But I Wanted That!

[Taylor McCarthy]

“Oh, right. Like that's not creepy at all.” Taylor said with an almost exasperated grin. It had been years since he'd given his all too brief American football career a second thought. He'd played football, yes, but he didn't consider himself to be a football player. He'd wrestled and played rugby back home and far preferred either of those two sports in spite of the fun he did have while on Bellefonte's football team. “You Americans really do love your football, don't you?” Although he was one to talk. His family had been filled with enough fanatics in their own right when it came to sports.

“Seems like we all end up coming back here in some way or another.” Taylor gave a short nod at that. He had his own reasons for making a return to Kalispell. Some were more confusing and uncertain than others but the fact remained he was there much like many of his fellow mutants had flocked to the city or simply remained behind. “No I, uh, left Bellefonte a few years back. I work for Helios now.” Taylor gave a bit of a shrug at the admission. He usually didn't offer his line of work unless asked.

“I was only here for beer and whiskey.” Taylor laughed at Liz's urging. He then held up the case of beer, which he held in one hand, and the bottle of Jameson which was held in the other. “I thought we were waiting on you.” And with that he continued on toward the front of the store where the checkout lanes were.

[Elizabeth Edison]

"Hey, I never said I wasn't creepy. I just happen to get away with it." Elizabeth tossed her hair over her shoulder exaggeratedly before nodding in response to the rhetorical question Taylor posed. "Hell yeah! It's poetry in motion. And muscular boys in tights pants? I mean, they appeal to just about every demographic." She wriggled her eyebrows suggestively at Taylor.

She nodded in agreement to the statement Taylor made and her smile softened slightly before her eyebrows shot up when he mentioned that he was now working. At the company run by one of her best friend's husband. "You're a mercenary?" She asked in an urgent whisper, though a grin was not far behind.

Laughing when he held the bottles up, Elizabeth turned to start pushing her cart over to the checkout aisle. "I should have had a party tonight. My house is bangin', I've got tons of alcohol now and like all kinds of chips. Plus, I mean, I am the entertainment so really, I'm all set." She seriously considered throwing a party as she unloaded her cart, making sure the things were arranged just right for bagging.

"Oh...my God, you're Liz Edison." The cashier stammered as Elizabeth rummaged through her bag for money. The blonde looked up and beamed at the cashier and nodded. "Yep, that's me." She gave the cashier a wave. "Could I get an autograph? And can I please take a picture with you? My friends are going to flip out!" The cashier fumbled with his phone before looking at her expectantly. Elizabeth looked at Taylor with an amused chuckle before shrugging and asking the cashier to come out from behind the counter.

"Do you have a pen?" She asked him and he handed her a marker from his shirt pocket. She signed the cashier's apron before letting the kid take a picture of them. The cashier started to talk about how her album changed his life and how she inspired him to start writing his own songs. The thought that she had managed to reach out to people and inspire them made her giggle, thanking the cashier and encouraging his song writing.

He rang up her items and she paid for them before he served Taylor, still stealing glances at Elizabeth with a huge grin on his face.

[Taylor McCarthy]

Taylor watched the whole display with the clerk with more than a little curiosity. For a brief moment, as he was paying the cashier for his own goods, Taylor wondered if mutants were now supposed to be famous or something. "Oi! Asshole." Taylor shot a venomous glance toward the cashier who was still too busy oogling Liz to pay attention. "Staring at her any harder isn't going to make her clothes fall off so you can sneak a peak." His head shook as he snatched his receipt and the bag containing the bottle of liquor with one hand and pulling the case of beer off the counter with the other. "Try and keep some dignity." He grumbled before heading out of the store.

"Alright." Taylor glanced to Liz the moment they stepped outside into the cool night air. "You're gonna have to tell me what the hell that was all about." The previously aggressive demeanor he'd taken with the clerk was long gone, leaving behind the calm, almost goofy grin on his face that Liz had seen before. "Are you supposed to be someone famous?"

[Elizabeth Edison]

Taylor's outburst caused the cashier to jump before sheepishly waving to Elizabeth who blinked in surprise before pursing her lips to stop the grin on her face from exploding.

"Jeez, dude. What the hell was that?" She chuckled as they wheeled out of the store. The sudden change in his demeanour surprised Elizabeth but mostly it amused her.

