Ororo Munroe (Storm) (0r0r0) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2014-02-12 02:34:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, clarice ferguson (blink), ororo munroe (storm), scott summers (cyclops) |
Who: Ororo Munroe and Scott Summers, with a tiny bit of Clarice (Blink)
What: Third date!
When: 2/10
Where: Theater, then Scott's place
Rating/Warnings: PG13 for ftb stuff
Status: Complete!
Ororo was really nervous. She hadn’t been on a date in two years, unless you counted the two with Scott. But this was Date Three - usually the one where decisions got made. So even though it was going to be a movie, she wanted to look nice. She’d worn nice jeans and a black shirt that showed some skin, with a gold necklace on top. She brought a loose sweater in case she got cold, but she wanted to see if she could get Scott to choke on his tongue first.
She rang the doorbell at his house, not sure if Rachel would be home. Hopefully she wouldn’t think poorly of Ororo for showing a bit of skin. Rachel’s opinion mattered a lot.
Third dates were fucking scary. Scott hadn't been on many of those the past few years. Most of his relationships crashed and burned usually through something he said or did. Like he self-sabotaged them. He was extra nervous about ruining things with Ororo. She was a friend, and a dreamer, and that made things all the more risky.
He was worried about Rachel, naturally. With her dreams growing darker and her Hound marks manifesting it was enough to make him consider rescheduling. But Rachel was stubborn and had practically ordered him to go, then went to Kitty’s to work on a cover-up plan.
He opened the door when she knocked and nearly inhaled his own tongue. His eyes were wide enough to be noticeable behind the glasses. He recovered, clearing his throat. “I uh… Hey.”
Ororo immediately blushed, smiling. “Hey. Sorry I’m late.” He’d looked shocked, which was really cute and made her want to giggle, but it also made her faintly nervous. Hopefully it wasn’t too much. “You look nice.” She’d almost said cute, but no guy wanted to hear that.
"Thanks." He looked down at himself, blue shirt and black slacks. Buttoned up and nice. The shirt was tight enough that it emphasized his shoulders and chest. Not in the same way Ororo's did hers, but that was okay. He was going to have a hard time keeping his eyes on her face.
"You're gorgeous. If you don't mind my saying." He grinned.
“Thanks.” Ororo smiled. “Should I come in, or are you good to go? And how’s Rachel?” Maybe the last question was a non-sequitur, but she still wanted to know.
"She went to Kitty's. It's been a rough few nights for her," Scott said, his expression growing sad for a moment. He hadn't wanted to leave her alone, so he was glad for that. "She's dreaming too."
Ororo sighed. “Shit. I am genuinely sorry to hear it.” She didn’t even want to know what Scott’s daughter might be dreaming about. Given what both of her parents were probably due to go through. “You sure you want to go out? It’s totally understandable if you want to give it a miss.”
"She all but threatened me to continue as planned," Scott said wryly. "More like her mother than she'll ever know, that girl." Even after the dreams, he doubted she'd see how much like Jean she was. He held out his arm. "Well, lets get going before some disaster strikes."
Ororo smiled. “That’ll serve her well.” That determination. Rachel reminded her a lot of herself when she’d been younger. But she took Scott’s arm and said “Lead on” before she got too nostalgic.
He grinned, and risked a kiss on Ororo’s cheek before guiding her to his car. He thought it would be easier to take one vehicle. And maybe she’d be interested in staying. He certainly hoped so. “So I got us tickets for a play.”
“Oh?” Ororo raised an eyebrow. Frankly, she wouldn’t have pegged him as one for the theater. Too much was going on most of the time. Scott seemed twitchy at certain moments. “That sounds good. What’s the play?”
Scott pulled his keys out, and something dropped to the floor. He knelt and picked it up. It was a condom wrapper and there was a post-it note. No glove no love! - Rachel
He sucked his lips into his mouth. “Uhm.” He stuck it back into his pocket.
Ororo wasn’t embarrassed; she laughed. “Both a blessing and a curse, huh.” She thought it was sort of cute how Rachel clearly looked after her dad just as much as the reverse. And besides, it wasn’t like it hadn’t crossed her mind; this was the third date, he was cute and it might happen, depending on the rest of the evening.
Scott laughed, mostly at himself and his embarrassment as he unlocked the car for them and got in. “I’m not actually sure what the play is about. I’m a friend of the playwright and her other work was pretty good.”
