Alex Summers (second_summers) wrote in marvel_united, @ 2010-10-21 22:32:00 |
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Entry tags: | havok, polaris |
Log: Havok & Polaris
Who: Alex and Lorna
NPCs: n/a
When: October 14th (after this journal entry).
Where: X-Factor HQ
What: Alex and Lorna talk -- and make a decision about living arrangements
Rating: PG
Alex had kind of settled into the couch -- he had pizza, he had beer (on a coaster), he had a few days of TV to catch up on . . . he was set! The only thing that he was lacking at the moment was some good company, but Lorna was on her way so that was going to take care of that.
It was kind of weird sometimes for Alex, living in the X-Force headquarters. It wasn’t a dorm, but it was communal living of a sort. There was bathroom sharage going on after all, not to mention kitchen sharage, and thanks to everyone’s schedule team members popping in and out. That was all fine and good as far as Alex was concerned but there was other things about the living arrangements that had been on his mind.
Grabbing his beer he took a sip and watched the TV waiting for Lorna to show up.
So Lorna didn’t lie. She did actually bring a book. Normal people, she supposed, would have bought out whatever mystery they were currently reading. Lorna was reading one of her old professor’s new books. She set the book down on the coffee table, grabbed a slice of pizza and plopped down near him on the couch.
She turned to face him and plopped her legs straight in his lap, making herself comfortable. “Pizza and Beer.” She said with a smile. “How’d you know that was my favorite?”
“Because I have been hiding my mutant power of reading peoples minds all this time.” He responded to her, as he grinned as she took a seat. He grabbed the remote and paused the TV, because he wanted to give Lorna his full attention here. “And I’m glad it’s your favorite ...” because always good to butter people up with food before asking them things, right?
He glanced towards the book she was reading -- a brief frown because that was the professor that espoused a theory that Alex didn’t really agree with. But tonight was not the night to talk geophysics (well maybe later would be the time to talk geophysics ...) right now was the time to ask Lorna a question. And he didn’t want to drag it out.
“Hey, glad you came out, I was serious I do have a question for you.”
Yes, her favorite. Well, maybe not exactly, but when it came to food, Lorna was shockingly low maintenance. No one else was around though, and he quip about reading her mind made her smile. “So does this mean I’m going to have to try harder to keep all my little sordid thoughts beaten down in my head?” She asked him playfully, reaching for a beer of her own.
But she was beginning to notice that Alex was looking serious. So she stopped with her pizza halfway to her mouth and looked a tad bit more serious herself. “What’s up?” She asked sounding a little concerned.
“Well no ... because I like some of those sordid thoughts.” Alex teased back, because it was just the two of them at the moment. Had there been teammates around of course Alex wouldn’t have been making comments like that!
The fact that she sounded a little concerned made Alex feel a little bad, so he rushed forward. “Well. I was thinking.” He coughed and cleared his throat, “it just seems that well most nights were in one of each others rooms.” This was so weird -- they already lived together in the same house, just not ... in the same room. “I was wondering if you were opposed to you know -- having one room between us.”
This was the point in the conversation where Lorna might have leaned forward and told him a couple of those thoughts, but there seemed to be something a little more pressing on his mind. She listened, and when he was through, she blinked. Twice. Now, In Lorna’s estimation it was most every night. Actually, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d actually slept alone if he was there. But she was sort of used to being the one that broached these things. His MO was yelling upset, tell someone how I feel, so for him to say it all logically was a bit of a surprise.
She did smile, because he still asked in this Alex way. She let her feet drop off from his lap so she could sit up straighter in excitement. “Yes. I mean, no, I’m not opposed.” She said, thoughts of the crazy tetris game they’d have to play to get all their stuff in one room didn’t even come to mind. She leaned forward and kissed him quickly. “So tell the truth, how long have you been mulling that one over?” She teased gently.
Alex let out a breath and settled a little more into the couch. He wasn’t feeling half as tense as he had been before.
After she kissed him, he grinned at her; “Well I was going to ask on the camping trip but ... well ... there was the thing.” Sure they might have been alone here in the HQ, but he was not going to mention that they had been scared by a small furry woodland creature.
She looked a bit panicked and started shush him frantically the moment he brought up the ill fated camping trip. The trip amounted to two days outside and the rest of the trip in a hotel. She leaned back again, propping her legs back up and reached for her pizza slice again. “You know.” She started with a smile, before taking a bite. “It’s going to be like a game of Jenga getting all our stuff into one room.”
Alex was very glad to change the subject from the camping trip of doom, to well .. the potential move of doom.
“True.” He looked over towards the rooms. “But this is why we have Cain and Guido on the team right? Big guys, can move lots of heavy objects, you can help with the metal objects and I?” Alex smirked; “I can supervise.”
