Orion

Kindness

Lance walked down the halls with a Carmel frappe as he sipped it looking at his phone. He smiled at the taste of the small pleasures he has in life. 

He saw Keith sitting in a chair in front of a classroom as he seemed unbothered but it usually meant that he's in trouble. Lance left his heart skip a little at the sight of the boy, he didn't know how to react to him anymore, they were acquaintances maybe at night but in school  he didn't know what they were. Opposites.

So lance kept his eyes ahead and walked silently.

"You look busted," Keith commented as lance walked past him.

"Shit happens," lance mumbled sipping his drink as he walked slower. Hoping maybe he'd say something again.

"Griffins skipping, watch your back McCain," Keith told him and lance pursed his lips a little.

"Thanks..." he whispered and kept walking.

Keith glanced over at him as he could see lance might've had a limp, it wasn't like a injured animal but more like a twist of the angle you just need to walk off. It was only 9:30 in the morning, and he was fine yesterday, was he getting similar treatment at home?

From living in foster care for the longest time he could see neglect and abuse from a mile away. Something was off about mcclain since he said his dads not in town so he probably on his own.

Lance whistled heading outside to throw away his drink, he was exhausted still, his heart was racing from the caffeine but his brain was telling him to just go home.

"Get off of me you bitch!" He heard around the corner.

"Plaxum?" He knew her voice, one of the few kind people of the school.

Lance felt his stomach go sick seeing griffin, a boy and a girl where holding her back as jams snorted going through her notes for school.

"Come on Plax, you lied to me, gave me a C-, you can't get away with shit," Griffin lit her notebook on fire with his lighter and dropped it on the ground.

"Come on man that's for my physics!" Plaxum growled but griffin punched her across the face.

"They're going to drop me from the team because I failed!" Griffin yelled at her.

"Griffin what the fuck?! no!" Lance ran over and threw the boy that held his friend to the ground and shoved the girl away.

"Got a problem?" Griffin asked smirking at him unfazed.

"Yea your hitting a girl! She didn't do anything!" Lance didn't move away from Plaxum as she held her face with tears of pain in her eyes.

"Don't get your panties in a twist-" he was cut off when lance slammed his fist in his jaw and kicked him in the chest knocking James on the ground.

"You don't hit her, you don't touch a fucking women," lance glared over at him as griffin gasped as the wind was knocked out of him.

"Come on," he picked Plaxum up to her feet and she ran with him wide eyes as they went back inside.

"Are you okay?" Lance asked but she pulled him into the girls bathroom and locked it.

"Shh," she covered his mouth and listened to the door hearing the doors from outside open and the three ran in.

"Thanks for helping," Plaxum smiled back at him and spit in the sink, it was tinted red as there was a bruise on her cheek now.

"Did he hit you anywhere else?" Lance asked pulling his hood down.

"Uh the chick hit my head against the wall, just a headache now," she shrugged a little.

"Well there's no blood, take some ibuprofen when you get home if your head still hurts," lance checked her blue hair for blood.

"Why'd you help me?" She asked washing her mouth out tasting blood still.

"You're nice to me, just returning the favor," lance hugged his body slouching a little.

"Lance, it's not a favor for me being nice, your just a nice guy that doesn't deserve everyone being an asshole to ya," Plaxum smiled up at him.

Lance froze when she hugged him gently around the chest, she wrapped her arms with a smile, her hands touched his back, he didn't feel as scrawny and stick like as she assumed.

"Sorry was that invading?" She pulled away when he didn't react.

"N-no I just didn't expect it," he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

"I'll see you in class," lance smiled nervously and unlocked the door to leave.

Plaxum smiled a little cocking her head to the side but went to look in the mirror seeing her bruise. Anyone else would've looked the other way, it's happened before and lance knew better than anyone else.

She leaned over the sink inhaling deeply and washed her mouth out one more time, running her hand through her light blue hair with some darker stripes of blue she recently added, her while eyes turned dark blue with a teal glimmer, she smiled a little with her canines showing a little sharper and blue blush crawling across her cheeks.

They gotta look out for each other right? She wasn't a shadow.

But mutants gotta stick together... right?