“Oh. Well, I’m as much a fan of the experimental as the next girl.” Which, to be honest, wasn’t much, but she’d give it a chance. And if it was boring, she could always try to distract Scott.
“Her first play had most of the cast naked except the main character, who was a body. It followed her from death to burial and everyone played it straight as though they didn’t notice they were naked.” It had been a interesting show. “I think it’s supposed to represent how events and life can bare us.”
“To be frank, that’s more avant garde than I would have expected you to enjoy.” She hoped he wasn’t offended; he just came off as a very reality-based person. Someone with no time for flights of fancy like this.
"I figured I owed her enough to give it a shot, and I ended up enjoying it," Scott admitted. He probably wouldn't have tried to see it if he hadn't known Clarice. And owed her so incredibly much. “I should probably warn you, if she’s playing a role, she’ll be the pink one.”
“Pink?” Ororo laughed. “That’s new. Haven’t seen any pink people yet.” She figured maybe if you were colored pink, avant-garde was the way to go.
“Yeah. You’ll see more people like that the more you dream.” He rubbed at his chin. “She’s sort of from our dream world, but not really. We had a girl like her but she passed away. Then we discovered her years later. But Clarice is from an alternate reality from our own. She visited our world once or twice.”
“The weirdest thing I’ve seen yet was Hank. But honestly, he’s so polite.” Ororo smiled. She’d liked Hank McCoy immediately, despite later seeing the fur. “And I use weird for lack of a better word. But if she’s one of us, I’d like to meet this Clarice eventually.” She got to the car, waiting for Scott to unlock it.
“You’ll like Clarice. She’s friendly. A bit like Kitty but less boisterous and quieter.” Scott unlocked the car and got inside. It wasn’t a very long drive, all things considered. The theater was in a nice part of town.
“Kitty’s really great.” Ororo sat in the passenger seat, unable to stop a laugh. “I’m glad she’s there for Rachel, too. You said they were close.”
He nodded. “Best friends in the dreams. Kind of someone who keeps her centered. I can only do so much as her father, she needs someone her own age for all those things daughters are supposed to keep from their fathers.”
“I still have that best friend of mine from Rachel’s age.” Ororo chuckled. “She lives up in Portland, but we talk all the time. And I don’t know, I hope she’ll think that she can trust me with some things, as well. I mean. No matter what happens with you and me.” Awkward much? But she pushed on. “I just think somebody her age might need someone older to run stuff by.” Especially if Rachel was inheriting her parents’ powers or dreams or both.
Scott grinned. He wished he still had friends he could talk to. Regrets, but none that he wanted to dwell on right now. “Are you volunteering? Because I’m not sure I’m ready to be outnumbered yet.”
Ororo blushed, hoping she hadn’t overstepped any bounds. “I just meant that she knows me and I hope she thinks I’m okay. She seems like a great kid.” No matter what happened dating wise, she didn’t want to make it awkward with Scott or Rachel.
He grinned at her, then rested his hand on her knee. “Pretty sure she thinks you’re okay, or she’d be raising hell about us dating.”
“Fair.” Ororo tried to relax; she just didn’t want to put her foot in her mouth. “I just see a lot of myself in her.” She smiled a little, looking out the window. “I’m sure I had a little more trouble fitting in, in the dreams, though - you might laugh, actually. Jean had to explain to me what things like smartphones were.” She’d grown up in a place that while not primitive, hadn’t exactly been technology central.
Scott shook his head. “No laughing here. I’m sure there were things you took for granted that you’d have to explain to her or me.”
“Maybe, but it was more a cultural thing than societal. Stuff like minarets were pretty foreign to most of you mutants.” Ororo’s tone was fond. “I was raised Muslim here, but I don’t practice, actually. That I do have in common with dream me, at least little dream me.”
He'd been raised Protestant but hadn't really practiced or believed in a long time. Losing Jean had shattered his faith and he'd had nothing since then to repair it. "I was raised in Alaska. That's about as far from minarets as you can get."
“I’d say so.” Ororo rested a hand on Scott’s knee, mostly because she could. “Never been up there. To be honest, not sure I’d like to go - I grew up in Oregon, I’m not used to cold. And I swear, I’ve been getting more sensitive to cold since I started dreaming - little me grew up in Cairo, after all.”