She kicked him lightly with the foot in his lap. She didn’t think the moving itself would be too bad. It’s not like they had to move furniture.... well a desk probably. “Supervise? I see how it is. Your idea so now all your work is done.” She said tsking him before she took another bite of pizza.
“Hey, I think that sounds like a great plan.... I came up with it, I get others to carry out the moving part. It’s called delegating.” Alex teased as he grabbed his beer, and then glanced back towards the rooms again. “So. You have a preference on what room we move into?”
Her gaze fell on the hallway. “It’s called being a mean buttmonkey.” She said to him suddenly with a smile on her face unsure when the word buttmonkey actually entered her vocabulary. “Nope. It can be mine, yours, or a new one. I don’t mind.”
“Buttmonkey?” Alex gave her a blank look for a second before shaking his head sadly, “Oh Lorna, I know you are but what am I?” Yes, Alex could go all grade school on people at random moments. And hey, it called on it he’d protest that it was Lorna who had started it!
“How about a new one?” Just because that way it wasn’t like someone was moving into someone else’s room. “Although that way, we have to move twice as much ...” Argh decisions!
She shook her head, trying to bring a look of pure disappointment on her face. “You didn’t use ‘I’m rubber, and you’re glue...’” She shook her head, tsking dramatically. “We need to break up right now.”
She quirked a smile. “I like that. One of the empty suites, that way we’re not suddenly three people to a bathroom.”
“You have to work up to the rubber and glue thing Lorna, you don’t bring the big guns out to start with.” Alex might have grown up thinking that he was an only child, but he had learned to playground trash talk when he was a kid.
“Right ... good call. Okay so. We have a plan then. One room. Two people.” Suddenly Alex was plagued by the realization of how much packing he was going to have to do. “So going to have to ask Cain or Guido to help move the box that will have the geode collection.”
“You only have to work up to it, if you don’t have a trash talk muscle, dork breath.” She said sounding a bit incredulous. She was smiling though.
“We have way too much stuff.” She knowing that look on his face was now thinking about that. “I suppose we could put all our geeky stuff in the other room like a shrine of awesome or something.” Seriously if people didn’t get it that was their own fault.
“A trash talk muscle? And I suppose you have one of those?” Well maybe she did, since she was coming up with phrases like ‘dortk breath’.
Alex took a drink of his beer, and thought about setting up a shrine of awesome. “So no rocks in the real room?”
She let him go with a nod. He should have one, but she didn’t want to spend the evening insulting her boyfriend. “We can.” she said biting her lip. “But we both have a lot of stuff, we could always use the other room as a sort of... place for the desks, computers and stuff? I don’t know.” Seriously, if two people moved into an apartment she supposed to excess stuff... DVDs, rocks would go into the living room or something.
“That could work ...” It crossed Alex’s mind once again that the whole working with an X-team and living with your teammates was just weird. And if you moved into the same room with one of those teammates that you lived with? Well it brought up all these kinds of questions.
“Okay so desks and computers, and rocks in the spare room. Bed ... some books in the regular room?” It went without saying (as far as Alex was concerned) that his surfboard would be in the regular room.
Lorna pulled herself to lean forward by the back of the couch and kissed him. “That works. It’s brilliant actually.” That way when she got annoyed she could just run off to another room.” She smiled and leaned back. “So...” She started. “I take it you’re in a good mood now?” She asked, because really she had something to ask herself. It wasn’t as important as his, but still.
“Well, I am a brilliant guy from time to time. When I’m not being a dork breath.” He grinned at her, glad that they had the start of a plan -- and now would have two rooms! When she asked if he was in a good mood now, he gave her a slightly confused look. He had the feeling that this was leading somewhere, but he wasn’t sure where. He leaned back on the couch, and observed her for a moment. “I am .. a pretty good mood actually. What’s up?”
She smiled. “I need some time in a couple of weeks.” She said. She knew she’d JUST taken time to go hang out in the wilderness and get freaked by animals in the forest, but this was different. She held up her hands. “Nothing as dramatic as super secret New York trips with secret DNA tests or anything, but I was thinking about road tripping it with Wanda.”
“Sure ... well I have to admit that I’m glad that it’s nothing as dramatic as that.” Could anything be as a dramatic as that? Well, Alex wasn’t going to go and give voice to that question. Because he knew he would be just tempting fate by asking that question outloud. “That souds fun. And hey, take the time, we should be able to hold down the fort.” And he wasn’t going to add that things had been nice and quiet lately because that would also be tempting fate. “You guys have a plan for where your going?”
Not that Alex was going to be creepy stalker boyfriend who tracked his girlfriends progress on a roadtirp via maquest or something like that. Just team members sometimes just took off, and he liked the idea of having a vague idea were people where. So no, not being creepy boyfriend guy, being leader of X-Factor guy. That was all!