His question had her snorting and shrugging. "Apparently not famous enough that you don't know." She scratched the side of her nose as she guided them to her car. "But I guess you're not the type to be listening to country pop or rock." She pressed her car clicker and the boot opened up just as she stopped by the side.

She unloaded her cart and turned to Taylor. "But you do listen to music, don't you?"

[Taylor McCarthy]

"Did you see the way that guy was looking at you?" Taylor said defensively even though he still carried that freshly applied grin as he spoke. "You didn't notice but he was definitely checking out your ass." He nodded a matter of factly. It wasn't as if he held any sort of claim to the blonde but Taylor still had a hair trigger when it came to such acts of disrespect. Be them real or imagined.

"I'm not from around here, remember?" Taylor cast Liz a wry smirk as he spoke. As if his accent wasn't enough to remind her he didn't grow up in the States. Yes, American music still made its way across the pond to his country just as much as any other but that remained his excuse and he was sticking to it. He couldn't help a small snicker from escaping though as he watched Liz. "Country pop?" He chuckled. "The fuck is that?"

A brow quirked as Liz keyed into her car and started putting her bags into the trunk. "Mind if I drop this off?" He asked, lifting his own haul in hopes that she'd let him drop it next too her stuff for the trip to wherever it was they were going. "And I guess I'll follow you, then?"

[Elizabeth Edison]

Lifting her eyebrows and pursing her lips in amusement as Taylor seemingly defended her honour. "And you weren't? I deliberately used these jeans just so someone would." She joked, making a show of looking around at her butt. "Well thank you for looking out for me. The cashier probably peed in his pants." She snorted before finishing loading up her groceries.

"Mm, yeah. That explains it." She laughed lightly before snorting again at his question. "God, how do I even describe country pop. Love songs about horses and relationships with a catchy beat."

Waving for him to throw his things in, she waited until he did before closing the boot and walking around to the front. "Yes. Because I want beer and you're good company. No better way to spend the first night in my new bangin' apartment." She got into the driver's seat and started the car.

They filled the drive with chatter about Elizabeth's supposed fame over the years, rehashing stupid things that happened in school that they were both aware and unaware of about each other, and even touched on Beau being part of her past but not her future. It was all done in a lighthearted tone.

Once they arrived at her place, she parked the car by the kerb and started grabbing everything she could out of the boot and going up the stairs to her place. "Make yourself at home," she went straight to the kitchen, getting all the frozen stuff and things that needed refrigerating into the fridge. She then made a beeline for the beer. "Let's do this!"

[Taylor McCarthy]

The night had certainly taken an unexpected turn. There wasn't much that could have prepared Taylor for suddenly finding himself sitting in the living room of Liz Edison's new place. He'd gone along, laughing here and there at the musings and insights of the young woman. She remembered far more about his time on the Bellefonte football team than he did, it seemed. He hadn't really thought he was that good but you wouldn't know it listening to Liz.

With hands in his pocket, Taylor stepped into the home and glanced around a bit. "'Home' for me is usually a dirty, smelly barracks with a dozen, unshowered guys walking around in dirty underwear." He said with a chuckle. "Which, trust me, is not as nice as it sounds."

[Elizabeth Edison]

Taylor's comment about his barracks had Elizabeth snorting as she finished unpacking her things. And when she made her way over to Taylor and the beer, the blonde switched on her iPod dock and chose her chilling music which consisted largely of 80's rock songs. She didn't blast it since she wanted to do more talking but she needed music in the background; it soothed her.

Elizabeth waved her hand over the top of the casing of beer and a small flame erupted, eating away at the cardboard before she stopped it from doing any more damage. The embers disappeared and she grabbed two bottles, handing one over to Taylor before she threw herself on to the couch.

Patting the seat beside her, she twisted the bottle cap and threw it into the opened case. "You and Jack McCarthy are related, right?" Elizabeth asked, her eyes going over to Taylor as she brought the bottle to her lips and tipped it over. The beer was still cold and she hummed her approval, guzzling a quarter down. "Mm...delish." She licked her lips, capturing any stray liquid.

[Taylor McCarthy]

Taylor gladly accepted the bottle with a thankful nod. Reaching into his pocket he fished out his keys and used the bottle opener clipped to them to pop open the top. He let out a low chuckled and nodded again, giving a light shrug at Liz's question. He sighed a little, smirking as he went to drop himself onto the couch beside Liz and take a large swig from the bottle. "Yeah, he's my little brother." He said almost as though it was a painful, embarrassing admission. "He's a good kid." He tapped at his temple. "A little off in the head, but he means well."

