enough. Something was going to burn down tonight.

She didn't even get a word in and they were already rushing out of the training room, the blonde laughing as she let Gabriela lead the way.

"I've got a secret stash in my dorm that we could totally raid. And I think I've got mint chocolate chip and Cherry Garcia in the fridge. Weird taste I know but gadamn they're amazing. And I've got like tons of Asian horror movies on my laptop. I think we're set." She chuckled, awaiting Gabriela's response to everything.

[Gabriela Moreau]

"Oh, my God you are fucking amazing!" Gabriela insisted, meeting her one 'F-bomb' per day quota out of the way early. She laughed while pulling the blonde out into the open air and toward the dorms. It wasn't a beeline, but if Gabriela had super strength, they probably would've just gone through the walls. "How in the hell did Beau not, like, jump on you the moment you met?" She couldn't fathom that. Liz had jumped from a favored acquaintance to damn near best friend territory in just a few minutes. Surely Beau could have recognized the awesome and claimed it for himself much sooner.

"What room are you in again?" Gabriela asked once they'd crashed through the doors leading into the dorms. She was on a mission and when she was like this there was a strange, almost efficient way in which she went about things. Given her tiny frame and bright, almost childlike expressions, it was really comical in a way. "I'm gonna take a shower and change. We'll consolidate our respective stashes of snacks, movies and... other stuff." She turned her head to Liz and smiled brightly. "Thank you for this." It was such a simple thing, but God, did Gabriela need it.

[Elizabeth Edison]

A burst of laughter bubbled out of the blond pyrokinetic when Gabriela asked what she felt was such a ridiculous question. "We were thirteen when we first met!" She exclaimed. She was pretty sure all Beau thought about back then was how excellent she was at the whole roughing it out and tumbling around.

Letting Gabriela know her dorm number, Elizabeth nodded, thinking it wasn't such a bad idea for her to do the same thing. Her smile softened when Gabriela thanked her.

"Don't mention it, bubba." Brightening her smile, Elizabeth waved her off and ran to her room, taking a long cold shower and shampooing her hair just so she could feel colder under her ceiling fan later on.

Choosing comfortable cartoon print boxers and a yellow tank top, Elizabeth got out about three different sized bottles of alcohol and some snacks she always had around just in case she got the munchies. Which was always.

Setting up her laptop with a whole playlist of horror movies, she waited for Gabriela to arrive.

[Gabriela Moreau]

Gabriela took decidedly less time in the shower. She was excited and looking forward the plans laid out by the girls just minutes ago. She didn't know what it was but Liz had mentioned the perfect idea at the perfect time. Gabriela, quite simply, needed a chance to relax, shut off her brain and hang out with someone who was as laid back as Liz.

She jumped out of the shower, not bothering to add much in terms of makeup or a hair style, she'd just dried it, brushed it out and put it back into a ponytail, and got dressed. A simple, gray tank top with a set of polyhedral dice on the front and the words "Video Games Killed the Tabletop Star" printed above, and a pair of white shorts made up Gabriela's hastily thrown together ensemble.

Once she'd slipped her feet into a pair of plain, white flats, Gabriela was ready to scrounge around for her own stash. She'd managed to keep a hold of a Coke bottle that had been filled with a very potent rum she didn't know the name of but it worked to get a buzz going really fast so she tucked that into her pack along with whatever snacks she could round up. A couple small bags of chips, a bag of Twizzlers, and a few rolls of Shockers candy (her favorite) and then her own laptop were slipped into the pack.

With a nod to herself, Gabriela slung the bag over her shoulder and hurried out of her dorm. She had to keep herself from taking off in a run down the hall, instead optic for a brisk walk across the carpeted floor. She repeated the given room number a few times under her breath before her eyes lit up upon finding the right door. She was nearly bouncing in excitement when she knocked on the door.

[Elizabeth Edison]

Hearing the knock, Elizabeth bounded over to the door and swung it open happily. Her smile widened considerably when she saw Gabriela on the other side.

"Come on in!" She grabbed the other girl's hand and pulled her in, going straight to her room. "Don't mind the mess. I...have no other excuses besides being a lazy ass." She grinned apologetically before gesturing for the brunette to come sit beside her on the bed.

"Oh! Right! What ice cream do you want? Ben and Jerry's or mint?"

[Gabriela Moreau]

Gabriela gave a decidedly uncharacteristic squeal as the door opened and she caught sight of the blonde girl again. She didn't have to be pulled inside, as she was eager enough as is, but she allowed herself to be led through the dorm, grinning all the way. "Girl, with and ass like that, I know damn well you aren't that lazy." She said, leering at Liz with mock lasciviousness for a moment before tossing her head back and laughing.

