the threat is real. scott summers. (visor_vision) wrote in age_of_miracles, @ 2008-03-14 22:49:00 |
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Entry tags: | brave new world, cyclops, mj watson |
Log: Cyclops and Mary Jane Watson
Who; Scott and MJ
When; March 14th, morning
Where; outside somewhere
What; Scott and MJ have another chat in which MJ dumps her problems on Scott and Scott tells her about her problems. It's really sweet, I swear.
Twenty-four hours from now, the X-Men would be scattered across the country, mostly fighting in D.C.----and the rest of them would be left at home, watching and waiting and hoping that people would survive and come home. But that wasn't certain. Peter was heading off to Washington and he seemed perfectly confident. He always did. He always thought he could handle everything on his own, and knowing him? He'd refuse help, he'd take on more than he could chew, and he'd up and get himself killed.
So MJ needed the morning alone to think about this. It was a whole different deal when it wasn't just her. There was May, too, and if Peter was killed... God, things would change. She was wandering the grounds, running through different scenarios in her mind and cradling May in her arms. May was trying to hold onto her Spider-Man plushie, which was a little big for her to hold, and she was chewing on his head while babbling mostly nonsense. Happy, oblivious.
Scott had kept mostly to himself since he'd gotten home. It was a little chilly outside, but nicer than usual, so Scott had thrown on his coat to go sit in the garden. Take in the sun. He seemed a whole lot healthier now that he was home, though he was still ... tired. Tired of a lot of things, looking forward to the next day when he could go be useful again. It wasn't just knowing that he'd been the sacrifice until Alex had saved him; it was the shame that came from trying to lead his team and failing miserably that kept him alone for now.
Until MJ showed up. Scott must have looked odd to her then, slouching a little bit, his hands shoved in his coat pockets -- and what she couldn't see was that he had his hand tight around something in his right pocket, something he kept running his fingers over like a habit.
"You'll run into something if you let yourself be lost in thought like that."
MJ looked up quickly, as she had nearly run into him. "Oh----Oh. God. I'm sorry," she said, taking a step back. And then, she was ready to go on her way. Scott hadn't wanted to talk to her and she was willing to respect that. Ever since their last face-to-face conversation MJ was certainly of the impression that Scott didn't like her. "I'll----just go this way," she said, coughing lightly and cradling May.
May, however, threw the Spider-Man plushie at Scott's head.
The plushie hit him in the side of the head before Scott could catch it. It was a silly thing, but Scott couldn't help but find it kind of cute. May having a plush toy of her father.
And then a bit of jealousy rolled through his stomach and it stopped being cute. So he stood to bring it back, offering it to May. "She already has a good arm."
"I'm sorry," MJ said quickly, apologetically. She helped the toy into May's hand and bounced the child lightly on her hip before shifting her to the other side. "She's got good aim but she has no tact." She pressed her lips together tightly and peered at him----and god, she felt like Scott hated her. Hated her, resented her, something. And she felt bad for wanting to get to the bottom of it in this time of crisis, but his crankiness didn't seem to have a lot to do with the situation and seemed to have to do with her in particular.
"Are you----um. Are you ... no, I'm sure you're going to tell me if you're okay even if you're not. So you take care."
Despite the ... whatever he had with Sally, Scott was almost fond of Mary Jane. He was jealous, of course he was; he wasn't the only one who wanted what Peter and MJ had -- the engagement, the baby. Were Jean still alive, Scott would have been married by now, too, maybe even with a child. It stung.
"I could be better," he admitted, maybe just to show her he wasn't angry at her. Why he wanted her not to be afraid of him, Scott wasn't sure. It just seemed like the right thing to do.
MJ lifted her eyes to him again, blinking a little at the admission. "Well, you're... I mean, twenty-four hours from now you'll be back in DC. Don't you think after what you went through you should stay here? Just you, I mean. I know you probably think that's insane, but... it would make sense, wouldn't it?"
Scott shook his head, slipping his hand back into his pocket. "I won't hide from what happened, and I won't stay here while my team goes to fight Magneto. I have a few words for Mystique, anyway."
"Good on you, I guess, but are you in any condition----?" MJ sort of knew what Scott had just dealt with, and the mental trauma of knowing that Charles Xavier would move forward at the expense of his adopted son----Scott must have been shaken up, and if he wasn't, it would hit him. Later. When this was over with.
Scott would have made the same decision himself. He couldn't blame Charles. He just couldn't. "I'm considering a chance at revenge to be my birthday present to myself." He needed to do something, needed to be in motion and finish what he'd started. Sitting around here would make it worse.
"It's your birthday?" MJ blinked, and to punctuate it, May waved the plushie around like she was excited about birthdays and squirmed.
"My brother has wonderful timing." Scott hadn't said anything to everyone because, well ... they had other things going on and he wasn't a party person, anyway. "I'm a decade older than you are today."