Taylor glanced over to Liz, watching for just a moment as she took her own drink and savored the taste of the beer. "Did you know him when you were in school?" He asked curiously. He actually knew precious little of Jack's life before he showed up out of nowhere three years ago. "We aren't all that close, really."

[Elizabeth Edison]

The look Taylor gave made Elizabeth curious as to the nature of the relationship he had with his brother. At the next comment, Elizabeth gave a short bark of humourous laughter. "Does he now?" She asked with a small inaudible laugh.

Taylor's question made Elizabeth nod before waving her hand in a vague gesture. "We got into a bit of trouble together in school. We weren't close but I did check up on him every now and then. He calls me up when he needs a fire extinguisher." She chuckled and took another swig of beer.

"I didn't used to like beer, you know? The taste never sat quite right with me. But I suppose it was just me not drinking the right one." She shrugged and polished off the beer before grabbing another one.

Leaning back against the couch, she turned her head to look at Taylor and smiled. "So, you never actually answered my question earlier. Are you a mercenary?"

[Taylor McCarthy]

"Fire ex-" The realization hit Taylor mid sentence and he paused, smirking bit about his own denseness before nodding. "Right. You play with fire, yeah?" He asked, glancing to Liz with a hint of curiosity in his dark eyes. He spent precious little time worrying or even thinking about the powers of his fellow mutants. It was a side affect of his inherent selfishness. "You, Liz Edison, are in the wrong business. You should be doing what I do."

Taylor gave a laugh and shook his head. Liz was already proving to be interesting company to say the least. He gave a shrug of his shoulders. "That's such a harsh sounding title, don't you think?" He scrunched his nose in distaste. "It sounds so... heartless. Like the only reason we do it is for money and girls." He chuckled softly. "I prefer 'private security contractor'." He noted with a curt nod. "Sounds far more professional."

[Elizabeth Edison]

Taylor's phrasing made Elizabeth snort giggle. Moreso when he pointed out that her abilities meant she should be doing something for defensive. Or offensive. Depending on exactly what Taylor's 'business' was.

She took a swig from her beer and adjusted herself on the couch so her back was against the arm and her legs were pulled up. "And it's not?" She said in response to him mentioning girls and money. "It does sound fancy. And exactly what are you securing? Or am I not allowed to ask that? Like...it's top secret and whatnot."

[Taylor McCarthy]

Taylor took a pull from his beer bottle, shrugging in the process. In spite of the profession he'd found himself startlingly good at over the past few years Taylor remained a remarkably non-violent person. He didn't care much for fighting even if he was adept at it. Still, he couldn't help but wonder what his job would be like if he had an aggressive, dangerous power like Liz's.

"We secure whatever someone pays to secure." He said a-matter-of-factly. He gave another shrug and took yet another drink from the bottle. Taylor was in the mindset of getting a few in him before the night wore too late. "We haven't done much of anything yet, though." He admitted. "It's been training while we piece together the division." He waved the hand that held his beer idly. "They're putting together this all-mutant division of the company. Once it's finished we'll be doing... things?" Another shrug, another drink. "I don't get paid to think about all that. I just get paid to do what I'm best at." He said with a nod.

[Elizabeth Edison]

Elizabeth knew the consequences of her abilities. Movies and TV shows with superpowered humans often romanticised her abilities but rarely do they show the downside of it. Yes, she was powerful but the cost of using her powers was a price she was sure no one was willing to pay.

She listened to Taylor speak, enjoying the almost melodic lilt to it. She could definitely listen to him talk for hours. "So, definitely no outsiders allowed? I mean, I wouldn't mind watching you uh...do what you're best at."

[Taylor McCarthy]

Taylor had few complaints about his power. Sure it was a pain in the ass sometimes and gave him headaches and whatnot, but it all but forced him to stay in shape and gave him a set of skills that were highly coveted by the private security sector. Without his powers he would have been a competent soldier, sure, but with them he excelled and performed feats the likes of which no normal human could dream of. It may have been an immature way of looking at it but he thought having super powers was still pretty fucking cool.

"I'm a designated marksman." He said, closing one eye and making a pistol with his fingers and aiming it at Liz. "One shot, one kill." He fired off an imaginary shot and shrugged his shoulders. "It's not as glamorous as the door kickers but I do have the biggest rifle of the bunch." He said slyly, quirking an eye brow suggestively.