December 30. Two days before the New Year. Big deal.
It was still the previous year. The 'old' year. Not that he considered the New Year to be such a big thing to begin with. It was just time doing its job. Time.
It had been 21 days since he had last talked to Red. Twenty one days without her frustrating green eyes, her frustrating soft voice, her frustrating red hair, her... just her. Twenty one days. And he had realized why she was so goddamn frustrating.

She was a telepath. He hated telepaths by default. He couldn't stand them. He was too pessimistic, too mistrusting of human nature to give telepaths the benefit of the doubt. They had their powers, and he was fully convinced they'd misuse them if they found it fit to do so. All mutants used their powers. The powers were a natural part of their bodies, their minds, and their identity. Denial was possible, but the fact remained, a mutant's powers were a large part of their self. Mutants used their powers. Telepaths were too mutants. And if they wanted to, they'd abuse their powers. Nothing could convince him of otherwise. Especially not of topside telepaths.

Topsider. He knew the Morlocks had influenced him during his earlier years to distrust of the topside, and he recognized their influence on him. But he was perhaps worse. It wasn't just the topside. He was almost a misanthrope. The Morlocks were his soft spot because they were the underground mutants, but it wasn't as much affiliation as a familial devotion. That was the strong reason he had always refused to turn the Morlocks into a bigger society, maintaining it as a small group. He didn't see the Morlocks as the underground division as opposed to the topsiders. They were just a small group of mutants; allied together for no worldly reason but that they had been forsaken by the rest of the world. He knew there had been some differences of opinion amongst the Morlocks for his view on their alliance. Callisto for one, had always sought to make the group a larger community, to gather more mutants for the underground. He had never allowed it, and that was because it wasn't the underground vs. the topside for him. No, it was them vs. the rest of the world. The topside happened to coincide with the rest of the world, that was all.

He truly was a cynic. A pessimist through and through.
Red was an optimist. He didn't understand why. She wasn't naive per say. But she was an optimist. He didn't see the world in her perspective and she didn't see the darkness in his. If the very basis of their beliefs differed so much, how could they agree on anything? Maybe that was why they never seemed to. In both the conversations he'd had with Red, he had ended up leaving aggravated. They had no similarities. They had no neutral agreements. They had nothing.

This proved that emotions had nothing to do with logic and reasoning.

He had realized why he found her so damn frustrating.
It was everything that had been said, her powers, her personality, her views, but there was that one extra factor he didn't need.

And he knocked on her door at 2 a.m. because he had just realized what it was.

It was late, or at least it seemed that way. The photo shoot had lasted past midnight and Jean was just glad to be back at the mansion. She could have stayed in a hotel room in the city but she wanted to crawl into her own bed. Once she arrived back she took a shower and sat down at her computer while dryer her hair. She began to work on a paper for school when she realized that it was almost 2am. At that moment she knew she needed to get some sleep, the paper could wait. Lately it seemed that her modeling career was cutting into her school work and that needed to stop. She had enough in her bank accounts to last for sometime. School was more important.

Jean slid on a tank top that just covered her chest and matching light pink boy shorts when someone knocked on the door. A quick glance in the mirror showed that she was decent for 2 am. Everything essential was covered, but you could tell what she looked like under the cloths. At the moment Jean really didn't care she just wanted to get some sleep and wake up to breakfast. A quick buzz with her mind showed that she had no idea who was on the other side, which was strange.

A name popped into the back of her head but there wasn't a chance in hell he was knocking on her door at 2am. Jean walked forward and turned the door handle pulling it open slightly. Her green eyes peeked out and for a moment shock showed on her face. It was him. It took about two seconds for her to realize that she was staring. Jean pulled the door open the rest of the way and motioned for him to come in. At least her room was clean, and tidy. She was thankful that she had an extra large bedroom and not a dorm sized room. That was a perk of being older and almost a teacher.

Once her had entered and closed the door she turned to look at him, her eyes search him up and down while a small voice in the back of her head was wondering why he was at her door. Jean really didn't care why he was there, she was just glad to see him. It had been 21 days since she had last seen him in the hallway when he had shut the lights down, they were long days all 21 of them. Jean didn't know if it was because she was tired or maybe since she hadn't seen him in so long but she wanted to run her fingers through his hair, she wanted to see how those lips tasted. She tired to push those thoughts way in vain.

There was no answer for a moment, and he considered leaving just when the door opened. Creaked open, revealing those vivid green eyes. It would have been hard to miss her surprise, but he wasn't known for social calls. Of course then she opened the door fully to invite him in, and he was startled as his gaze ran over her. A tank top and shorts. Not the most effective wardrobe for the purposes of his visit. He still had the same clothes on from the day, a pair of loose blue jeans and a charcoal t-shirt, with a loose black shirt left unbottoned over it. The weather was cold outside, the snow piled on the lawn and with more to come over the course of the night, but the mansion was warm, and as he didn't get cold too easily, there was no need for many layers.

For him anyway.
"Put something on," it wasn't so much a request as a veiled imperative, one not very well veiled at that. But here she was and she had a tank top and shorts on. Somewhat close fitting, at that. He couldn't talk to her like that, he was used to her... wearing more than that. He hadn't looked at her since his entry, and that was going to wait until she was wearing more than just the light pink set of clothes.