"It would have to be a summer trip," Scott joked. "But I haven't been back there in so long that I'm pretty sure I lost my cold immunity anyway."
“Oh, really? Portland’s so close that I’m always going back there. But I guess Alaska’s a bit of a trek.” Ororo settled back into the passenger seat as he drove. She didn’t want to press any further; family stuff was sort of for when you were actually a couple. If ever.
“It can be, since you pretty much just fly into Anchorage and then you have to take mudskippers to really go anywhere else,” Scott replied. “A lot of the stuff you see on tv is pretty true. A few large population centers and then mostly wilderness and tiny little towns in the tundra.”
“Craziness.” Ororo laughed. “So some of it is actually as rough and tumble as TV makes it seem?” She held on as he took a turn. “How’s a guy from Alaska wind up here driving a Viper?”
“Mid-life crisis,” Scott said, deadpanned. But he was mostly joking. “I haven’t been back in a long time.”
“I knew it.” Ororo teased. But she shook her head, understanding. “I sort of feel lucky I have a place I can come back to.” She left it at that as he started to slow down. “So, are we going to meet your friend after this play, or should I trust you to pass on the positives and negatives?”
"If she has time I can introduce you. I haven't told her I was going to show up, but I suspect she'll notice." He tapped his glasses. "These are hard to miss."
The theater was a nondescript building, but it was clean and well cared for, thanks to some generous donations. Scott parked across the street, and got out to open the door for Ororo.
She nodded her thanks, taking her sweater just in case people were dressed a little nicer than she was. She didn’t feel like showing her boobs to anyone but Scott. Wait. That came out wrong. At least she hadn’t said it out loud.
She walked with him across the street, both curious and amused by the type of people that were already in the lobby. “Avant-garde,” Ororo commented, smiling. She liked people who weren’t afraid to be a little different. She was starting to identify with them more and more as she dreamed.
The hiding of the boobs was a sad moment, but Scott could understand. He offered her his arm as they walked. "This ought to be very interesting. I almost feel like I'm just a bit outside the demographic."
“Wow.” Ororo couldn’t help but blink at a few of the piercings. “I suddenly feel old.” Only a little. She was mostly amused.
Scott checked out one of the short skirts from behind his glasses. It was a nice ass, but Ororo's was actually better. He smirked to himself. "Then I must be ancient."
“I’m sure Rachel’s already told you that.” Ro retorted with a grin. She took his arm, enjoying looking around and people-watching as they headed for their seats. She appreciated his guts at trying something new, even if it was for a friend’s sake.
He was a little nervous about what this play might actually be about, but he didn't think there'd be anyone naked. At least he hoped not. It had been a good play but he wasn't sure he wanted to take Ororo to a nude play.
Once inside, they were led to their seats, which were to the left and several rows back.
There turned out to only be a little nudity, and well, Ororo had seen boobs before. It was surprisingly interesting, as well; she’d half expected avant-garde gibberish, but it had an engaging story. When it was over, she was one of the first to applaud.
Scott grinned and clapped along. Clarice always wrote clever dialogue and the story was entertaining. “That was actually better than her last one.” He turned towards Ororo, and put his arm around her. “What did you think?”
“It was very good, actually.” Ororo smiled. “I’m not going to lie, I expected some kind of Hair type hippie play.” She laughed, looking at him. “I’m glad you enjoyed it, too!”
“Lets see if we can sneak in backstage and pay Clarice a visit,” Scott said, a bit of an unusual adventurous streak becoming apparent.
“Oh, okay.” Ororo smiled, amused. She got up, following Scott down aisles and over toward a door near the stage. This would be interesting.
The show had gone well. Clarice was just coming from back stage when she spotted Scott and his date. She ran over, her skin a darker purple instead of pink in the lightning. “Hey! I hope you enjoyed the show. It wasn’t perfect but that’s what makes it fun.” She glanced at Ororo and smiled. She knew a Storm when she saw her, it was just a question of where she dreamed of. “Hi, I’m Clarice.”
“Ororo. I enjoyed myself!” She shook the woman’s hand, smiling. “I have to say, I was surprised at Scott coming here. Didn’t think it’d be his cup of tea, but I can admit when I’ve been wrong.” She looked back at Scott, chuckling. Hopefully he wouldn’t be offended.
