Ice Cold
an X-Men story
by Niki
"Now," Storm said matter of factly, "take the ice and create a pathway for yourself. If you can not only command, but control the ice, you can more readily take those opposing you by surprise."
Bobby nodded. He was used to creating ice sculptures, and freezing his friends doors shut - as a tease. But, he had highly doubted that he would be able to use his powers for anything useful. Sure, he could put out Pyro's fires. Pyro... No, he couldn't think about that now.
He created a path of ice and stepped on it. No sooner had his foot hit the ice than he started to slip. He fell straight down.
"Again," Storm commanded.
He nodded. This time laying the ice and getting a bit of a running go, before stepping on the ice and falling on his back.
Again and again. Falling and falling. Every once in a long while he'd get a few feet, and then fall again.
He tried icing his shoes, but that just made him shiver with cold. In the end, he was frustrated, freezing, and sniffling.
"Well," Storm soothed. "Nobody gets it on their first try."
He shot her a sideways glance.
"Or even their first hundred. Go take a hot shower and get warmed up. We'll try again another day."
On the way back to his room, he started to shake more violently. The chill of his shoes had not left his body. The more his shook, the more tired he became. And the more tired he became, the more his nose tickled.
"You all right?" a sweet southern accent asked him. Without even looking up he could see the face of an angel.
"Yea," he lied. He knew he wasn't all right, but he didn't want to worry the newest edition to the School either.
Rogue looked at him skeptically. He didn't even look at her and she could tell he was lying. His face and ears were all flushed, and his nose was twitching in the most intoxicating way.
"You-""Heh-kesh!" he sneezed quickly, directing the spray away from her. He sniffed a few times, but the tickle was still there. "Heh-kesh! Kessh! Kish!" He wiped his nose on the cuff of his sleeve.
"You're not okay, are you?" she asked.
Silently, he shook his head no and continued the walk back to his room.
Rogue kept in step with him. "What happened? You seemed fine at lunch."
"Storm and I were practicing enhancing my powers, and - Heh-ke-tish!" he sniffed, then continued, "I didn't use my ice wisely. I chilled myself."
She cracked a smile. "You gave yourself this cold...with your own powers?"
He didn't see what was so funny about it. "Yea." He cleared his throat. It was starting to feel scratchy.
She smiled, humored at the irony - though she could tell he wasn't in the mood to joke about it. "Come on," she instructed gently. "Let's get you a cup of tea and off to bed."
He shook his head. "I just want a shower, and off to bed." He sniffed again.
"All right. Well, while you take a shower, I'll make you a nice cup of tea, and bring it to you in bed. How does that sound?"
Typically, he didn't like people fussing over him. But, now that sounded delightful. "Sounds great."
Rogue met him in his bedroom a half an hour later.
"I was beginning to think you weren't coming," he said, already tucked under the covers.
"Well, I didn't want to catch you in any compromising positions," she answered, sitting down on the edge of the bed.
A sneezy look crossed his face. "Heh-Kessh! Hep-Kessh! Keh-Tishh!"
"Bless you!"
"Thangs," he said, as he grabbed a tissue from his bedside table and blew his nose fully.
"Here," she said, handing him the tea, when he was finished.
"Thanks," he said between sips. The tea was delightfully sweetened, and made him feel pleasently sleepy. When he was finished he sank below the covers.
"You sleep well," Rogue soothed gently, turning off the light and taking his tea cup with her.
"I will," he promised, and he did.
To Symphonyflute
Some spoilers for the first movie. Also, not my characters. I make no money off of this. Don't sue.