2013.05.16 - Playing with Fire

It's night time in Metropolis and in the area around the University students are spilling out onto the streets from the clubs and bars that surround the campus. At one particular club, there's quite an audience for one of the new bands that are gaining popularity. The flyer describes them as 'thrash punk metalheads', whatever that means, but they seem to be quite popular, going by the numbers that have filled the small venue. Maybe it's the sheer volume that's attractive - there's a wall of sound bludgeon the audience as the band fight their way towards the end of the first half of their set.

Standing apart from the surging mosh pit and managing to decently blend in with the crowd for a change, Jonothon Starsmore stands watching the band with his hands shoved deep in the pockets of his leather jacket and a highly critical look on his visible features. However, he occasionally taps his toe in time with the drummer, which in his world is probably high praise.

It doesn't matter how long the line is out front, or if they're 'over 21', Illyana always gets into the clubs she wants. It's hard to keep a teleporter out. The buzz brought her here instead of to groups she's more familiar with and while both the metal and punk sides seem to share a love of black leather the spikes and skulls that tends to show up on her outfit shows which side of the divide she leans towards. The boots climb all the way up to her knees, thick soles giving her an extra inch or two of height. The buckles that march up the outside of her calves are in the shape of silver skulls. Leather pants ride low on her hips, a thin chain wrapping around twice but not really a belt to speak of. Her top is a simple tank-top, any jacket left behind in the warmpth of the club. Spiked bracelts circle her wrists and there's the glitter of silver rings on her fingers. Streaks of blue color the long, blonde hair which is something of an anomoly in this group.

While Jono stands apart from the Pit, Illyana is within it, letting the music move her body a hell of a lot more than the taciturn Jono. The crowd surges and ebbs like the tide, giving glimpses of her amidst the press of bodies. When the group ends the set, the silence is almost more deafening than the noise, soon to be filled up by applause and roars of approval from the crowd. The tight knot of people at the front of the stage start to break up and pull apart as the band takes a break.

It would be generous to claim that Jono doesn't spot Illyana in the surging crowd because his attention is focused entirely on the band, but the truth is, he's simply unobservant. He's here for the music, not the audience, and gives every appearance of being exasperated by both as the music thunders to a close and the set ends. As the audience starts to drift towards the bar, Jono stands apart by... well... standing apart, noticeably on his own and one of the few who doesn't tumble out onto the street, hit the bar or turn to their friends to strike up conversation. He just kind of... lingers, like he's not sure what to do with himself. It's only then that he starts to scan the crowd, but his gaze drifts straight over Illyana. He's not accustomed to seeing her out of uniform, so to speak. Whereas his battered black leather jacket, black T-shirt, black jeans and boots seems to be his own uniform of sorts - it's the only thing he ever appears to wear. That and the scarf, as always wrapped around his lower face. Or lack thereof.

As Illyana makes her own way towards the bar, the break-up of the Pit allowing her to see beyond the press of bodies, she catches sight of Jono almost at the same time as he does her. While she mostly blends with the crowd save for the bright gold of her hair, he doesn't in the way he stands apart. People even seem to move around him without ever noticing, leaving him a generous bubble of personal space. The blonde pauses, head tilting over to one side and a brow arches. There's the slightest curve to her lips, the hint of an almost mocking smirk. Her direction shifts and instead of the bar she walks over towards him. "Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in."

Jono stares blankly at the blonde approaching him and there's actually a moment before recognition finally dawns in his eyes. His gaze flickers downwards, then up to meet her eyes and he quirks a questioning eyebrow. "< Evening, luv, >" he responds, dryly, his telepathic speech sounding just noticeably odd, as usual. "< You look a bit... different, >" he offers, vaguely. He doesn't give any indication as to whether that's a good thing or not. "< I didn't figure on seeing any of you lot around here. Something's not about to explode, is it? >"

"You'd be surprised how different I can look at times." Illyana says, somewhat dryly. His up-down appraise of (presumably) her attire just has her putting a hand on one cocked hip and standing there for him to take a look. No, she didn't tend to bring out the black leather at Xavier's much, and Jono wasn't there long enough to see it. Once he's done she lets her own icy gaze slide down over his attire and then flick back up to meet his eyes. "You on the other hand... look pretty much the same." Now the smirk's there, that familiar expression of hers. The intimation has her arching a brow again. "What do I look like, an X-Man?" She gives a derisive snort, head giving a nod off in one direction. "I go to MetU."