There was no minding of any sort of mess. Gabriela didn't exactly keep her dorm room perfectly neat either, unless she knew in advance she was going to have company and even then, there was only so much she could do. The ice cream question posed quite a conundrum, though. The petite girl shrugged off her pack and she glanced to Liz in thought. "Why not both?" She asked. "I mean, c'mon. Look at us." She gestured to Liz, then herself in turn. "I think we can afford a fat day." She reasoned. It wasn't as if either of them were out of shape.

[Elizabeth Edison]

Turning to Gabriela at that comment, Elizabeth snorted with a soft blush. Nobody had actually ever commented on that part of her except for Ezra. But he didn't count because he was just a big perv.

She found the sudden shift in Gabriela's personality kind of refreshing and soon enough her own enthusiasm was matched with the other girl's. "Oh that's just my crazy metabolism doing it's job. Trust me, you do not want to see me when I'm marathoning Game of Thrones for a whole week. It's not pretty." She shook her head with a chuckle.

'You have a point. And excuse you, every day is a damn fat day for me." She chuckled, patting her stomach, ridiculously grateful for her metabolism. "Okay hold on a sec. Imma go get them." She said, jumping out of bed and going out to the kitchen to grab a couple of spoons and the two unopened tubs of ice cream at the back of the fridge labelled: "In Case of Emergency".

She returned to the room and looked down at the tubs and then at Gabriela, wondering which one she wanted to give. Oh she was very selfish when it came to good ice cream. But she supposed they could share. Maybe.

Pulling the laptop close so she could easily press play with her big toe later when they actually started watching, Elizabeth grabbed a bottle of beer and handed it over to Gabriela. "There you go." She grabbed one for herself and held it up for a toast. "To...freedom and stuff like that."

[Gabriela Moreau]

"Every day?" Gabriela's head tilted slightly to one side as she smirked. Somehow she doubted the blonde gorged on junk foor every day. But she could. The petite brunette's head shook a little. "You're lucky." She said, as Liz headed out to fetch the ice cream. "I hope that doesn't end when we turn thirty." She laughed and, in the meantime, went about unloading her own stash of snacks and whatnot.

"Thanks." Gabriela's nose scrunched up some when she was handed the beer but she still used the bottom of her shirt to twist the cap off. She wasn't a beer drinker. Technically speaking, Gabriela wasn't much of an alcohol drinker at all. She didn't care too much for the taste of booze but liked getting a buzz once in a while which is why she typically went straight for the hard stuff. You had to choke less of it down to get drunk.

Still, though, Gabriela would be a good sport and smiled up to Liz. She lifted the glass bottle and clinked the neck against the one Liz held up. "To freedom and stuff like that." She laughed before taking a healthy pull from the beer. The acrid tasting liquid didn't go down easy. Gabriela made a face and stuck out her tongue after swallowing. "You know." She said, looking at the label on the bottle. "I'll never get what people see in beer."

[Elizabeth Edison]

"Every day. I've been loading up on junk food every chance I get. If not, I'd pass out from hunger. I'm not even kidding." She shook her head. She knew her affliction was a lot different than most pyrokinetics. Her sensitivity to heat also brought with it the intensity of her metabolism.

Oh but she was glad it did, it meant she could gorge on food, which is something she adored completely.

At first, Elizabeth didn't really notice the disgust on Gabriela's face but after the drink, the blonde winced lightly at her friend's facial expression. "Not a fan?" She asked before offering to exchange bottles. "You can have mine if you want." She shook her bottle at Gabriela with a grin.

[Gabriela Moreau]

"Ooooooh." Gabriela nodded and gave a short, pointing gesture to Liz as she elaborated. "I get it." All pyrokinetics weren't created equal. Gabriela had no increased metabolism due to her mutation and also wasn't as susceptible to heat as her blonde counterpart. Of course, Liz was light years ahead of her in the training category as Gabriela had only just begun to overcome her paralyzing fear. "And that's why the heat gets to you so bad?" She half asked, half stated.

"No, I'm okay." Gabriela said, shaking her head and offering a smile. "I'll choke it down just like every other alcohol. I pretty much hate the taste of booze." She rummaged around in her pack and withdrew the plastic Coke bottle filled with the potent, dark rum. "That's why I usually go for the hard stuff." She explained. "Less drink, more drunk."