InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I see myself as the anti-dad."

Andrew Rogers (ohwonderful) wrote in utr_logs,
@ 2012-08-27 22:09:00

Entry tags:

andrew rogers, jean grey, steve rogers

Who: The Rogers! (Okay so it's really Steve, Andrew and Jean Grey)
What: Having dinner. Also awkward.
Where: Some restaurant
When: After their awkward conversation
Warnings: Maybe I mentioned awkward.

Somehow Andrew knew that talking to his parents was going to be a bad idea. He knew that he would have had to talk to them eventually, but like this? Possibly not. It made him want to beat his head into a wall and mutter something about being an idiot. People were looking at him funny. Either way, he waited for his dad to show up, twiddling his thumbs and generally looking as least like him as he possibly could.

Right when he spotted both Steve and Jean, he realized that he so had to turn off his telepathic powers. Oh yes. Shut that down right away. Concentrate on bees. Bees and flowers. La la la. Not thinking about parents. Thinking about bees and flowers. Why bees and flowers? Oh god he didn't know. What was he doing?

He could do this. Dammit.

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withliberty
2012-08-28 02:28 am UTC (link)

Steve had literally no clue that he was about to meet his own son. Even having met the young Coulson boy, the thought that he might have a child of his own was completely foreign. If he noticed Andrew's nerves, he chalked them up to the sudden change in circumstances. Strange day, strange new universe. Understandable, right?

"I think that's him," he murmured to Jean, and then called out a warm greeting.

"Hey. I'm Steve. I think we talked on that Internet network thing?"

That's right. Network. Thing. Apparently he was still catching up on tech.

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	alwaysjean 2012-08-28 02:33 am UTC (link)
	Jean smiled warmly at the boy, equally unaware, if not about the internet. She was holding Steve's hand, fingers entwined with his. Honestly, why wouldn't the poor boy look confused? It might have been a year ago, but she remembered too. "And I'm Jean. It's lovely to meet you." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

ohwonderful
2012-08-28 02:40 am UTC (link)

Deep breath. Leave your mind blank. Yes. He could do this.

Seeing his parents together though was really sweet. He just wanted to go "Awwwww." and squish them both, but he would try not to. That would just put the awkward to a whole new level.

"Hey," he greeted instead with a smile. "We did, yeah. Hi. I'm Andrew. It's nice to meet you both." Again.

"Thanks for letting me tag along." This reminded him of when he was like five. Ah, the memories.

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withliberty
2012-08-28 02:54 am UTC (link)

"Not a problem. Do you have any food preferences? I'm not the most exciting, but Jean got me to try curry, and it was great." Squish. Steve didn't precisely squeeze Jean's hand, but there was a quick tensing of fingers. Curry dates: best dates?

Really, he'd trust tastes and try just about anything once. (Just about, and frequently because there was no polite way to refuse.)

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alwaysjean
2012-08-28 03:00 am UTC (link)

It was the fact his mind was blank that threw her. Jean wasn't used to most people here using shielding techniques. There weren't enough mutants for it to be extremely common practice.

Really just herself, Charles and Hope.

Weird.

Jean smiled at Steve though, nodding a little. "There's a place down the road that's delicious. Let's go." She led down the sidewalk, trying to not over think the whole thing. Random dinner was random?

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	ohwonderful 2012-08-28 03:18 am UTC (link)
	"I don't mind curry. Curry sounds good to me." In fact his mother had gotten him to like curry too, though not until he was about fifteen. When she gave him a weird look, his mind immediately went to Bees bees bees. Nothing to see here. Do do do~ busy like a bee. "Great." He smiled again and walked with them both down to the curry place. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	withliberty 2012-08-28 03:37 am UTC (link)
	"So, Andrew. You're from New York?" It was chitchat. Steve wasn't be best at small-talk, but he could try, especially because the situation was already so awkward. A stranger, out to dinner with two other strangers. Weird, right? "I grew up in Brooklyn, myself. Of course, it's really changed since then." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	alwaysjean 2012-08-28 03:59 am UTC (link)
	Jean smiled too, wondering at the boy's thoughts. After all, why would he be trying to hide them? It was so strange. "It's both like my New York and not. So strange, but I suppose we're used to that." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ohwonderful 2012-08-28 04:20 am UTC (link)
	"Yep, I was born here and raised here." Which was saying too much. Way way too much, if they ever found out who he was. Andrew opened his mouth to almost say 'I know' but shut it a second later. "Yeah it is. I mean in the future it's still the same, but even more different. If that ... makes sense." He looked a bit sheepish. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	withliberty 2012-08-28 04:27 am UTC (link)
	"You're from the future?" Steve was working on trying to keep his surprise in check. The world had become a place where very strange things happened, and every single oddity couldn't be a shock. He'd live in a perpetual state of surprise. ...easier said than done. "That has to be interesting - seeing history first-hand." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	alwaysjean 2012-08-28 04:33 am UTC (link)
	Jean had been here longer, and there were things ringing hollow. False. "What did you say your last name was?" Jean asked it innocently, but so often the future arrivals were children of people already here. Perhaps they could help him find his parents. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ohwonderful 2012-08-28 04:40 am UTC (link)
	"Um yeah, afraid so." Every time he opened his mouth, he was pretty sure that he was digging himself a bigger hole. "It is. I like history. I studied it in school. It was my major, actually." When Jean asked him what his last name was, he blinked. "Bbbbbb.... rr... ooooobbbb. Brob. Andrew Brob." Brob? Seriously? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

