The World Isn't Hot Enough

@"Aliasse Ryley"

It's midday on the island and everything seemed to be moving quite normally. As you walk down the streets, the footsteps of each person is silenced by the sound of chatting among one another. The cars ran by smoothly and with little sound. They scurried through the streets like mice, getting to where they needed to go and back without a single detour. The cafe's, businesses, and corporations were as busy as they could normally be on such a day. The sun beat down on everyone in its view with no remorse, making it about 85 degrees outside without the light breeze gently caressing the skin of humans and creatures alike. It was truly a normally beautiful day.

The smell of coffee and pastries filled the air as if you had been walking through a bakery the while time. Is pollution even real? That is the only thing that would go through your head when you inhaled the sweet aroma that made even garbage men unplug their noses. To those headed to work, it was safe to say that they wanted to get their day started. To those walking around, it was nothing short of a relaxing lazy day, or so it was.

Not too long into the day a disturbance could be felt. It wasn't something that could be felt over the task at hand but it was something to thing about. The people who felt it figured it was nothing and others just ignored it completely. However, further downtown one could here sirens. Loud sirens that pierced the ear and trembled near by objects. A build had been on fire. Black clouds of smoke and soot shrouded the sky making it seem dark and gloomy. Aside from the dark skies above, the smell of burning wood and linoleum, and the screaming and running of everyone native to the area, there was only one man standing aside the building dawning a plan white T-shirt, baggy black pants, and white sneakers. A cigarette burning from his mouth and bright, red, everlasting flames roaring from his forearms and hands, he stood there proudly and with well attended posture. The shades he wore over his eyes were large and covered a lot of his face. Who was he?

"The world isn't hot enough..." Jon said aloud in the midst of the flames building around him. It was all pathetic to him. There was no enjoyment to life anymore and not even burning things to the ground seemed to satisfy him anymore. "I used to say this to myself all those years ago and I believed it. The world is a cold place and not enough people warming it up. Affection isn't what the world needs, its rage." The flames grew brighter, hotter, and more intense with ever breathe he took. They seemed to sway in perfect coordination with the dilation and retraction of his lungs. The words he spoke to himself showed his disappointment, his turmoil, his rage, and revealed what he held within himself for years. He wasn't what he used to be and he knew this, but fun is fun no matter what and that seemed to have changed to him too.

Jon stared through the flames feeling the plastic of his shades melting. All the people he saw out in the open were cowards, fearing the unknown. The firemen had no idea what they were dealing with. It was all futile in the end. Jon wouldn't stop until the three story building was rubble under his feet. All the people outside look like insects scurrying around not knowing what to do. People injured, people crying, it was sickening. The sirens continued to screech and howl through the neighborhood. Screams of innocent people matched its loud volume. But there was one thing that was hard to notice, a feeling of being watched. It was uneasy knowing that someone could be so ignorant as to come to such a place knowing the consequences. Long, thick fingers reached toward his face pulling off his shades for better light. Who was is watching him. The answer was simply standing before him.

"A women." He said confused. Foolish he thought it was to be staring directly at the person you are watching, whether you knew them or not. He had no idea who she was but it was obvious who and what she came for. Jon, in his state of thinking, takes this as a challenge of authority. More than necessary his pride will bring him to something unnecessary, but so be it. It only took moments for him to decide his next move. Everything feel silent as he walked forward with a jump in his step. The clang of his shades touching the ground after leaving them behind was all he heard for moments before he emerged from the flames. His white eyes squinted ever so slightly at the sun trying to peek through the smoke. His face contorted into a snarl as he waved his left hand to his right creating a wall of blue flames a few meters across and about a meter high. This was where is would begin.

People fled the seen like roaches. The firemen tried to stay behind. It was their line of work to deal with situations like this, but under the pressure they thought of priorities. "Get the injured to safety!" A voice wailed over the screaming civilians and sirens. Priorities, priorities. Jon placed his hands into his pockets as he gazed through the thin wall of flames. His eyes fixated on the women who spotted him. It was obvious she wasn't just a spectator, he wasn't an idiot. But who she was for certain wasn't anything he was to proud to walk away from knowing. His cigarette burned quicker the more he looked at her and soon it was just a butt. He was too concentrated to notice however. His world was black and white, he couldn't see a spot of color.

His eyes looked cold whenever he lacked the privacy of his shades. The smokey eyes man had one thing that he always wanted. To see color. More specifically, to see the color of his own fire. He was told that he could adjust the color according to heat but he has never seen it before, nothing but whites and grays. Pitiful.

The wall of flames were bright to the eyes. Its height stayed the same while the length continued to decrease as time passed. Slowly it moved inward, shrinking as if there was nothing keeping it there. Jon didn't care whether it stayed or not. It wasn't a priority to keep it well lit since it was just something to clear the area so he and the female armed with everything known to man could speak. His eyes had widened when she hadn't even flinched nor flickered when he made the wall in the first place. It was no powerful display but surely she couldn't see it coming. With every passing second, he became more and more interested in her existence and figured she could be of use to him, maybe. His attention was quickly taken to the fact that she had cigarettes. He had bummed the one he had early from another person on the street not too long ago, he had none of his own.

