Who: Alex Summers & Dani Lone Eagle NPCs: N/A When:backdated to March 24th Where: San Francisco & Chicago What: Alex phones Dani, and the two have a chat about what's been going on in her life. And by "chat" I mean they talk about it briefly and than move on to other things, since neither is big on the discussion of heavy topics. Rating: G
Alex didn't like phones -- that was rather obvious, considering how he avoided talking to even his parents on the phone. He hated that you couldn't see the person you were talking to, and hated what he felt were the long uncomfortable silences that happened. You could be sitting with someone and not be talking and there could be just a nice comfortable silence but on the phone? that didn't happen. And Alex always felt like he was ran out things to say after he talked to people about the weather.
But he had to talk to Dani, that much was obvious. And since he couldn't really fly to Chicago, and he didn't think it would be fair to ask her to fly to California just because he hated talking on the phone. So he was going to phone her, and try and be a good friend, even if he felt a good friend would have made her talk about what was wrong the night that something had been so obviously wrong.
So he had grabbed his phone and headed out to the backyard of the headquarters, shutting the door behind him, and than walking over to some of the chairs that they had set up and taking a seat. He figured that this was the most privacy he could get at the moment.
Dialing Dani's phone number he waited for her to pick up.
Dani wasn't looking forward to this conversation-- or any conversation that she thought would involve explaining all the various ways she'd acted like an idiot because of the stuff with her grandfather. But she thought Alex deserved the truth and, honestly, since she was done crying about it (God, God she hoped she was done), it seemed like now was as good a time as any.
Still, it took two rings before she'd strengthened her resolve enough to answer her cell. "Hey, Ace," Dani greeted, the cheer in her voice sounding false to her own ears. "Sorry to subject you to the phone-- I know how you hate it." And she did, too; she'd heard him lament over it more than once. "I just.... thought it'd be better to actually talk." Because even though it wasn't as good as being face to face, it was certainly more personal than text on a screen.
"Hey, It's not that I hate it ..." No that wasn't true. He totally hated the phone. "I just dislike it a lot. You know what you need? One of those computers with a screen on it, so you can chat with someone almost face to face like. Bet Doug could get you all set up with that." Alex was fine with this casual small talk, and normally he'd try and keep this up. Avoiding the talk of anything serious or deep.
But he didn't know how much time he had out here in the yard by his lonesome.
"But talking is good -- so. What's up?"
"You mean Skype?" Dani didn't think her computer could handle that-- it was a bit on the older side. And she didn't have a webcam. Still-- "Maybe when he comes to visit." Unless he meant the video comm stuff they could use for team communications. But that was in too public of a place and this was definitely a private conversation. Whatever. She'd worry about that later.
Talking is good? Dani repeated silently. "Right." She knew she sounded unconvinced but damn. Alex definitely knew something was wrong. Because he-- yeah. That was so not him, it wasn't even funny. (Maybe she should've called Lorna; this was already going weirdly. But no. It'd been Alex she got all drunk and weird with and he at least deserved an explanation for that. Too bad she couldn't do tht without explaining the rest...)
Dani swallowed her nerves and steeled herself-- because it still hurt every time she admitted it. Part of her she really hoped that stopped soon and the rest was disgusted she was so selfish. This was her grandfather and it was her fault; it should hurt! "Um, okay, this is--" She licked her lips nervously. "Er, I..." God, why was this so hard? (And, seriously, how were there tears pricking her eyes? What? She hadn't cried enough yet?)
Finally, she just blurted it out in one breath: "Black Eagle died last week." It still felt like a kick to the gut and Dani was glad she was sitting down. "And, I, uh... I just didn't feel comfortable talking about it over text or email, you know?" Not that this was much better. She couldn't see his face and that suddenly bothered her more than it ought have. But at least he couldn't see her shiny eyes, so that was something.
"Skype -- sure that thing." Alex liked rocks, and he stayed up to date on what was going on in the world of geophysics, but he was very much not up to date on what was going on in the world of technology. But he figured Dani was -- or at least was more in touch with Doug who would know those things. Alex just let Kevin do all the tech work that X-Factor needed done.
Alex had no idea how to react to her statement about her granddad. "I -- Dani. I'm sorry." It sounded so lame, and so hollow. He wasn't sure what what he should be saying, as sorry just didn't seem to cut it. "I didn't -- I -- I'm sorry." He repeated again. "Was he -- was he sick?" He figured that he must have been, and that that was what must have been upsetting her the night he had found her in the kitchen.
Dani winced. She knew it was well-meaning but it felt worse, somehow, when other people apologized. Maybe because she couldn't apologize to Black Eagle? She wasn't certain-- and didn't care to delve too deeply into that line of thinking. "It's-- thanks," she replied awkwardly.