withliberty
2012-08-28 04:49 am UTC (link)

Steve opened his mouth to keep the conversation going. He'd intended to say something pleasant, like oh, history's fantastic or perhaps some cliche, like those who do not study the past are doomed to repeat it.

And the Andrew gave his last name. 'Brob' was a weird one, but he'd have bought it had it not seemed so clearly like the newcomer was fishing for something to say. Huh.

So he blinked instead. A more sarcastic man would have said something like so, do you roll the r? Steve took a breath instead. Then, "That's an interesting surname." Polite. Nonjudgmental. Completely dubious.

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	alwaysjean 2012-08-28 04:53 am UTC (link)
	Utterly dubious. Andrew Brob? Who taught you to shield your thoughts? It was a very light psychic message. He'd have to be a mutant and trained to even receive it, let alone reply. This was adding up to something very, very particular. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

ohwonderful
2012-08-28 05:06 am UTC (link)

Andrew really really wanted to facepalm right then. This was why he didn't do things like ... lie. He was super super bad at it.

Hearing her voice in his head was kind of familiar though. Comforting almost. "It's.. Italian." No it wasn't. Oh my god, stop Andrew. Seriously!

Taught me? Uh. I don't .. I mean.. what? What are you.. how can I hear you.. in my head? Oh man, he didn't even sound freaked out or surprised like he meant to.

"I don't know anything about anything!" he said rather suddenly.

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withliberty
2012-08-28 01:02 pm UTC (link)

Okay. Now Steve was confused and a little concerned.

"No one's accusing you, son." In spite of the fact that Steve couldn't have had more than a decade, maybe twelve years on this kid, he got the 'son' treatment. Everyone did. Sometimes it was meant to be comforting. Sometimes it was a warning. Today was the former - he didn't break out the authoritarian tone of voice.

"But for the record, nothing makes a person want to ask you questions more than a sudden declaration that you don't know anything."

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	alwaysjean 2012-08-28 04:35 pm UTC (link)
	Jean was frowning, but only just slightly. I didn't mean to startle you. But... it'll just be easier if you tell us. It's okay, we know what happens here. She suddenly had an odd feeling about this. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

ohwonderful
2012-08-28 06:01 pm UTC (link)

Son. If only he really knew. Well maybe it wouldn't be so bad, right? They had to know sometime.

He pursed his lips and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Sorry, I'm just not very good at stealth. Being back in the past means I have to be careful and .."

Andrew glanced at both of them. "Okay. So uh.. my... last name isn't Brob. Obviously. It's.. Rogers..... Surprise."

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withliberty
2012-08-29 12:18 am UTC (link)

Steve wasn't a stupid man, but he wasn't used to the concept of children coming back from the future to meet their parents. (He was still new to this universe. It was going to take a few moments for things to click. Why would the kid be so evasive about his last name? Rogers was a perfectly fine surn-- ohhhhh.)

He wanted so badly not to scar the boy with his reaction that Steve sort of... failed to react. He stared somewhat blankly as he tried to process.

Loki trick? No. It wasn't big and obnoxious and deadly enough. Besides, where was the endgame? Steve was not the obvious first Avenger to take out. That was Banner, or Thor, if the big guy had come through the Vortex, but--

Okay, not Loki. Uhhh...

...Steve didn't have an explanation. "Sorry," he finally said aloud. "So we're related, then?"

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alwaysjean
2012-08-29 12:27 am UTC (link)

Jean had been here a very long time. She knew. Even before that, it wasn't as if her children hadn't visited long before they were born.

Had the chance to be born.

