Lyrissa's Sparkles

Lyrissa was out on a picnic with Allie. She had just gotten back from her trip with Logan and made sure she lived up to her promise of spending the day with just the two of them. They even wore matching outfits.

“Spawkles, look what I can do!” Allie shouted before running into a messy forward roll. “Wow, that’s really cool! Where’d you learn to do that?” she beamed.

“Skyclops showed me.”

“Well, I’m gonna have to have the two of you teach me that someday.”

“Yeah! Then we can go in the Dangew Woom togethew!”

“I don’t know about that one Al, it is kind of dangerous in there.”

“Not as dangerous as it is out here.” A gruff voice growled. Lyrissa jumped up to grab Allie, but wasn’t quick enough; Sabertooth was holding her above the ground, tauntingly. “Put, Her, Down.” Lyrissa threatened. “Or you’ll what? Face it, you can’t help her.” He spat, gripping Allie’s neck tighter so his claws started to pierce the skin. “Don’t! She hasn’t done anything to you, why should you hurt her?!” she yelled over Allie’s cries of pain. He just ignored her pleas and kept squeezing until Allie’s body went limp. “Told ya, you can’t do anything to help her.” He smirked before throwing Allie’s lifeless body on the ground at her feet and disappearing into the trees around their picnic spot. “Allie… Allie no, please no, come on wake up please…” she sobbed, shaking her body violently. “Come on Allie wake up, please! Allie… ALLIE, PLEASE ALLIE!” she screamed.

“Lyrissa wake up!” Logan shouted as he shook her awake. Her eyes shot open and met his as she started bawling insanely. “Allie’s fine, whatever you were dreaming about is just a dream.” He said calmly. Lyrissa wrapped her arms tightly around his neck to try and pull herself closer. He took the hint and tightened his grip on her as she cried.

“I heard ya yelling, is everything okay?” Julie asked as she ran into the room, rifle at the ready. “Just some bad dreams.” Logan answered. “Well after last night’s episode, ya can’t blame me for thinking the worst can you?” she asked as she set the safety and put the gun in the corner. “Nah, we can’t.” he replied as Lyrissa slowly loosened her grip on him and leaned away. “Well, it’s almost time for me to start makin’ breakfast. I already have the coffee on, why don’t you come on down for a cup? Always makes me feel better after a rough night.” She smiled. “Sounds great.” Lyrissa whispered and got out of bed.

Julie left them alone, and once again Logan stood outside the door while she got dressed, and then they switched. A few minutes later they were sitting in the kitchen eating scrambled eggs and sausage. “I don’t mean to pry into anyone’s business, but you were callin’ someone’s name earlier. Allie? She your daughter?” Julie asked over the meal. “No, just very close. More like my little sister, I’ve been taking care of her for a year or so.” Lyrissa answered.

“How old is she?”

“Four, but she’ll be five in about a week.”

“Oh, a young one huh? You wanna call home and talk to her? Phone’s on the wall behind ya. Always made me feel better when I missed family.”

Lyrissa looked at Logan as if asking his permission. “Go ahead.” He sighed. She jumped up excitedly and dialed the mansion.

“I’ll go one out and let ya have some privacy.” Julie smiled and left the room.

The phone rang a few times before anyone picked up. “Hello?” Jubilee answered.

“Jubilee, it’s Lyrissa.”

“Lyrissa? What’s up?”

“Is that Lyrissa? What’s wrong is everything all right?” Cyclops asked form somewhere in the room.

“Tell Scotty I’m fine, I just wanted to check in on Allie.” She laughed. Jubilee passed on the message before handing the phone off to Jean.

“Hang on Lyrissa. Boys, out!” she laughed; apparently some of the kids were crowding around trying to listen in on their conversation.

“Allie’s just fine. Rogue, Storm, and Andrew took a bunch of kids to the park, and she went with them.”

“Can you just make sure she’s okay?”

“She’s fine Lyrissa. Enjoy your trip, we’ll take good care of her.” Xavier answered telepathically. Lyrissa sighed and said her goodbyes, and hung up the phone.