"< Hard to tell. You could be under cover, >" Jono remarks dryly. "< And if you were, expecting something to explode at any moment would be a logical assumption. Happens a lot when anyone wearing an X is around, >" he comments cynically, then gives a shrug that's about as close as he gets to being expressive without using his eyebrows. "< Hopefully not before the second set. This lot aren't as terrible as I thought they might be, >" he says grudgingly. High praise again. He shoots Illyana another quick glance, appraising her outfit once more and then remarks, "< But no, you don't look like an X-man in that getup. I couldn't see Summers tottering about in boots like those. >"

"I'm not wearing an X. You're confusing me with my big brother. Which means your eyesight is going along with your voice because man, we look nothing alike." Illyana says in that oh-so-dry manner of hers. She steps over closer, ignoring that wild bubble of personal space that everyone else gives him and nudges him towards the stairs that lead up. "C'mon. Let's get some air. You can tell me what you've been up to." That he might not want to share? Yeah, that's sort of ignored. "And don't diss my boots, or I'll put one up your ass." She says, smirking at him again.

"< You mean you and Doug aren't still making some poor kid's life hell? Good news, >" Jono responds, with equal deadpan. Although it's hard to be anything but expressionless when you haven't got a face to emote with. He gives the boots a deliberate appraising stare and then shrugs again. "< I wouldn't dare diss the boots. If you can walk in those, you deserve a ruddy medal. >" As if to challenge Illyana to do so he starts to drift towards the stairs as indicated, although there's a flick of an eyebrow on the way. "< You do remember I don't /need/ air, right? >"

"Not like, air-air." Illyana says, giving him a withering sort of look even as she hooks her arm through his without ever asking and heads up the stairs with him. "Don't go all literal on me, Brit-boy." A slight huff of amusement comes at the reference to the new Young X-Men program. "You heard about that, huh?" She shrugs her shoulders. "It's mostly Doug's thing. I pitch in, but it's easier to scare them if they don't see me as much y'know? Besides, I've been busy." Yeah, the kids need trained. But they've got a whole village up at the mansion for that. Illyana proves, by the way, that she can walk in those boots. And make it look good.

Jono looks askance at Illyana's arm through his, as if he half expects it to bite or something, but resists any urge to pull away. He's more of a believer in personal space than she is, apparently, but for once lets it slide. It might help that she's an attractive blonde, of course. Allowing himself to be guided up the stairs, he remarks back, "< Yeah, I heard a few things from the old alma mater. Still turning kids into soldiers, I guess, >" he adds, cynically as they step out onto the street. There's still lots of people around, but some of the throng has dispersed.

"Only the ones that want to be. That'd be doing it anyway, but without the training." Illyana argues, looking up at him. "You don't think I'm pitching in because I *like* playing teacher do you? If they're gonna jump into the fire I want to make sure they don't get burned too bad." Because they will get burned. Hurt. Possibly maimed and dead. "Hell, Doug's *been* dead. You think he wants to see that happen to any of the kids?" She shakes her head. "Too many of 'em wanna be the next Superman or Captain America. If I can't scare 'em back to just being kids..." She hitches a shoulder upwards. "Then they're gonna be stupid."

Jono raises an eyebrow in response to Illyana's arguments and for a moment that's the only answer she gets. He carries on pacing, getting a little space between them and them rest of the crowd that's lingering outside the entrance. It might well draw attention to them otherwise - the guy with the scarf and the blonde apparently responding to a conversation only she can hear. He stops his pacing after a moment and turns back to Illyana and gives another of those expressive shrugs. "< I thought you said you weren't wearing the X, >" he says, but there's nothing malicious in his tone. Just deadpan teasing if anything.