He was still standing just inside the doorway, not leaning on the wall or the door nor seemingly inclined to do so at any point in the nearby future, just standing there. His tone was vaguely irritable, but mostly neutral. Apathetic, almost. But as he was actually commenting, he could hardly be as apathetic as he seemed at the moment. More could be inferred from the fact that the three words had preceded any and all other words, even taking priority over the greeting, though then again, considering that it was him, greetings weren't always given. Even if he had barged into someone else's room at 2 a.m. unexpectedly.

Had he had this miniature 'revelation' on a more practical hour, that would have been nice, but nothing ever was 'revelated' at the convenient hours of 3 p.m. or even after dinner. He was getting better sleep now; after discharging two weeks ago to short out an entire Danger Room simulation, he had figured out that sleep came more easily after the large discharges, as it had been the case when he had unintentionally taken out the hallway in the previous conversation with Red. The strange 'visions' he had figured out partly, as they had cleared up some rather than presenting what seemed more 'visual static' than anything else, but he wasn't sure it was a good thing that his powers seemed to be advancing more. One good thing however was that now he was blocking out the tv/radio broadcasts effortlessly.

He had gotten a warning from the recent discussion with the telepath of the mansion, Charles Xavier, which he had been unable to refuse after refusing all the ones before. Apparently it might not be the best to shut out a portion of his powers like that, but he would do as he thought best with his powers, not what the telepath thought best. There had been one bright note in their brief conversation however; the telepath mentioned some sort of telepathic interference that seemed to be a part of his power advancements. Under-developed, but something he could definitely appreciate. Losing a few nights', or weeks as it had previously been, sleep would be endurable as long as there were results like that.

He looked her over although she wasn't sure if I was the same kind of glance as she gave him. Then he glanced away and she wasn't sure why, a quick look down at her clothing still let her wondering what was wrong with it. Bezerker then spoke and told her to put something on. Shock then disbelief showed on her face for a moment. “Its Two am. I am getting ready to sleep. I am not going to change because you tell me too.” Jean's voice was firm, this wasn't something she was going to back down on. She was tired and ready for bed. Thankfully, she was going to get to sleep in her bed tonight and get some deep sleep. Rather that is her plan but now Bezerker was at her door demanding that she puts some more clothes on.

“You can come in, I did invite you. Or are you repulsed by my shorts and tanktop?” Then her eyes opened wide for a moment as a revelation came to her. “Wait is it the pink color?” Sarcasm filled her voice which was unlike her. Yet, what could she saw it was really late and after that shoot she needed sleep. While she liked modeling, having all those eyes on you, then hearing the thoughts slip in blocking out your own slowly ate away at her nerves.

Jean went over to her mini fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. Yet, she paused and wondered if she should pull out the wine she had. “I take it that this must be important since it is pretty late...” She went with the water just to be safe, and walked over to her bed, which she promptly sat on, Indian style. “So, are you going to join me?” Jean looked him over just barely being able to see him from her current location. hopefully she hadn't offended him too much with her sarcasm and snippy remarks.

“It has been sometime since I have seen you...” Her thoughts went back to the hallway when she had last laid her eyes on him. She had asked him to stop and he had kept on going. Jean had taken that as a rejection although she bet he didn't have any idea what she had offered to him in that moment when she had asked him to stop. She didn't do well with rejection so on the different shoots she had flirted and gone out on some dates. Yet, she still thought of him at night or when her mind was wandering. She wanted to seek him out but she had decided to wait, and now he was at her doorway.

Who was caustic now? Sarcasm aside, why had she even opened the door to let him in if she was going to be difficult? Of course his barging in at two a.m. wasn't likely the highlight of her day, but she should have just refused him if she was going to be difficult.
He had just been about to turn to leave when she mentioned the likely importance of his visit. Now it made it seem as if this was a huge, impressive matter. He was still standing by the door. Actual hesitation was a difficult find on the electrokinetic male, but he was hesitating. He wasn't anxious. Nervous wasn't the word for it either. He needed to be less impulsive. Think things through before acting. At least think things through more than once. And not act at two a.m. when even Red had more of a bite along with bark.

He walked in, reaching the center of the room to pull out the chair by the desk, dragging it further to stop in front of the bed, with the back towards it. He sat down before actually commenting, sitting on the chair backwards, leaning partially on the back of the chair.
"I'll leave if you want."
Of course, having sat down already, the words seemed more formality than sincerity, but he had every intention of leaving if she asked him right now. People did sleep after all, and unlike his rather free schedule, he suspected Red had things to do in the morning. Of course if she didn't ask him to leave right now, he was going to say what he came to say and leave anyway, but the redhead probably knew better than to expect better manners of him by now.

Although, there was one matter that needed clearing up even if she wanted to sleep rather than deal with him right now.

Most people would start off a conversation with light topics. Discuss the weather. At least give a pretense of light chatting. Ease into it.
Cybelle had often told him he would have to learn how to do that someday.
"Did you avoid me."
'Since the hallway incident,' was the implication. 'Have you been avoiding me' would have been more grammatically correct. He doubted she wouldn't know what he meant regardless.


