"Whose idea was this again"? John asks as he looks into the mirror, watching the girls coat pink hair dye through his freshly bleached hair. "Mine, but you agreed so you can't blame me for how it turns out", Jubilee massages the dye into a strand as she speaks. She is thorough, making sure she gets every piece saturated perfectly. While on Kitty's side, she is rubbing it in like it's shampoo. If it turns out splotchy it's her fault. "How much longer"? Pyro groans, shifting to lean back in the very uncomfortable wooden chair. The movement earns a kick to his shin from Jubilee; "stop moving or do you want pink dye on your face".
John just scoffs and rolls his eyes at her remark. It feels like they've been doing this all day and he's not very good at sitting still for long periods of time. "I'm almost done but Jubilee's side has like 15 more minutes and then it needs to sit for a while" Kitty explains. Which just earns yet another groan from John- after about 7 minutes Kitty has finished up her side but stayed around talking about random stuff with the two- “this weekend we should go to the movies” Kitty suggests. Before either of them can get a chance to agree the door to the room opens and closes catching their attention instead.
"You're still dying his hair"? Bobby speaks as he enters the bathroom. They have been going at it for a few hours now, from one having to bleach his hair and two getting side tracked by everything. Which dying his hair after just bleaching it isn’t the smartest idea but John doesn't have the patience to wait a couple days. Plus he isn’t about to walk around with a full head of blonde hair. Bobby swoops down once he finds his way beside Pyro, his lips catching the other boys in a quick kiss. "Don't distract me I’m on a roll", Jubilee kicks at him urging him to move away. Bobby does so, moving to lean against the bathroom counter.
"You look like cotton candy" Iceman chuckles. He isn’t wrong, John's hair is almost fully bright pink. But Pyro doesn’t seem to like that remark, he glares over at Bobby; "shut up" he snickers. Jubilee combs the rest of the dye through the last strand, before she looks over his whole head. She examines his hair, before grabbing the bowl of dye to fix up Kitty's side. "What are you doing?" John asks as Kitty grabs his hand, he instinctively pulls it away. Which just ends with her grabbing it again; "fixing your nail polish, it's all chipped". She shook the black bottle of nail polish in her hand before twisting it open.
"I should leave you girls alone" Bobby jokes talking to all three of them- John has been Jubilee's and Kitty's friend group for a couple years now, so at this point they treat him like one of the "girls". Which John never minds, it feels good to be included. And well he doesn’t necessarily always feel like a boy. Which he'll never say out loud to anyone, not yet. Or ever? He doesn't really know, because he wants to tell someone. But the words felt stuck in his throat everytime he tried- "let the dye sit for 25 minutes and then you can wash it out" Jubilee explains, breaking Pyro from his thoughts. She takes her gloves off throwing them in the nearby garbage; “now I’m going to get some food I’m starving”.
Bobby pushes himself away from the counter, following quickly behind Jubilee; “I’m coming with”. Kitty stayed in the bathroom with John, waiting for the dye to set in and finishing up his nails. Which is slowly driving him insane, they have been going at this for so long- it seems never ending but at least they know how to chat to pass time- something crosses Pyro’s mind once again. It’s just him and Kitty in the bathroom right now, no one else is around to hear. He thought maybe this will be the chance to get it out. "Hey Kitty.. can I share my thoughts"? John asks, looking slightly over at her. They are the closest of the bunch, even though John and Bobby were dating they still aren’t as close as these two.
"Always" She smiles in response. Kitty has been there for John whenever he needs someone to talk to, about really anything. There was an instant click between the two when they first met, which was when Kitty first joined the school- a couple years ago. Of course John trusts Bobby with anything but not as much as Kitty, and well if he and Bobby got into a fight he could talk to Kitty about it- "What's going on in that head"? She makes eye contact with Pyro as she speaks. Usually whatever he has to say comes out pretty smooth, easily- but now it seems harder like his words are caught in his throat.. "Everyone knows I'm gay, that's not something I've ever tried to hide or cared about people knowing", John starts.
Kitty doesn’t know where he is going with this but listens carefully. "I never cared about what anyone would think, about anything-". He starts seeming agitated as he keeps speaking which is very unlike him, Pyro isn’t a nervous person and if he is he hides it pretty well. "John, you can tell me". Her hand comes to rest on top of his as she reassures him with a soft tone. "Do you ever feel like you aren't a girl"? The question catches her off guard a bit as it also gives her an understanding of what John is going on about. "Do you feel like you aren't a boy"? Kitty asks. John fiddles with the end of his sleeve as he thinks about his next words. He can bail on this, he knows Kitty will forget about it if he asks her to. Or he can tell her, she’ll understand he knows that but still; "Sometimes” he hums quietly. “But sometimes I feel like a boy”. The weight on his shoulders falls once he finally confesses how he is feeling.
“So you feel like both”? John just nods in response before adding on; “sometimes I feel like neither”. He knows what all of that means, gender identities aren’t something new to him. He’s known he’s gay from a young age so he kind of grew up learning about all that stuff. And some of the kids here identify as nonbinary because of the physical effect their mutation has on them. “Does Bobby know”? Kitty also asks. “No, you’re the only one I’m not sure if I want anyone else to know” he explains honestly. Being open about your sexuality is one thing, but being open about your gender is a whole new road that John has never been down.
“You don’t have to tell anyone if you don’t want to, but Jubilee, and Bobby especially won’t care if you’re a boy or girl or neither or all of them, you’ll still be our friend and Bobby will still like you, I know that”, Kitty’s voice is so soothing as she speaks. And her tone shows she is being completely sincere. John knows everything she says is true, he never thinks differently but it is definitely good to hear it from someone. To be reminded that it’s true. And maybe it can help be his little push to be more open about who he is. But for now he felt fine being John, being a boy- mostly because it is easier, I guess this is how Bobby felt with his sexuality. It’s easier to be what everybody sought you out to be- “thank you Kitty, but for-“
John is momentarily cut off when the door to the room opens. “For now it’s just gonna stay between us” he quickly finishes up before the other two can hear them. As Jubilee trails in she holds up a variety of snacks in her hands; “we brought food”, she exclaims- They pass the last 15 minutes by eating and talking. And once the dye was ready to wash out Bobby stayed with John to help him from not dying the whole shower pink, and to also not get dye in his eyes- “how does it look”? John asks with a crooked grin as he exits the bathroom. “Very pink” Kitty exclaims as she sits up on the bed. “But it suits you” She adds. Jubilee is quick to agree as she examines his hair to make sure they didn’t miss any spots. Which somehow they didn’t- “I still stand by that you look like cotton candy”, Bobby laughs out..