MJ's cheeks went pink and she grinned a little. "Happy birthday," she said. "You're a decade older until Sunday, when I turn twenty-four and people are either still fighting or coming home in bodybags."
May waved the plushie again and said something along the lines of "dada"----and MJ squeezed her eyes shut, trying extremely hard not to cry.
Scott hesitated for a second before he lightly touched her shoulder. "No one's coming home in a body bag." Like it was something he could stop. "Least of all Peter," he added. "I'll keep an eye on him."
MJ nodded, a tear squeezing out despite her attempts to stop it, and she melted against Scott, burying her face against him. She had thought she'd comfort him, not the other way around. "God, I'm so selfish," she mumbled. "I'm not the one going out there."
May was twisting her little body around between them, dropping her plushie on the ground in order to explore Scott, who was right there, pushing her little hands against him.
...Okay. That was odd.
He awkwardly patted her back, unsure of exactly what to do. Pulling away would probably make it worse, but it was odd. Mary Jane wasn't his girlfriend -- and May certainly wasn't his baby. "Doesn't mean you shouldn't be worried."
"I don't know what I'm going to do if I lose him," MJ mumbled. "And he's so-----he's so damn cocky, and he keeps telling me it's going to be fine and I just want to punch him in the teeth. I----oh, May..." She pulled away from Scott in order to crouch down and pick up the toy, brushing it off on her jeans before handing it back to her daughter.
He let out a breath he didn't remember holding. "There should be enough of us around to keep him from getting himself killed. ---To be fair, at the very least, Peter has the abilities to back up a good deal of the things he says. From my experience."
MJ scoffed. "Don't encourage him," she snapped. "He's good but he's not infallible. But... I...." She shook her head quietly and sighed. "Nothing. I didn't mean to dump on you. I always do that. I'm sorry."
"You need to stop hiding from your fiance," was his answer. "The less you talk to him, the more you dump on me -- and I have the feeling he might not appreciate you hanging around me too much."
"I'm not----I'm not hiding from him. And don't flatter yourself, Scott." MJ smiled, giving him a brief once-over. "You're not my type." Actually, he was exactly her type. More than exactly her type. But that didn't mean she had to be honest about that.
"I never said I was. I said that Spider-Man would probably take issue with his girlfriend hanging out with a newly single man whose dead girlfriend looked a little like you." Warning her, maybe, to keep her distance. Scott could recognize when he got attached to people for the wrong reasons, and while he didn't seem to have a problem hanging around Sally, Mary Jane was definitely off limits. No question about that. People rarely imagined Scott Summers as sexual, or quite as messed up as he probably was, but Scott knew. A little too well, maybe. "I'll make sure he stays alive, but it sounds like talking to him a little more wouldn't hurt."
MJ seemed to get the hint, and she took a step back. Maybe that was why he didn't like her? Or... whatever he felt about her. "You do your half of the job and I'll do mine," she said. May tugged on her hair.
"Sounds good." Scott nodded, seeming reasonably satisfied with that. "I don't mean to try and scare you. I swear."
MJ smiled grimly. "You just don't like me."
Scott snorted. "I think you're more like us than you realize, and it aggravates me that you don't see that. I don't dislike you."
"You think I'm selfish and petty," MJ countered, challenging him.
"You're young and you have no idea what life's dumped into your lap," he clarified. "It's horrible, yes. It's a horrible, dangerous world, but you have a man you want to marry and a child with him that will undoubtedly grow into a good person. You have what some of us want, and you don't see it."
I have what you want, MJ wanted to say, but she wisely kept her mouth shut. "You really don't know what I see," she said. "You don't know what I think, you don't know what I want out of life. You think that you do know, because you read what I write and you think I remind you of someone, but you don't know."
"I know it because you wear it on your sleeve," Scott countered. "You may not say it explicitly, but I'm not an idiot. You want to be a good actress, don't you? You want your own definition, but no one ever taught you how to get it, so you rely on other people for it." He shook his head. "This isn't any of my business. What I do know is that you spend so much time worrying that Peter will die that you don't enjoy your time -- and if he does die, you'll regret letting worry take up so much of your time."
MJ frowned at him, holding May closer against her body. "I..." She really didn't have anything else to say to that. Damn it.
Scott sighed. "Like I said, it's none of my business."
"No... no it's not," MJ said uncomfortably.
Shaking his head, he turned to leave. There was really no saving this conversation. "Take care of yourself."
"You too," MJ said quickly. She felt bad. She wasn't sure why she felt bad, but she did. "You too... don't... Please stay safe, Scott."
Scott made a noise that was almost a laugh. "You sound like Sally."
"Then Sally's a smart girl even if she hates me," said MJ with a bit of a grin. "And you can't say she doesn't, because she really does. But I can tell you that she and I will both be sitting here, waiting for men to come home and feeling useless. And that feeling doesn't change, no matter how different people are."