[OOC: Sorry about the delay; I had some unexpected work come my way then brief internet failure. Replies should be more regular from now on.]

Bezerker joined her in the room by grabbing her desk chair and sitting in it instead of joining her on the bed. She had been hoping he would join her on the bed, but that was that other part of her which was looking at him in a different light, in a not just friends light. “Why would I want you to leave? Her reply was an easy one and she leaned back on her bed using her arms to support her. Her question was an honest one. although he drove her up a wall most of the time, she still liked to be around him. Even though it was a godforsaken hour she didn't mind. It was just nice to see him.

Then he stuck her in the gut with a question, one she really didn't want to deal with but she was sleepy and sleepy equals way to honest in her opinion. “I haven't been avoiding you but I decided to wait until you wanted to find me. I decided to back off a bit plus school and my job have gotten rather hectic lately...” Her voice was rather smooth with a touch of sleep yet she felt very awake knowing that he was really right there sitting inside her room.

The bedroom door closed slowly with a click since she didn't want anyone else wandering in here since they were having a conversation and it didn't look like he was leaving anytime soon. “I am surprised to find you here... So, why did you knock on my door?” She didn't feel like she had to add at this hour since she had made her point about it being so late. Jean did wonder how she looked laying on her bed wearing what she was wearing. The model in her was kicking in without her realizing it and she was reminded of the photo shoot that she had earlier in the day.

“I am not complaining it is defiantly nice to see you...” The rest of the sentence went unsaid, she really wanted to hear his answer. She knew it couldn't be that he suddenly found out he was a people person. Hopefully he wasn't in any trouble.

"That's avoidance," his reply was curt, but terseness was never unusual with him. His attention shifted from the redhead to the door when it closed, and he turned towards it briefly before realizing that it had been telekinetic. She just had to remind him that he was dealing with a psionic mutant. Out of all the mutants in the manor, the multitude of mutants in the mansion, out of all the possibilities in the Xavier Institute, he had to choose to socialize with one with telepathic powers.

He wasn't looking at her, even as he turned back. Well, not her entirely, anyway. His gaze was specifically matching her green eyes, even if he was very close to cursing for her refusal to put on something else. He was tempted to think that she knew how distracting it was and was throwing him off balance on purpose.

He hadn't had a problem like this since his first crush. At sixteen he had fallen for Scaleface. Not the more sensible Cybelle, but Scaleface with her temper. It had been somewhat chaotic in the tunnels then, but the crush had worn off with time. He hadn't had this problem since. He had been too busy, with new members in the underground and more efforts to keep it safe. Maybe the issue was that he had nothing to do topside. He was so intent on not becoming a topsider but that meant he had little to do. The situation spoke for itself when it was indeed Red with whom he had socialized the most, followed by the Hellions, but mostly the male members, Hellion and Pyro.

"I didn't come to apologize." He didn't honestly think there was need for one. He hadn't inadvertently hurt her when the lights in the hall had blown out, and he though he had briefly said he blamed her, he hadn't actually taken that anywhere. He didn't see any reason for an apology, and his tone was clear about this and the fact that he didn't think she expected one from him. But it would be good to get the facts out of the way. He never apologized. He knew he had a bad temper, and he had blown up at the Morlocks on more than one occasion, even when things had been his fault, which he had recognized to himself later. But he didn't apologize, and over the years that had been understood. He was too stubborn for it to not be.

Jean didn’t think it was avoidance, if she had run into him she wouldn’t have turned the other way. It was just that things had become very busy and she didn’t force herself to seek him out. Still, if he wanted to call it avoidance she wasn’t going to stop him, it wasn’t an issue to her although it might be to him. Still, she wanted to know why he was here yet she knew that, that was going to take some time. Bezerker wasn’t one to say more than a few sentences at one moment so they might be here for awhile.

Then he was looking into her eyes and she continued to look into his. It was rather strange since she knew she could just reach out with her mind and find out what was going on inside his head. Yet, Jean wasn’t one to do that, she didn’t approve of people who abused there gifts like that. Therefore she wouldn’t do something like that, plus she knew that Bezerker wasn’t one to like telepaths which was why they had really gotten off to a bad start in the beginning.

“I don’t expect one…” Jean didn’t. He really didn’t have a reason to apologize plus he wasn’t the type. He hadn’t done anything wrong, yet neither had she. They had an argument and went there own separate ways. There was nothing wrong with that. “Yet… I don’t understand why you are here…” Jean motioned around her room with her hand. It was getting late and she was getting tired yet she pushed that out of the way. Jean wasn’t going to rest until this meeting was over with. “I could make some guesses but they would probably be way out there.”

Her green eyes continued to look him over wondering what it would be like if he was in her bed with her and she could cuddle with him. Yet she couldn’t actually see that happening no matter how she tried. He wasn’t the type of person and that was why she didn’t try to get any closer to him then a friend. She could be like fire but he was more of an ice person. Someone who seemed so cold at times. Too cold for her.