"I-- he wasn't..." Dani swallowed the lump that formed in her throat. "Not in the traditional sense," she answered finally. "It was his memory and I--" A traitorous tear rolled down her cheek and she knew she just couldn't do this. Not right now, not with Alex, not over the phone. Just no.
Her voice was quieter when she picked up the conversation again: "It's not-- can we talk about something else, please?" Dani hated how weak she sounded to her own ears. How defeated. She hoped Alex couldn't hear it but it was so damn obvious, she was sure he did.
He was failing at the friend thing -- because Alex thought that maybe he should have pushed her to talk about it. But that wasn't Alex -- he wasn't good at talking about the big important things, he was better at talking about the small things.
"Okay, sure. Hey, I heard there was snow in Chicago, oh wow that's crazy." When all else failed, Alex started to talk about the weather. He switched the phone to his other ear, and decided that yes: it would be really bad to ask Dani if she wanted to talk to Lorna. Lorna was better at this type of thing Alex was sure, but Alex was trying to be a good friend here. "And that movie about the blue people -- I heard that made all kinds of money."
Dani laughed. It was a little shaky but it was genuine because, right then, she was certain she'd never loved Alex Summers more. (Friendly love obviously.) "Yeah, I heard that, too," she replied easily, not adding that she was out of state dealing with other things. He was a smart guy-- he'd figure it out. "Don't know anything about that movie, though. Guess I ought to go see it, huh?"
Tilting her head back, Dani rested her eyes. (They were drier now, thankfully, but a bit tired.) "Anyway, I don't want to keep you." By which she meant force you to stay on the phone longer than necessary. "I just-- thought you deserved to know what was going on and why I was acting so weird. You know, before." With her crazy drunken ramblings and whatnot.
"Oh and Alex?" Dani bit her lip. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone else. I mean, if someone asks you, I don't want you to lie or anything, just... don't volunteer it, please?" She didn't think she could face a lot of (well-meaning but somewhat unwelcome) sympathy. Not yet. "I'm telling people, I promise." The people who mattered, anyway. "Just at my own pace, you know?"
Ahh, for once Alex's special ability to bottle things up inside and never ever talk about them was going to come in handy!
"I'd pinkie swear if I could that I won't tell a person." Alex promised. "And look, next time off I get, I'll come to Chicago to see you, okay? Or if you need a break, know that there's always room here." She didn't want to talk about it -- fine, but Alex wanted her to know that he would talk about it with her, even if his idea of talking about it was to be kind of slow and bumbling and not overly helpful.
"I heard the movie with the blue people wasn't great. Don't know about you, but I think that the blue people in the movie won't be as cool as the X-Men's resident blue people."
He switched ears with the phone again, a nervous kind of habitat. "Okay, if you need to go -- but Dani, look if you decide you want to talk about it? Let me know. We can talk about it over the phone anytime." And Alex meant that, he wanted Dani to know he'd be there if she needed him to be. She had been his best friend all through the X-school's version of high school, he wanted a chance to return the favor she had done him, by being there for him.
"Can you pinkie swear over the phone?" Dani wondered aloud before realizing she was totally not focusing on the important thing here. "Thanks, Ace. You-- that means a lot. Really." She smiled a little and it didn't feel fake for the first time in a long time. "There's always room for you here, too. A bed, even." Because, unlike some leaders, she was capable of making up a room for guests.
Dani opened her eyes and sat forward. "Well, it would be hard for anyone to capture the awesomeness that is the blue furry X-Folk, I think," she pointed out in her more usual teasing manner. It was... nice. She didn't like carrying around all this weight all the time. It was so damn tiring.
Biting her lip again, Dani looked down at her lap. "I don't--" She was going to say she didn't need to go but that was when she realized that she really did. Otherwise she was in danger of losing the good mood she'd finally found and she really didn't want that. "You're a good friend, Alex," she told him instead. "Don't ever let me tell you otherwise." She hoped that sounded lighter to him than it did her.
"I promise to call-- or something-- if I need to talk about it." And Dani found she meant it, too. She knew it wasn't easy for either of them, talking about their feelings, but maybe that was part of what made it okay? Alex could appreciate how hard it was for her to open up-- and how important something would have to be to her in order for her feel the need to do so in the first place.
"I don't think you can, you have to link pinkies and I don't see how that's possible over the phone. But I'm going to hold you to that promise -- that you'll call if you want to talk about it." Alex stood and began to make his way back o the door that would let him back into the HQ. "Or if you don't want to talk, and just want to bitch about the snow." Having reached the door he paused with his hand on the door of the door. "Seriously Dani if you need to talk -- call. Or if you need some time off from the whole leader thing -- take some time. Come here, or go on a trip."