“Well I was planning on some square dancing and a rodeo,” he said, deadpanned.
Clarice looked at him like ‘well I’m glad you decided to get laid instead’ and grinned. “Nice to meet you. What do you think? And be brutal, it’s okay.”
“I liked it, honestly. I expected something more airy-fairy, but it had a really nice, relatable plot.” Ororo laughed. “No need to be brutal.” She took off her sweater, figuring well, she’d seen someone else’s boobs a little while ago. It was warm in here anyway.
Okay so she definitely looked, but only for a second and even flushed a bit. Her eyes were this faintly glowing green, too. “I cut my teeth on Shakespeare so there’s still that sort of influence. Next month we’re doing Wicked, though! I’m excited about that one.”
“That should be nice.” Ororo tended to be flattered when people looked at her boobs, especially surreptitiously, instead of offended. “I do love Shakespeare. I’ll definitely be back for that if you do it, with or without Scott along.” She smiled at him, wanting to include him in the conversation.
“I’m willing if you’re willing to have me,” Scott replied. He didn’t get out often enough as it was, just to have fun and enjoy myself. He liked doing that. He was just always busy (but then he liked to work and spreadsheets were entertainment for him…).
“Always welcome,” Clarice said, giving them a playfully sweeping bow. And yes, Ororo’s breasts were fantastic. It made her wonder if she was ready to date again. “We’re doing Julius Caesar in a few months.”
“I’ll be here.” Ororo smiled. “It was nice to meet you!”
She gave them a wink. “Nice to meet you too. I need to grab something for the crew to snack on while we clean up. Really glad you enjoyed the show!” She gave them a wave, and then in a flash of pink light she was gone.
“Handy, that,” Scott said, laughing.
Ororo hadn’t expected it, and she jumped backward, but she was able to laugh. Once she’d gotten her chill back, she looked at Scott. “Is she one of us?” she asked quietly. For all she knew, this Clarice could be another sort of being entirely.
He nodded his head. “She’s a mutant, yeah. From another, darker timeline. She visited our world once.” He frowned, then decided to be honest. “I dreamed about her world. And some others. As though the dreams decided I didn’t have enough to worry about with two lives, they wanted to give me four.”
Ororo stared. “Four?” Her brow furrowed. “Scott, how the hell are you staying sane?” It wasn’t a rude question; it was something she’d legitimately wonder of anybody who told her that.
“A lot of overtime,” he told her. He wasn’t going to go into it unless asked, and slipped an arm around her waist. “I’m handling it, and it’s been awhile since anything new came along.”
“Well, don’t think you have to handle it alone.” Ororo gave him a Look. “I did dream about M’Rinn and a few other crazy things, and even then I got the impression you preferred not to ask for help.” Her tone was gentle, even if her eyes weren’t. “Seriously, though.”
“If I need help, I’ll bring it up,” Scott promised. “I may need someone to talk to if they start coming back. The ones I had shook me pretty heavily.”
It took effort to even admit that.
“All I ask is to not shut us out if things get really bad.” Ororo said, looking right at him. “The more I dream, the more I see that this isn’t funny. You know? I think any one of us trying to handle this alone might just go nuts. I’m not trying to make an example of you.” She smiled a little. “Besides, there is no way I could take you seriously if you went like, power-mad. Sorry.” She wasn’t that much shorter than him.
“I don’t think that’ll be too much of an issue, but I’ll warn you now there’ll be a point where you’ll lose respect for me.” X-force and Hope and all the shit with Logan and the schism.
“Well, I did just gain a little now for you telling me.” Ororo said seriously. “It takes a big man to be able to admit that there are times when he’s a jackass.” She’d be on the lookout, but she wasn’t having too hard a time differentiating dreams from reality. Yet, if ever.
She looked around. “No offense, but if we’re going to talk about this, could we not do it in public?” She wasn’t angry, just ... uncomfortable.
Scott nodded. “Maybe we can talk about it another night.” He rolled his shoulders. “How hungry are you?”
“I could eat. What did you have in mind?” Ororo almost laughed at that shoulder roll. It looked for all the world like he was psyching himself up to spend more time with her. It was kind of cute.
Which it really wasn’t, he’d be put out if that’s what she thought. “Something new. I’m in the mood to try something different. Got any ideas?”
Ororo thought a bit. “Ever had sushi? The flavors can be great.” And it could be a little sexy, too.