"Doesn't mean I won't put it on." Illyana replies with a curve to her lips, teasing back in equal measure. "But it's not who I am, living off away from the world, waiting for it to attack me so I've got something to hit." Which is almost amusing, given that Limbo is about as 'away from the world' as you can get. Even if she doesn't 'live' there. "I still have family there." And she doesn't just mean Piotr. "You don't walk out on family." Is she implying something? Probably. Hard to tell just what, though.

"< Depends on the family, >" Jono responds back, mildly. "< Sometimes family can be a right royal pain in the arse, princess. >" He blinks slowly, then his eyes drift away to gaze down the street at nothing much. Apparently he's suddenly someplace else. And then he shrugs again, about the only movement he makes - his hands haven't left his pockets in hours now - and he's back in the room. "< I think you look better without the X, anyway, luv. That outfit's more flatterin' without it, >" he says, somewhat awkwardly.

Illyana hasn't bothered to pull her arm free of his, the illusion that he's escorting her like some proper gentleman ruined of course by the fact he's got his hands shoved into his pockets. "Well, sometimes you've gotta be selective about your family, hmm? His awkward comment gets a low chuckle. "I'm sorry Jono, was that actually a compliment?" She bumps his hip with hers as they come to a stop off away from the crowd and in the fall of some shadows. "So what have you been up to, hmm?"

"< Probably, >" Jono responds dryly. "< It's been so long since I've had to use one, I've forgotten how they work. >" Again, the slight flick of the eyebrow, about as playful as Jono gets. But the bump of hips gets a more questioning look before he eventually responds. "< Oh, I've been around. This and that. Mutant Town's not bad. Almost fit in there. Even a face like mine doesn't raise too many eyebrows. It's when I'm slumming it up here with you pretty things that I have to keep a low profile. >"

"See, now that time it wasn't a compliment so much." Illyana notes, though the smirk says she doesn't care. She's never been particularly vain about her looks. "Eh, I get why folks congregate in Mutant Town but it's almost as bad as the mansion. Living apart." But she doesn't go into any kind of rant about it. Like he said, she's one of the 'pretty things'. She can pass. It's easy to find fault with things when you're not the one dealing with the issues.

"< I know better than to get too complimentary. I remember that brother of yours. Big guy. Built like a brick shit-house, >" Jono replies, casually. He goes to shrug again, but with Illyana still holding onto his arm and his hands still firmly wedged in his pockets, this time he forgoes it. "< But anyway, there's something more... honest about slumming it in Mutant Town than in a mansion. That never did sit right with me. >" Jonothon Starsmore - Power to the people! Right on!

Illyana finally slides her arm free of Jono's, finding a short wall to perch on so that she can look at him straight-on. The mention of her brother gets an amused huff of sound. "Yeaaaah. Run far and fast. He's all too keen on giving The Talk." She shakes her head in mild bemusement. His estimation gets a slight tilt of her head in something like a nod. "Less like you're hiding and leaving the other poor bastards to hang in the wind?" Those that have to scrape by for a meal because they can't get a job to pay for food. No cafeteria for them.

"< Something like that, >" concedes Jono. "< It's all right fighting for some glorious, far off dream, but sometimes I reckon you can do as much good just doin' the shopping for some poor bugger who can't leave his apartment because he's got tentacles for legs or for some old granny who can't make the stairs. It ain't glamorous and it ain't saving the world, but you want to live the dream of co-existance, then it starts with the mundane. >" He finally removes his hands from his pockets to make a vague, all encompassing gesture at the street around them. "< You know. Actually co-existing. >"

Illyana watches Jono with those cold, cold blue eyes. There isn't a lot of softer emotions there. No compassion or sympathy. It makes the tilt of her head seem... clinical. "Yeah. I don't do the 'out and proud' thing mostly because of Piotr. Magik is known to be Colossus' sister and looking at Piotr gets them the institute so..." She hitches a shoulder in shrug. "So you doing the big stuff along with the boyscout bit? Or just concerned with getting by?" It's hard to infer if she's being accusatory or just curious.