“Well?” Logan asked as she sat back down. “Jean says she’s fine, and so does Uncle Charlie. She’s at the park right now.” She answered. “All set?” Julie asked as she rejoined them. “Yeah, thanks.” Logan answered. “Great. Listen, I gotta open the grill for breakfast. You can make yourselves at home if ya like, I don’t mind.” She smiled. “We gotta get goin’ too, thanks for all yer help.” He nodded as he and Lyrissa stood up too. “Well, then I guess this is goodbye. You two take care, and be careful. She ordered in a stern, mother-like tone. “We will.” Lyrissa smiled and followed her to the door. Julie and Lyrissa hugged goodbye, and then the two of them went back to the Jeep.

“So what was that dream about anyway?” he asked as they drove out of the town. “Sabertooth killed Allie.” She answered quietly. He nodded and remained quiet.

“Hey Logan, you mind if I turn on the radio?” she asked. “Go ahead.” He nodded and let her fiddle around until she found a good station. She ended up singing with it and making him laugh when she got really into the song. “Yer a pretty good singer kid.” He smirked when the song had ended. “Thanks.” She laughed. “So how far are we from where we’re going?” she asked. “Not far, that’s the lake over there.” He answered. They had been driving longer than she thought.

A few minutes later the jeep was parked, and they were both setting up their tents. He was right, they were right on the edge of the lake, and there was no one around for miles. Logan had his tent and everything inside it set up fairly quick, but Lyrissa was having a little trouble getting hers; she couldn’t figure out how to get the first poles together. “Lemme get that.” He laughed and had hers up in less than five minutes. “Show off.” She pouted as she unrolled her sleeping bag and got the inside set up the way she wanted it.

Logan had the fire set by the time she got out, and a couple chairs around it. She sat down and watched the fire silently. “Here.” Logan pushed as he handed her a beer. “I can’t drink, I’m nineteen.” She smiled and tried to hand it back to him. “Don’t matter, we’re the only ones out here and I say yer twenty-one.” He answered and pushed it back. She sighed and tried to open the bottle, but failed miserably; drinking and camping were two skills she apparently didn’t possess.

She surprised him when she started drinking without a problem. “This ain’t yer first drink, is it?” he asked. “No… they bring drinks to the races. I never drink before the race, but I usually party after. I usually only have one though; don’t want the kids seeing me totally smashed ya know?”” She answered quietly. “Makes sense.” He smiled.

“Hey, you never told me what ya had to run through the sewer in yer underwear.” He pointed out after they both had opened their second beers. “Andrew, he took my clothes when I was getting cleaned up. I had my bra and underpants with me, because I thought they’d try something. The prank went bad, because the cops were searching the sewers for runaways; we had to grab what we could and run. He dropped my clothes in some sewage, so I ran wearing that.” She explained with a laugh. “Andrew seems ta be the one pullin’ the pranks on ya most the time.” He commented. “Well I started it that time. I ganked his clothes first, that was just payback what he did to me.” She laughed.

The night went on with them laughing, drinking, and telling stories. She had a lot of good stories about life underground, and he enjoyed hearing them. “One question, how’d ya get the name Sparkles?” he asked. “Fighting with Andrew actually.” She laughed. He raised his brow quizzically. “Okay, we were arguing over something… I can’t even remember now, but we were getting really mad. And he yelled at me, and called me ‘Sparkles’, kind of like when you call Scotty ‘One-eye’ or ‘Little Man’. But unlike your nicknames for him, mine stuck. They use it more than my real name now.” She explained and they both started laughing.

Another two beers later Lyrissa was in her swimsuit floating around in the lake, looking at the stars. She was so distracted she didn’t notice that he had joined her and was sneaking up on her until he grabbed her. She screamed and teleported above the lake, coming down with a huge splash. “NOT FUNNY!” she yelled angrily, as she wiped the hair out of her face. “Oh yes it is. Would’ve been fine just scarin’ ya, but then ya jumped six feet in the air and landed on yer face… can’t get much funnier than that Sparkles.” He smirked. She retaliated with the biggest splash she could create. “Oh, it’s like that is it?” he asked before grabbing her and dunking her under. She swam away from him as soon as he let her up for air and glared at him. Suddenly the shadows surrounded him and lifted him above the lake, dropping him the same way she had landed earlier. “Cheater.” He growled. “Not cheating, playing dirty.” She smirked and continued to swim, with him chasing her.