The weight of her lives seemed to weigh heavily most days. At the moment, she couldn't feel a thing.

Stepping forward, she looked into the child's eyes as she put her hand on his shoulder lightly.

"We all are, aren't we?"

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	ohwonderful 2012-08-29 02:13 am UTC (link)
	He rocked back and forth on his heels, looking between the both of them. Slowly he just kind of nodded his head. "I didn't want to put you on the spot. I mean that's really rude. And you two are.. don't deserve to have that kind of pressure." He was rambling again, and Andrew knew that he had to shut up. Andrew let out a breath. "You're my mom and dad." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

withliberty
2012-08-29 02:41 am UTC (link)

Oh man. That was a lot of pressure for a guy whose track record with women had been shaky at best. Steve immediately decided not to think about the how; how he'd managed to woo Jean, how they'd gotten to a point where they'd had a child.

Andrew was there, right in front of them. He'd think about the 'what.' That, at least, was concrete and distinct, something he could handle right then. Baby steps.

"...you know, it's okay. I appreciate that you wanted to spare us, but you shouldn't have to sneak around and hide."

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	alwaysjean 2012-08-29 02:47 am UTC (link)
	This was a place Jean had been before. Different circumstances, different man. Different child. But Jean only had one question, one concern. Her hand was still on his shoulder, and she held Steve's hand in her other. "Have... have I ever..." She was surprised at how badly she was shaking. "I was there? As you were growing up?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

ohwonderful
2012-08-29 03:57 am UTC (link)

"That's generally what most of us do when we've been put back in time. Sneak around and hide. Otherwise we might mess up time lines and all sorts of things." He shrugged, not knowing how much of that was true since there was no one to ask in the future if it had made it different.

He gave his mom a sympathetic look and nods. "Yeah you were there. You were always there. You haven't ever.. you know. You're both great parents. Really great."

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withliberty
2012-08-29 01:05 pm UTC (link)

Time lines. Steve was abruptly ashamed of himself for not considering time as well as dimensional-travel as potential vortex options. It was crazy and probably impossible where he was from, but in the new universe there were new rules.

He pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand.

"I'm sorry about the reaction. I really am glad to meet you. I just -- you are too big for catch." Aha. And there was a smile; because clearly, if you had a child, playing catch was some kind of bonding must-do. So what did you do with an adult son?

...uh, well. Dinner and a place to stay were a start.

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	alwaysjean 2012-08-29 04:52 pm UTC (link)
	Jean was having a hard time keeping her reaction steady. Tears were starting to spill down her cheeks, swallowing back sobs. I was there. I survived and I raised a child that turned out normal and... She was likely projecting the thoughts loudly enough at this point that even Steve was catching onto them. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

ohwonderful
2012-08-30 06:17 am UTC (link)

"It's okay, it's not your fault. It's really not. It's no one's fault. This sort of thing just happens." And it was just something that happened.

Then all of a sudden his mom was crying really bad on him.

"Oh Mom.. I.." he swallowed and put his arms around her. "You're a really good mom. The best mom in the whole universe. Please don't cry." He didn't know what to do any more than Steve did really.

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withliberty
2012-08-31 12:02 am UTC (link)

Oh man. Crying Jean. Steve was of the same mind as his (their) son, but group hugs were more complicated than they looked, so he wound up trying to put hands on shoulders instead. Jean's. Andrew's.

"It'll be okay. Really, I promise - you're going to be an excellent mother."

Because he'd already bought in. This was going to happen, wasn't it? They were going to have a son someday, and he'd turn out just fine.

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	alwaysjean 2012-08-31 12:06 am UTC (link)
	Jean sniffled, immediately going from shock to mortification. Still, it was a lovely hug. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. It's just... I'll be here. I'll be here to see you grow up." She looked up at Steve, having a hard time believing her default reaction to this was to cry ugly, ugly tears. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ohwonderful 2012-08-31 05:51 am UTC (link)
	"You really don't have to be sorry. It's a lot to take in." And he definitely knew that. "You never have to apologize for crying on me.." He wanted to call her mom but he wasn't sure if that was okay yet. Andrew was totally fine. See? He was a super nice guy. "Should we go to dinner? You guys can ask me things if you want." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	withliberty 2012-09-03 10:55 pm UTC (link)
	"Don't be sorry," Steve agreed. He was reluctant to take his hand from Jean's shoulder, but they couldn't very well walk to dinner that way, so he withdrew it and offered it back for holding. "Jean? Are you up for dinner? Uh-- but should we ask questions? I don't know anything about time. Is it bad if we know too much?" (Reply to this) (Parent)