Jono narrows his eyes and there's a slightly pained look that passes across his features when Illyana compares him to a boy scout. Not really the image he goes for. But he doesn't argue point. He rubs his nose vaguely as he considers the question, then gives another shrug in reply. "< You've seen what I've got under here, >" he says, tapping the center of his chest - or where it would be if he had one under the shirt. "< I do everyone a favor when I /don't/ use my power. Me too. I spent my whole time in those training sessions back at school expecting to blow another bloody great hole in myself and I've not got any other bits left I'm willin' to lose. >"

Illyana takes a sort of sauntering step over, hands reaching out to pluck at the clothing he's got keeping his furnace under wraps like she's going to UNwrap him. Right here. On the street. "I dunno, it's pretty big as it is." Her tone's gone all innuendo-laden before she chuckles, which is odd because her expression sobers. "Not always, Jono. Not always. But I get not wanting to sacrifice any more of yourself."

Jono has a weird moment of frozen deer in headlights impression as Illyana draws close, her hands at his T-shirt, before his eyes harden and he grips her wrist. "< You shouldn't play with fire, luv, >" he says, probably quite literally, in a way. He meets her gaze steadily, then just shakes his head and releases his grip. "< I know it's your style, but I want to see the rest of the show, not to play the novelty light show, >" he says bitterly.

When Jono grabs hold of her wrist, she looks up at him and bears her teeth at him in an agressive sort of not-quite-smile. She doesn't try to pull free though, instead she just steps closer. Instead of just being close enough to pull at his shirt she steps in close enough that the front of her body brushes against his. It means she has to tilt her head farther back to look up at him, but it still feels like she's looking down at *him*. "I wouldn't do that to you, Jono."

"< Good thing, >" Jono responds after a moment, but there's a look of blank confusion on his face that doesn't disappear immediately this time. He clenches and unclenches his hands, as if he's not quite sure what to do with them, then leans slightly away - not far because of the wall behind him - brows knotting as he looks down at Illyana steadily. "< So, just what /are/ you tryin' to do to me, gel? >" he asks carefully.

Illyana's brows arch a bit, in amusement and maybe a touch of satisfaction as he backs away from her, giving ground. Then her expression eases into her more habitual smirk. "Sorry. I guess I'm playing with you, huh?" Now she takes a step back. It's slow. Done with reluctance. Clearly forcing herself to give that ground now.

"< Like I said, playing with fire, luv, >" Jono responds, but he doesn't have the same level of certainty he did in his tone when he was discussing the social scene. Who know that close proximity to an attractive blonde could shake his resolve? Well, Illyana, probably, and Jono's eyes dart away, gazing into the middle distance, trying to distract himself, apparently. "< I'm not sure I'm into the same sort of games as you are, >" he says eventually, his gaze returning to her as his hands once again make a move for the sanctuary of his pockets, as if he's trying to put them safely away where they can't do any harm.

"I grew up in hell, Jono." Is Illyana's placid reply to the idea of her own danger. That uncertainty, that shifting uncomfortableness has her rocking forward onto her toes briefly before settling back onto her heels with a quiet sigh. The smile she gives him then is pasted on. False. "No. I don't imagine you would be." She says with a slight nod of agreement. There's the flick of her chilly eyes to his hands as they slide into his pockets and then back up to his face. "How long do you think it'll last?" She asks then, apropos to nothing.

Jono blinks slowly, the uncertainty in his eyes only deepening at Illyana's reaction. Again his gaze drifts away, this time towards the club, as he tries to bring some context to her closing question. "< Uhhhh, >" he responds, managing to replicate a vague hum of uncertainty, even without a throat to do it with. "< The break, or this apparent desire to get me shirt off? >" he asks, apparently trying to bring some levity to the conversation. But it rings hollow, even in his own head.

It does get her lips to curl in that smirk of hers though. "Careful, Jono. You'll make me think you'd *like* me to get your shirt off, with a change of scenery." The mocking edge to her words comes oh-so-naturally to her. "Your little hide-out. Playing normal guy, and not the psionic equivalent of a nuclear reactor."