She wasn’t the best swimmer while buzzed, and he easily caught up with her. “What ya gonna do now?” he asked slyly. “Hopefully,” she smiled, closing her eyes tightly. “THIS!!” She shouted excitedly when she teleported back to their campsite. “I did it, I did it! I teleported where I wanted to!” she sang childishly to herself while dancing. “Congrats.” He smirked as he sat back into his chair and opened another beer. “Thanks.” She giggled and tried to make her way to her own chair across from him, but stumbled and landed in his lap instead. “Sorry!” She shrieked and started to blush. “No problem.” He smiled. She didn’t get up right away, and he didn’t seem to mind. “Sorry.” She blushed again as she slid off his lap and quickly sat in her own chair. “No problem.” He smiled again and took another sip of his beer.

They sat up all night talking and laughing, and eventually, somehow, dancing and singing together. They were skipping around the fire singing an improvised, drunken version of some song Lyrissa started singing, but neither of them could remember what song it was originally, before they ‘customized’ the lyrics. Suddenly Lyrissa lost her balance and fell over, taking Logan with her. They both erupted in laughter as they lay in the dirt. “Well you went down hard.” She snorted. “Wouldn’t have if ya didn’t take me down.” He retorted. “So when we go back, I can tell everyone I took down the big bad Wolverine?” she asked with a stupidly adorable grin. “I’ll deny it.” He laughed. She just kept laughing and quickly fell asleep.

He picked her up and went to put her in her tent, and realized she had knocked it down when she tripped. He sighed quietly and put her in his tent. She had latched onto his arm in her sleep, and tightened her grip when he tried to pull away, so he laid down next to her and fell asleep with her holding onto his arm.

The next morning Lyrissa woke up with a throbbing headache. She looked down and realized she was still in her bikini, and his arm was wrapped around her middle. She involuntarily jumped and pulled away from him before collapsing back onto his pillow holding her head, hoping she hadn’t waken him. She tried to remember what happened last night to lead to her spending the night in Logan’s tent with him, in her bikini, and him without a shirt.

“Nothin’ happened.” He said as he lay there, guessing what she was thinking about. “Ya passed out last night. I tried to put you in yer tent, but ya knocked it down when you tripped. So I put ya in here instead. I was gonna sleep in the jeep, but you wouldn’t let go of my arm.” He explained. She gave a soft sigh or relief and tried to sit up, but her spinning head had other plans. She groaned in pain and fell back again. “Hangover?” he laughed. “I think.” She whined in reply. “Drinkin’ can do that to ya. Come on, got a message from the Prof.. earlier, he wants us back soon.” He said and helped her out of the tent.

Of course the sun hurt her head, as well as the sound of the tents being taken down, and the gear being packed up. She didn’t feel like getting dressed, so she put a pair of jeans and a tank over her bikini while he packed the jeep. She was going to help, but he told her to sit down a while and try to get her head to stop spinning on her. Her bag was the last thing in the jeep, and they were ready to go.

“Here, ya need ‘em more than I do.” He smirked, handing her a pair of sunglasses. “Thanks.” She groaned and put them on. They did help with the sun making her head hurt worse. They drove in silence, and she fell asleep again.

The trip home was uneventful, and they got back right after nightfall. Lyrissa’s head was doing much better, but she was still slightly hung over; she hoped no one would notice. Logan jumped out of the jeep and started to head out when he noticed she was still sitting there with her eyes closed. “Ya okay?” he asked. “Head hurts, and I know it’s gonna be noisy up there. Allie’s gonna squeal when she sees us, Max and Dante are probably going to be arguing over something, Andrew’s probably still mad at everyone for his punishment, Jazz and Kiera are going to want a report on our weekend as soon as they find out we’re back… I wanna stay in the car.” She whined the last part. “I’ll have ‘em keep it quiet for ya.” He smirked and left the garage.

Lyrissa slowly walked to the living room with her bag nearly dragging on the floor behind her. “Shh, she’s coming. Mr. Logan said she’s sick and we gotta be quiet so hush!” Jamie hissed to everyone in the room. “You hush, you’re louder than we are trying to get us to be quiet!” Kiera retorted. “Children, please settle down.” Storm replied. Lyrissa could hear the smile in her voice.