The area grew silent from the lack of intelligent beings but the silence said enough. Jon could tell that this lady was no random stranger looking for a conversation but he didn't necessarily care too much unless she had something he needed. In this case, it would be a cigarette. He stayed silent as she spoke and walked along the wall nonchalantly. Watching her as she passed, he let down the wall that had no real use to him now. Her words were smart in a way. Too much confidence filled the carbon she exhaled with every word. It was almost aggravating. "Brave, is she? Or strong?" Jon thought to himself while still watching her reach her destination. She seemed to discard any thoughts of him being dangerous which was extremely rare for Jon to see. It was intriguing.

Taking a few deep breathes, Jon felt the the oxygen flowing through the air and fueling his inner flames. One long exhale was the only sound he had made for a while before he looked to her in all seriousness. His face showed nothing but the most expressionless exhibit. "Can I get a smoke?" Jon said in a low tone. He began to walk towards her at a normal speed. At this point he only want the cigarette, but whether she knew this was a mystery. A reaction of defense, or maybe even offense, would be normal in such a situation but that would only show that she isn't as confident in her ability as she may seem. But then again, she may be plotting against him at this very moment.

He watched her pull out the pack of cigarettes from the punch on her hip. They were conveniently stashed there, no doubt to keep them safe while she walked around. Casually, she did what any regular smoker would do and tapped the back of the package. One stick filled with different pieces of a person's personality popped out readily for it's taker. Jon was close to reaching up to grab them but his hesitation wasn't what kept him from taking one. She moved her wrist with speed, flicking the cigarettes upward so he couldn't take one. She moved on to make a demand. It was pitiful that someone would be so petty. A simple cigarette in the face of friend or foe alike was nothing to really try and use as a bargaining chip. It was foolish to even try.

Jon's first reaction was to process what was spewing from her mouth. Was he hearing her correctly? Was she really demanding him of all people to do something of the sort, not to mention adding insult to injury with her terrible jokes. It was more than enough to tick off the broad male. "You arrogance is sickening. It's people like you that make life hard to live." He said to her with a brow raised to the sky. Within only moments of his saying this, the cigarette burning in her mouth sparked and puffed quickly making it fall apart almost instantly. The small cloud of smoke rose in the air as Jon made his own wrist movement throwing a small ball of fire towards the package of cigarettes. His reasoning for this wasn't to keep her from using them since he couldn't, but simply to show her the annoyance of someone who does the unnecessary for foolish reasons.

At this point, Jon was hoping that she would retaliate but seeing as it seemed she didn't care whether or not anything happened, he may have to be the one to try her patience this time. Her face said one thing but her eyes gave a completely different message. Carver is color blind but not fully blind. She made the mistake of trying not to show emotion when emotion is all you ever really have in a world such as this one. It doesn't matter how much she acts, the inevitable outcome of showing your true colors will be upon the two soon and something says it wont be pleasant.

Jon was growing bored of this woman's games. She was rude to the utmost degree, ironically. It may be true that he burned down a building for no good reason but still. Her attitude told what she was like and he could see it in her eyes. It wasn't the color of her eyes, because he is color blind, it was more the way she used them. Jon makes it a sign of respect to look someone in the eyes no matter who they were and he has lived by that for the better portion of his life. Even to this day he does it and that's how he can tell. Fiery on the inside, she is. A past with nothing good to think about and her attitude tell of her journey thus far. She wasn't fooling anyone. She was tough and by far bred for the fight, but given better circumstances and the comfort, she would ball her eyes out from pent up emotion. Jon knew this, he's seen it before.

It was the way her eyes were fixated on what she wanted it to and nothing more. The hatred for people like Jon shined over everything. The way her pupils dilate and then retract at a moments notice when she responds. Not much gets by Jon due to his cautious behavior. He looked her with a smirk before he answer her first question. "Oh I know you all too well. We've met before, but your eyes tell your whole story. Your sarcasm and rude, stiff attitude contributes as well. Its simple but beyond you." Jon wasn't much for long conversations so this wasn't going to last very long, especially when he is talking to her.

"Believe me, I'm not going to fight over a measly smoke. If I wanted it that bad I'd sniff my own fire. You've challenged my right to enjoy myself in peace. This building can catch on fire so eventually it would whether it would be by my hand or someone else's. I would suggest you leave before my patience runs out." He said leaving the smirk to slowly wash away off his face. It was rather odd that he would even give her the chance to leave instead of getting all of this over with right then and there, was he getting soft after all this time? He knew very well what he had started and that she wouldn't just leave so easily, and that was exactly what he was hoping for. He hadn't had a good challenge in quite some time so this should be good exercise for him, if even that.