Jono doesn't appear to know quite how to react to Illyana's innuedo laden tone and it's a return to the deer in headlights look for a moment. "< I thought I was supposed to be the telepath, >" he offers eventually, but he's more than a little rusty with the whole flirtation thing and he sounds more panicked than anything. "< And I'm more normal in Mutant Town than most places, >" he adds as an aside. "< Up here... this is where I really have to play normal. But then I reckon, that's how most people feel every day, >" he says philosophically. "< Of course, most people are just screwed up and not likely to incinerate someone if they cough. >"

"Yeah, good luck with that." Illyana says dryly, a hint of cockiness there as well. Telepaths can't get into her head and oh, she knows it. She shakes her head at that panicked look of Jono's. "Relax Jono, it's not like I'm gonna eat you or anything." She does flash her event, white teeth though. "But it doesn't matter where you are. You're still *what* you are. Just as dangerous there as anywhere else."

"< And it's not like I'm about to eat /anything/, >" Jono responds with gallows humor. But there's a pause as the rest of Illyana's words hit home and there's a movement which looks like his hands being clenched in the pocket on his jacket as he looks upwards, not meeting Illyana's gaze. "< I've not forgotten that, >" he says, his tone now pained. "< I don't ever forget exactly what I am and what damage I can do, >" he adds, the bitterness rich in his tone.

That pain, that bitterness has Illyana's eyes narrowing again and she closes the already small distance between them with a pair of quick steps. With his hands fisted in his pockets he's probably going to be too slow to stop her from reaching out to grab that wrapped jaw so she can pull his gaze back down, forcing him to look at her. "No. You don't, do you. Not for a single second. You wallow in it, splash it on anyone that comes close. Let's take it one step further. Living in Mutant Town, you're putting the people that you actually give half a damn about at the most risk. But you know that, because you've taken yourself down this road before, haven't you?"

Jono might not have much of a jaw left to grab, but whatever there is under his scarf allows Illyana to twist his head to look at her. But his eyes can't meet hers and they flitter around under her sharp gaze. The shadows around his eyes deepen and hands spring out of his pockets, ready to push her away, but the strength appears to fade from them and instead he rather feebly lets them fall at his sides. "< What are you trying to do to me, gel? >" he echoes the earlier question. But this time his voice sounds lost, like it's coming from the bottom of a deep well.

Illyana doesn't let her hand fall, but her hold relaxes a bit, her thumb sweeping along the line where his jaw should be. "What are you trying to do to yourself, Jono?" She asks instead, voice soft. If it were anyone else, there might be some kind of sympathy or warmth in those blue eyes. But not Illyana's. They always have that element of emptiness. "You think I don't know?"

Jono's only real reaction is to blink rapidly, as if trying to clear some of the pain from his eyes, but he doesn't quite succeed. His fingers flex again and this time his hands move, jerking up to grip Illyana's hips as if to force her away, but it doesn't quite happen. Instead he just sort of... deflates under her gaze and asks weakly, "< What exactly /am/ I doing? >"

Jono can feel the thin chain around Illyana's hips, the bare skin above the low, hip-riding pants. "Punishing yourself. As if the world isn't going to do that for you." Her hand releases his jaw, but follows it back to rest her palm against his cheek. "I'm sorry you didn't find more of what you were looking for at Xavier's, Jono. But it doesn't look like you've found it at Mutant Towen either."

Jono flinches at the touch of Illyana's hand on his cheek, almost as if it physically hurts him and he snatches his hands away again, flexing his long fingers. "< There's no magical tree that regrows body parts /anywhere/. What do you expect me to say? >" he says, suddenly more forceful as the bitterness bubbles up again. "< Where /would/ you have me go? >" he almost snaps.

When Jono jerks back, she can't help herself. Demons have predatory instincts and she steps in again, crowding him against the wall as her fingertips trace the line of cracked skin above the scarf that hides the lower half of his face. "Probably not, no. Just like there's nothing that regrows a soul." So she sees something familiar in him. In his loss. "Somewhere where you feel like something more than a victim. Doing something that lets you forget, if only for a little while along the way, that you're miserable."