"Fair enough," Dani agreed with a small smile, untangling her legs from beneath her before standing. "Although I think I'm more likely to bitch about the weather over text." Because if she complained to him about how much it sucked and how jealous she was of him being in California as often as she thought of it? Yeah, he would be screening her calls.
Dani had to suppress a groan when she stretched her muscles out; she hadn't realized how long she'd been sitting! "I--" here she bit her lip, a little embarrassed-- "I did take a bit of time off this last week," she admitted. "I mean, I had to organize some stuff and there was the funeral, so I... checked out for a few days and then bailed for a long weekend."
Running a hand through her hair, Dani flopped back onto her bed. "Not my finest moment." But she shrugged it off as best she could. It was done now; time to move on. "But I really just want to get back into it, you know? Otherwise I just have all this time to think and... yeah." Not good. Especially when those thoughts turned to Jon and what she-- they had done.
Alex leaned up against the door to X-Factors headquarters, deciding to say outside for a few moments longer. "Well that's fine, you have one of those unlimited text deals right? Because I mean Dani, your in Chicago, I hear the weather really sucks." He teased her as he glanced around the back yard area, thanking his lucky stars again that Xavier had let him take the California team. Sure, the weather could be bad sometimes, but no snow. Alex loved that.
"Well so you took some time, you have a good team. Also your allowed to have time off." At least that is how Alex viewed things, sure he and Dani had signed up for this leader thing, but that didn't mean they couldn't take a breather every now and than.
"Well don't not ever think about it. That leads to even more consumption of the pink stuff." And Alex knew, he drank a lot of Pepto Bismal, and he worked really hard at not thinking about a lot of things.
"But the deep dish pizza is awesome!" Dani offered with a shrug. Because, honestly, what was better than Chicago deep dish? (Answer: not a whole damn lot.) "If the snow returns, though, you better have an unlimited texting plan, too, Summers. I didn't sign up for wearing snow boots in April."
Dani tried not to blush but it was a losing battle. "Yeah, I know. I just... kind of locked myself in my room for a few days and then abandoned them? Left a note on the kitchen counter and my cell at HQ." She still felt guilty about it, too. "Not my finest hour but I needed space to digest-- and I needed to know that no one would turn up unexpectedly."
She wouldn't have put it past Kitty to trace her location from the cell or something, either. At least Charles would've understood if he'd found her with Cerebro. But never mind that. "I didn't say I won't think about it-- just that I don't want to right now." Of course, Dani wouldn't want to tomorrow but that was neither here nor there.
Besides, this was Alex Summers here. If anyone understood not thinking about things or dealing with them, it was him. (Yes, Dani could also hear the, "Do as I say, not as I do," in his voice; she just chose to ignore it.) And, really, it wasn't that big of a deal-- Pepto Bismo didn't taste that bad...
"You know what I think the X-organization needs? A team in Florida. You should look into that Dani, that would get you out of snow boots. Plus you could deal with alligators. Or problems at Disney!" Alex kind of privately wished that the Avengers had decided there needed to be a Florida team, and put their second team there. But he wasn't going to start talking about that now.
There was silence on Alex's end when he heard about the details of Dani's checking out. "Well." He was quiet some more and than gave a shrug of his shoulders. Which he realized she couldn't see. "Well it's done, as you said. Time to move on." Alex wasn't a fan of teammates taking off and leaving notes -- but that was probably because Terry tended to just drop a line on the journals saying she was taking off, and than of course there had been the Lorna thing ...
"That's fair. Besides I'm sure you have lots and lots of other things to think about. Like where your going to find a pair of snow boots ... or where you put the snow blower." Oh yes, Alex was so glad that he was on the team that was based in California.
Leave it to Alex Summers to think problems at Disney World necessitated an X-Team response. Although, Dani kind of wished they did-- facing off against Mickey Mouse would be a welcome reprieve after handling the Friends of Humanity and Purity. (She also wished they could keep the conversation light and on that topic but her stupid conscience was demanding honesty of her, damn it.)
Dani could hear the tension in Alex's voice, and she was reminded (yet again) that Lorna had left only a note when she'd been kidnapped in the year before. Right, so that hadn't exactly been a shining moment of genius on her part. (And she really couldn't be mad at Sam and Kitty for being concerned and invading her privacy in their quest for answers, either... unfortunately. Because, crazy thing that she was, she liked her privacy private!)