No nothing could ever be as dramatic as all that. Lorna never wanted to go through that level of drama ever again. Sure she’d gotten a pair of pretty cool siblings out of it, but she really hated that eat your stomach feeling that came with secrecy. “Thanks.” She knew things had been quiet, which was why she was alright asking. “I’m not even sure yet. I was thinking drive to get her, go to Vegas maybe? I don’t know.” She looked at him knowing he was a bit in leader mode. “Don’t worry. I’ll let you know where I am.”
“You didn’t let me give my spiel.” Alex grinned, “But hey, Vegas is nice. You guys should have a good time. But no card counting if you guys go hey? Or using your powers to somehow ... do something to the slot machines. Well unless your planing on using some of the winnings to buy an even bigger TV for the HQ ....” Alex knew their TV was a very decent sized one ... which was great, but Alex just loved big TV’s.
“Well, I know you have that sucker memorized, so if you want to, I can sit through it.” Lorna offered smile on her face. No, she was responsible, even if the two of them hadn’t been dating she would’ve checked in at least every other day anyway. She scoffed. “If I risk life and limb trying to jack a slot machine and win, I getting a hot tub.” They had a big enough TV. Hot tubs were relaxing, and possibly therapeutic for strained muscles.
“I do actually -- but I think you’ve all heard it now.” So he knew he could be ... weird about people checking in. But he cared about his team -- sure they were all adults, but he did care about them. “And of course if you run into any trouble -- call us. We’ve got Lila on call, so can ‘port out to you.” Because two mutants on a road trio -- how could that possibly go wrong, right?
“If you jack a slot machine -- make sure you take on one that has a high payout. So hut tub and big TV.” See -- Alex could compromise! Well, he could come up with fantastical situations at least in which everyone got what they wanted. “Oh, and make sure it’s one that’s got a big enough payout so Wanda can buy something too ...” She’d be Lorna’s partner in slot machine crime after all ...
“I love that you say I’ve heard it all before and then give me the condensed version anyway.” She pointed out. “You don’t need to worry, I’m sensible and have everyone I could possibly need on speed dial.” She didn’t mention that if there was trouble she was positive Pietro would stalk them to their location and break a ton of heads anyway...
Lorna got a strange sort of smile on her face before leaning up again to look him straight in the eye. “You know, I don’t like the implication that you need a TV when there’s me in a bathing suit in a hottub, Summers.” She pointed out, playfulness in her tone. Meh, she wasn’t sharing her theoretical stolen casino money.
“I know your sensible -- and I can’t help giving the spiel, even the condensed version. I worked really hard on it, took lots of time practicing it.” Alex was picking up a piece of pizza when Lorna got a look on her face, and looked right at him, and then made the comment about herself, a hottub and a bathing suit.
He put down the piece of pizza he had been going to snack on.
“I am terribly sorry Lorna, I did not mean to imply that.” He was being mock serious here. “Trust me, if I have you in a bathing suit -- hottub or no -- I need no TV.” And no pizza, and no beer, because Lorna in a bathing suit was a lot more interesting then any of those things.
“So is the speech like plane safety procedures? As in the plane can’t take off until the stewardesses are done? So if you don’t say it when needed wouldn’t your brain freeze?” Yes it was a completely random question. Also, it wasn’t until it was out of her mouth that she remembered Alex’s hatred of plane travel, and the very real reason he did.
She looked as if she was seriously thinking about his mock serious words. “Well, I suppose I’d just have to take your word for it.”
There wasn’t so much brain freeze, as Alex freeze when she brought up planes, and plane safety procedures. Two of Alex’s least favorite subjects all combined into one there. Still, Alex knew that Lorna didn’t mean anything by that, so he gave his head a quick shake and a quick, somewhat forced grin. “Yes. Like that.”
“You don’t have to take my word for it. Well. We don’t have a hottub, true.” He stood up from the couch and held his hand out t Lorna. “Come on, you can show me a bathing suit, and I’ll give you my undivided attention.”
Lorna was glad when Alex didn’t seem to go into crazy Summers angst and brood mode. While she could deal with him in that state, it really wasn’t her favorite. So when he ignored her faux pas, she did as well.
Lorna let her feet fall lazily out of Alex’s lap and set her barely drunk beer on the table before grabbing his hand. She couldn’t help the smile on her face. “You do know I have more than one right?”
When faced with either going into brooding mode about his family trauma or thinking about his girlfriend in a bathing suit, Alex was going to chose bathing suit every time. He helped her to her feet, and pulled her close so he could kiss her.
“So you can show me all of them.” Or none of them as the case might be.