Jono's eyelids flicker rapidly and his gaze shifts again as he tries in vain to retreat further. It looks rather incongruous - the less physically imposing woman keeping him pinned up against the wall with only a touch - but the crowd has started to drift back inside, so there's fewer people to observe their strange dynamic. The nervy look starts to return to Jono's eyes and there's silence before he eventually responds, "< Uh... I guess... If you wanted to. I can't exactly promise roses petals, candles and wine, though, luv. >"

There's a slow blink, and a slight squinting of those icy blue eyes. Illyana's head tilts over, just a bit and there's a slight furrow in her brow. It takes a few moments, gears turning to try to figure out what rose petals, candles and wine have to do with anyth--then her brows go up and there's a low chuckle. "If you think going on a date with me is a good way to avoid being miserable you obviously don't know me very well, do you Jono?" Her tone has that dry, cutting sort of sarcastic humor to it. But is it all for him alone? Or maybe herself in equal measure.

"< I didn't say date, I thought you just wanted a s... nevermind, >" Jono responds hurriedly, his face suddenly going blank again as he acknowledges that his wires have got thoroughly crossed. "< Uhhh, >" he says uncertainly, then eyes narrow and again he tries to put some pace between them, but only ends up attempting to burrow through a brick wall with his shoulderblades. "< So, if yer weren't talking about... socializin', what /were/ you talking about? >" he asks, hollowly.

There's another brief furrow of Illyana's brow as he makes the not-quite-correction. "Flowers and candles and wine. Aren't those the hallmarks of dating?" Jono might recall he's never seen nor heard of Illyana dating while he was at Xavier's, but it's not like he was there long. Despite being pretty enough, no one ever considered asking out the demon queen. He might catch a break though, his squirming attempt to gain some space seems to amuse her, given that flash of teeth in a wicked grin. It eases after only a moment though, and she hitches a shoulder. "Something. Anything. I didn't have a *what* in mind for you, it's your life. More an observation. And if you wanted help finding it, maybe an offer."

Jono hesitates and then his eyes narrow further and he gives a sudden, firm nod. "< An offer? I see. That the idea? To make my current life sound so worthless that you can slip me whatever you're sellin'? >" His cynicism doesn't take too long to bubble to the surface and it's small wonder that people don't often get close to him when he's quick to think the worse. He sidesteps, attempting to scoot away from the wall and give himself some more of the personal space he values so much. But he doesn't go far and just gives a half-resigned shrug of his shoulders. "< Okay, hit me. Let's hear it. >"

"Your brain's just going a mile a minute there, isn't it? Maybe it says something, the way you're connecting dots." Illyana says, eyes narrowing a bit in thought. When he goes to slide away, she lets her fingers catch on the edge of his coat so he needs to pull but she doesn't slide to the side with him to keep him trapped. "I meant an offer to help you. Either to find it or make it happen. I never said your life was worthless, or what you're trying to do is worthless. Just that it's not giving you any peace. Not even a little."

Jono glowers at Illyana for a moment as she grabs the railing edge of his jacket, bit his expression softens as she talks and he gives another, less expressive, shrug. "< Okay. Maybe you didn't say that, >" he concedes, but not exactly graciously. But his tone eases as he speaks. "< Look, I appreciate it. I do. But it's not that easy and I ain't sure that /anyone/ can help me be happy with the way I've ended up. It's like a phantom limb, luv. I keep having twinges in the heart I don't have any more. Not sure what you could do to help me with that. You've got demons of your own to fight. >" Literally, if Jono only knew it.

The glower only gets another quick flash of those white teeth. Like they should be pointed so they could be put on feral display. She doesn't seem bothered by his tone, nor the lack of actual 'I'm sorry' as he makes his admission. "If it were easy you'd have done it already." Illyana points out, leaning her own shoulder against the wall he's had his back to and still lurking at a distance that's uncomfortably close for a lot of people. "You're not getting the pieces back. Not with any realism. Not even in the circles we turn in. So stop thinking about what you're missing for a bit. What else are you feeling? What else do you *want*. Because there's obviously stuff you still want, or else you wouldn't be here."