“Welcome back!” Allie whispered excitedly as she ran over to Lyrissa. “Hey Al, told ya I’d be back.” She grinned and handed Logan back to her. “WOGAN!” she yelped happily and hugged the stuffed tiger tightly. “Why are you wearing sunglasses?” Jubilee asked as Lyrissa sat down on the couch. “Scotty just looks so cool with his I wanted to try it out. You don’t mind do ya Scotty?” she smirked, but Scott was less than amused. “Can I talk to you a minute?” he asked. “Awe, I just got home… can it wait?” she groaned. “No, now would be nice.” He pushed. “Fine.” She sighed and stood up slowly. “Be back in a few guys.” She added with a smile and followed him into the kitchen.

“Have you been drinking?” he demanded. “What?” she laughed.

“Answer me.”

“Okay, yeah I had a few last night. But I paid for it trust me.”

“You’re underage! What were you thinking?” he hissed.

“Scotty, calm down, I don’t even like the stuff. If Uncle Charlie wants me to clean bathrooms I will, but I don’t think it’s that big of a deal.”

“Lyrissa, you-”

“Scott, she is an adult.” Jean interrupted.

“She’s still not old enough to drink.”

“She’s old enough to make her own decisions. And according to Logan she paid the price for it this morning. Leave her be, and just be happy she’s home.”

“Jean,”

“Scott.” She mocked.

He sighed heavily and left the room. “Thanks.” Lyrissa mumbled. “The Professor knew you drinking last night, Logan told him this morning when he said you should come home.” She smiled.

“That’s right, he did tell Logan that. Is everything all right, what happened?”

“Nothing bad. Andrew was going insane trying to keep up with the kids the way you do, Allie was giving him twice the hard time she gives any of us, Kiera and Max were arguing like twins do, Jamie and Dante were fighting, and all of them refused to listen to him.”

“I told them to be good! I’m so sorry for that Jean.”

“They listened to us, just not Andrew. I think the girls are still mad at him for what he did, and the boys are mad because he won’t do anymore pranks with them.”

“As long as they weren’t too bad…”

“No they weren’t. Now come on, we wanna know all about your weekend.” She smiled and led Lyrissa back to the living room.

“So what happened?” Jubilee demanded when she sat down. “We drove all day, and stayed in some small town with a really nice woman named Julie, and then drove most of the next day and set up camp. We talked, swam, … I think we were singing at some point… yeah, we were. He’s a really bad singer, I remember now. Not a bad dancer though.” She laughed. “You get Wolverine to sing an’ dance wit you under de stars… sounds romantic, no?” Gambit commented with a smile. “Nothing like that happened Gambit.” She laughed. “How’d you get him to do all that stuff anyway?” Rogue asked. Lyrissa bit her lip, knowing that if she said they had gotten drunk all hell would break lose.

“What’s wong Spawkles?” Allie asked. “Nothing Allie.” She answered quickly. “Something ‘Rissa.” Kiera pushed.

“Hey Jen, you’re back!” Jack beamed as sat down on the floor next to the couch, “How was the trip?” he asked after getting comfortable. “It was great Jack.” She smiled. “Yeah, I asked Logan the same thing and he pretty much gave the same answer, but he was laughing when he walked away. Were you drinking? You get pretty fun when you drink.” He replied. “What? ‘Rissa doesn’t drink.” Kiera argued. “Yeah, isn’t she too young for that?” Jubilee added. “How old are ya Jen?” he asked. “Nineteen.” She mumbled; she knew this was going to start an argument. “NINETEEN? You didn’t tell me that at the races!” he exclaimed. “Age didn’t come up Jack. Knock it off.” She sighed. “Lyrissa, is that how you two ended up singing and dancing? You got drunk?” Jazz demanded. “Yes, it is. I wasn’t gonna tell you because you’d flip out like this. Guys, it’s not like I’m gonna be drinking all the time, I hardly drink ever.” She explained. “Yeah, what else did you do this weekend, sleep with him?” she retorted. Jazz couldn’t stand when someone she trusted, and or admired, lied to her. “Jazz,” “No, just don’t. And my name’s Kyla, Jazz is the name my friends and family call me; you just lost that title for lying to me all this time.” She interrupted harshly and left the room.

“Sorry Jen… I didn’t know they didn’t know.” Jack sighed, he wasn’t used to Lyrissa being Lyrissa instead of Karma, and it was impossible for him to get used to. “It’s okay Jackie. Either she’ll come around, or she won’t. I just hope it’s the first one.” She replied. “Awe come on sugar, don’t let a little drama ruin a good weekend. She’ll come to her senses.” Rogue smiled. “An’ if she don’t, it’s her loss. Life ain’t de same without a little sparkle, no?” Gambit added, spinning an Ace between his fingers.