"True," Dani agreed halfheartedly, ignoring the lingering guilty feelings that kept cropping up. (They were pesky.) "It is time to move on-- and if I'm lucky, learn from my mistakes." Like, next meltdown-slash-freak out, she'd leave a voice mail or call Charles or something. (Assuming she kept her wits about her well enough to remember this moment, that was...) And take her tech, if only to prevent snooping.
But anyway-- "Pthhhbbbttt!" Dani blew a raspberry into the phone, relieved they're returned to less tense topics. (She should've known it was coming. Alex didn't handle the heavy well; he had to be hitting his tolerance by now.) "If I didn't know better, I'd think that was a challenge, Summers," she teased. "Lucky for you I'm feeling charitable. And we don't own a snow blower, which makes it easy to find." It was obviously in someone else's garage.
"At least you learn from them, and don't end up repeating, right?" Because Alex sometimes felt like he was stuck and doomed to repeat his mistakes over and over again. He hoped that everyone else was spared that.
"You don't own one? Are you telling me you make poor Piotr do all the heavy snow removal?" He figured it would be Piotr who did it, just because, well the guy was Russian-- they had lots of snow there right? And also the guy was large, he could handle it! "Nice Dani, nice, way to delegate there." He teased. "And hey, not a challenge just a statement. I read the journals." Even if he didn't comment much, he did read what other people on other teams were writing. "I read about the snow. And I remember spring in New York, it was ... fun."
Fun in the sense that Alex had bitched and whined his way through everyone of his springs there.
"Hey, he likes it!" Dani defended, smiling despite herself. "But, no, what I meant is that it doesn't usually snow nearly enough to require a snow blower." And when it did, there were city-funded folks to clear the roads. "I mean, it's not like we have a driveway to clear or anything!" Just a a sidewalk, if that even counted. (She wasn't certain it did.)
Dani snorted. "Oh, so all that whining you did during the winters back in high school was because of how much fun you were having?" She shook her head. "Why do I have trouble believing that, Ace?" Not that she'd been over the moon about the weather herself but at least she was somewhat used to the snow coming from Colorado via Montana.
But anyway-- "I'm really glad you called, by the way," Dani told him sincerely. Because it deserved saying. She didn't feel great by any stretch of the imagination, but she did feel better and that was something. (It helped that he was a team leader, too, and didn't seem to think her completely terrible for her rash actions.)
"Sure he does, I bet he likes hockey and umm, whatever else is stereotypically Russian. And that wasn't whining -- well no it was. But all that snow helped build my character or something." Alex had been born in Alaska, but he didn't recall that at all, and considered himself Hawaiian -- and therefore he felt he should be exempt from having to deal with snow.
"Well I'm glad I did." and he was -- maybe the phone wasn't oh so terrible. Or else this was the conversation that proved the rule about the phone. Either way, he was glad that he had called. "You know, we really have to work on having the teams all have summits or just even team leader meetings." Because he was close with his team -- but he missed some of the friends he had made over the years at Xaiver's. "You get on that Dani." He teased, "Organize us all up. That will give you something to distract yourself with."
"Vodka," Dani supplied with a small grin. She knew it to be true and it was rather stereotypically Russian but, for some reason, it still amused her. As did the memory of the horrified teenage Alex Summers in upstate New York for the first time. "Well, I suppose something had to. You were rather characterless before the winter season, Ace."
Dani smiled, smaller but more genuine. "Liar," she teased. "But I appreciate your attempt to humor me. Not enough to organize anything beyond some food for myself, mind you, but still." She paused for a moment a bit awkwardly. "So, I think I'm going to get going. Thanks for everything, Alex. I owe you one." He'd been pretty damn awesome, after all.
"Well you had enough character there for both of us." Alex grinned as he looked up at the sky above him, thinking back on the teenage years. Sure he could laugh about those turbulent years now, although it was a bit of an awkward laugh, because he did feel some shame when he thought about those years.
"No problem, Dani. Any time." And he meant that. "Take care. And no more note writing."
Dani laughed. "Still do, Ace." (Since "character" was quite possibly the nicest way to describe her sometimes overpowering personality, she'd take it.) "But we love you, anyway."
Then she saluted, despite the fact that Alex couldn't see her. "Aye, aye, captain," Dani joked with a grin. "I'll keep to voicemails and telegrams, promise." There was fondness in her voice, though, as she added-- "Talk with you soon. Give Lorna my love and take care of yourself!" Because, even if it went without saying, she still liked to add it in. "'Bye." And then she hung up.
It might not have been much but Dani definitely felt lighter than she had since before leaving for the Reservation as she headed out of her room in search of sustenance. (It occurred to her, then, that someone ought to really tell Alex he wasn't nearly as crap at the personal stuff as he thought he was. She decided to take that one if no one else did anytime soon.)