"< Oh? Where would I be, luv? The Bahamas? >" Jono responds, sarcastically. "< Even if I wanted to say goodbye cruel world, not easy when you're like me, >" he remarks, dryly, but more practically than self-pityingly. He turns his gaze back to Illyana and then his shoulders slump, as if he'd be sighing if he had lungs. "< I don't feel anything much. And what I want ain't going to happen either. About all I want is to be left alone. >" It's a bold speech, but an unconvincing one. Even the least adapt at understanding human nature could spot that Jono's last statement doesn't exactly ring true.

Illyana's blue eyes seem to loose a few shades, becoming an even paler blue. "I can do that." She tells him, without emotional inflection. "I could drop you off in the Bahamas. I could put you on a deserted island. I can put you in a cave, tuck you away where you can never hurt the world again." She pauses, her expression and tone still oh-so-empty of emotion. "And that the world could never hurt you again." Even the playfulness of those predatory tendencies have faded from her eyes now, and now they're as empty and bleak as Siberia in winter.

"< The Bahamas would do. Somewhere with suntan lotion. I burn easy, >" Jono responds, sardonically. Then his own head tilts to one side and he regards Illyana thoughtfully. "< Sounds like you've considered it yourself, sunshine, >" he says blandly. "< Maybe we should try it. What do you reckon? A few months on a tropical island somewhere. Reckon that'd sort us both out? >" he asks, ironically.

The smile Illyana gives Jono isn't one of her more usual smirks. But it doesn't warm her eyes any, either. "No." She says, tone gone soft. "It wouldn't." She doesn't respond to the other statements. They weren't questions, were they? "Stop lying to yourself, Jono. You don't want to be alone. Maybe you don't want people crowding you," Like she's been doing, "But even though you don't need to worry about things like oh, eating, you're here. In not only a city, but *The City*." As the locals like to call it. "Even if it's dangerous to you and to them, when you could have wandered off to live in a cave, you're here. So quit lying to yourself and find the things that make you forget about what you've lost."

"< So you're saying I should abandon my plans to get you into a bikini, huh? >" Jono asks, rhetorically. There's not much humor in the way he poses the suggestive comment, however. It seems more like a distraction technique to avoid trying to confront the home truths Illyana might be delivering. "< That'd probably make me forget a /few/ bad things. >" But he's no more convincing in his flirtation than he is in his denial and he just shoves his hands a little deeper into his pockets and shrugs dismissively.

Illyana gives a soft huff of breath, amused even if his humor falls flat. "Maybe. But I'd place a bet that you'd find a way to make it cause you to remember a few bad things, too. Because it'd just be the most surface-level distraction." She tilts her head back towards the club. "The music in there gets you lost longer and deeper'n than anything I might wear would. Because it means something to you."

"< I wouldn't bet on that, luv. I'd have to see for meself to judge, >" Jono says dryly and then follows Illyana's glance back towards the club. The crowd that had spilled out onto the sidewalk have mostly dispersed, leaving only a few stragglers and all the signs are there that the band have started their second set. "< Maybe we should go see for ourselves, eh? >" It seems to be Jono's way of saying he's opened up about as much as he's willing to for now.

Illyana watches him with that too-knowing sort of look. The kind that makes you feel like your soul is out there in display. Finally though, she pushes away from the wall, turning and sliding her arm around his as he's trapped his hands in his pockets again. "C'mon then, hmm? You actually got up the energy to show up. Would be mean of me not to let you catch the whole act."

"< Yeah. You're a terrible distraction, >" Jono responds, meeting Illyana's gaze with a blank one of his own and he starts to mask his emotions once again. However, he doesn't attempt to break the grip of her arm through his. He might even be making the effort to lean towards her slightly as he ambles back in the direction of the entrance. "< And if they have a terrible second set, we've got the desert island to fall back on, right? >"

"Let's shoot for tropical over desert, because you do burn." Illyana says, smirking up at him a bit as she reiterates his little joke. She tucks her other arm into his too, as if she were playing the role of arm-candy as they saunter back inside. "It's always sunny and peaceful somewhere, and it's easy to run away."