“Whoa! Did you guys see that? What her hair just did?!” Jack gasped as Lyrissa’s hair started to glitter again. “Uh-huh. It does that when she’s happy.” Allie answered cheerfully. “Why do you think we call her ‘Sparkles’?” Jean laughed. “You don’t, they do.” Lyrissa corrected. “Ain’t true, Sparkles.” Gambit teased. It was amazing to Jack how quickly a mood would change in this mansion.

“Hey, knock it off fat-head!” Max screamed suddenly from upstairs. “Make me, stink-breath!” Dante retorted. Jamie burst out in a fit of laughter as soon as the arument came into earshot. “Again? Don’t those boys ever quit?” Rogue sighed. “Guys, please… stop.” Andrew pleaded. “Shut up Andrew, you don’t know nothin’ about this!” Max argued. “You shut up Max! Not his fault you’re a big baby!” Dante spat, followed by his own cry of pain. “Apparently not.” Jean answered. “GUYS! Come on, Lyrissa’s back… shouldn’t you say hi or something?” Andrew pleaded. Jamie just kept laughing while everyone else watched and listened.

“What’s the fight about this time?” Lyrissa asked him. “Well, Max and Dante were playing, and Dante hit him. They started arguing a lot. Then Dante started making fun of Kiera, and she stuck her tongue out at him, and he pushed her. Max got mad and hit Dante, and then Cyclops broke them up. He left, and they started fighting again, but Rogue stopped it. Then at dinner they started fighting again and Gambit said if they didn’t knock it off he’d beat them with his bow staff. Then they went upstairs, and started yelling at each other. Professor-X sent them to different rooms, but now I guess they’re fighting again!” he answered. “Jean, you should’ve telepathically knocked them out or something.” She laughed. “I was tempted.” She replied lightly.

“Hey! Enough guys go downstairs. Dante, come with me we’ll get some ice for your lip. Max, you’re in so much trouble…” Andrew ranted as he practically dragged the two down into the living room. Dante’s lip was bleeding, and Max looked like he was ready to kill. “Max what’d you do?!” Kiera demanded as Andrew sat him down next to Gambit. “Hit me.” Dante answered.

“You started it stupid.”

“Did not, stupid.”

“You did to! You’ve been mean all day, it’s not my fault I hit you, you were being a jerk!”

“Was not, you were!”

“You were making fun of Kiera!”

“Because she’s stupid, and looks funny!”

Max flew off the chair next to Gambit and tackled Dante to the ground.

“Take it back!”

“No, she is stupid and ugly!”

“Is not, take it back!”

They would’ve killed each other if Andrew and Gambit didn’t pull them off each other and hold them back. “Guys, what the heck?” Lyrissa demanded. “Dante feels like Wogan does when he’s with you Spawkles wight now.” Allie commented. “What?” Rogue asked. “When Wogan sees Spawkles, he gets all funny. I don’t know, he feels diffewent. Dante feels like that wight now, and whenevew he’s with Kiewa.” She explained. “It seems Logan and Lyrissa’s is not the only new relationship in this mansion.” Storm commented. “Yes it is! I don’t have a crush on that!” Dante protested. “Enough Dante, come on. We gotta ice your lip.” Andrew said quickly, and pulled him into the kitchen.

“What’d I do?” Kiera asked tearfully, Dante had really hurt her feelings with the things he had said. “Nothing child.” Storm smiled warmly. “Kiera, lemme share a secret with you. Boys are stupid.” Lyrissa laughed. “Hey!” Gambit, Jamie, and Max said in unison. “When you like a girl you are. I mean, Gambit look how you act around Rogue!” she explained. “She’s got a point sugar.” Rogue winked.

“I think we should have this talk tomorrow. I know you’re tired Lyrissa, and it’s getting late. We should all be going to bed.” Jean announced. “Yeah, I like that idea. I’ll see you all tomorrow.” Lyrissa yawned. “Yeah, night guys!” Max shouted before taking off. “Not so fast. You ain’t goin’ nowhere ‘till we end dis fight.” Gambit said as he quickly grabbed the back of Max’s shirt.

Lyrissa walked up to her room and fell asleep to the sounds of arguing boys, and exhausted adults. Even Xavier was nearing the end of his rope with those two.