“Two or three times, but not anytime recently, and I just stuck to the teriyaki stuff,” Scott replied. Which was a partial no and a partial yes.
“David was a huge fan, and he sort of passed it on to me. I run a food blog, so I’ve tried everything.” Ororo smiled, maybe a little wickedly. “I could recommend some really weird stuff, but I don’t want to scare you.”
"Do it," Scott said. He looked like he was going to stubbornly rise to the challenge.
Ororo raised an eyebrow, laughing. “I’ve eaten brains more times than I can count. Anything African is going to have some ingredients that are truly bizarre to American tongues.” She thought for a second. “Maybe this North African place I know on 17th Street? Sweetbreads, intestines and the best pigeon I’ve ever eaten.” She frankly didn’t expect him to say yes. She wasn’t making it easy.
“Okay,” Scott replied, tilting his head and giving her a smile. “You forget I was in the army, and then with foreign aid groups.” He was so proud of his little victory.
Ororo blinked, laughing delightedly. “You’re right! I did. I admit it.” She pressed her hands together, bowing her head exaggeratedly. “Ugh. Just so you know, you’re probably going to get laid for that little victory.” The way he’d smiled was cute as hell, and she figured it would take some pressure off if she was just honest.
"No pressure or expectation," Scott said honestly. Not that he'd say no. He slid his hand up her back and to the back of her neck, then leaned in to kiss her.
Worked for her. Ororo smiled, resting her hands on his waist, completely ignoring the fact they were still in public until someone hooted. She debated shooting a stiff middle finger behind Scott’s head, but just ignored whomever it was instead.
Scott grinned into the kiss, before he was suitably distracted to not care enough. PDAs weren’t usually his thing, but Ororo was a stunning, hot woman. A little showing off was never that bad of a thing.
Eventually, Ororo broke it. Hoping he wouldn’t think badly of her for just spitting it out, she asked, “Maybe we can order in?”
He sounded a little out of breath, and nodded. Scott didn’t trust his voice entirely, but he said, “I’ve a small army of takeout menus.”
“Good.” Ororo managed, still feeling nerves, but in a slightly less immediately-going-to-vomit sense.
She just hoped neither of them lost their nerve on the drive back.
Turned out that Scott did indeed have a small army of takeout menus. When they were in the car he had Ororo open the glove box. “Take your pick, we can probably have it almost ready by the time we get back.”
Ororo picked sushi - still a little unusual, but a little sexier than offal. “Easy enough. Do you like fish?” Hopefully. She appreciated it.
“I do. I’m willing to try anything, I did say I’ve had some strange things before. Just never sushi, oddly enough.” He grinned knowingly at her.
“Some of it can be very sexy, honestly. There’s nothing quite like a fat tuna sashimi roll with just the right amount of grated ginger.” Ororo made a happy noise - it was a real one, she loved sushi - but maybe it wasn’t playing quite fair. Because she liked to mess with him like that.
The car swerved slightly and Scott firmly fixed his gaze on the road, and not on Ororo, or the sound she was making. Which was a really, really wonderful sound. He wouldn’t be able to stand just yet. “I’m willing to try that…”
Ororo had to laugh. “I’m sorry! I really did mean it; a good sashimi roll is flat out sexy, but I should have thought about being in the car!” Distracting him was good; swerving was bad. “I figure a good variety - tuna, mahi, octopus, eel. And I swear, whatever you don’t like, I’ll eat.” Hopefully they were almost back. She was horny and hungry.
"This is probably inviting disaster, but go ahead and surprise me Ororo." Scott shook his head as they turned onto his street. He might be speeding a little bit by this point, and parked pretty badly.
“We’ll bring out your adventurous side yet.” She smiled, getting out of the car when he did, looking up at his house. She really liked Rachel, but just this once, hopefully she’d stay at Kitty’s.
She waited for him to unlock the door and headed inside after him, taking off her shoes by the door. She looked around for a place to hang her sweater, taking it off and waiting for him to direct her. Ororo wondered if he might ever kiss her first - she’d certainly be shocked.
Between Ororo and Rachel he was definitely in for some adventures. He pressed a hand to the small of her back to guide her into his home. He had, in fact, kissed her first earlier! “Good luck with that.”
“I’m up for the challenge. I really am.” Ororo laughed. She turned around, smiling. “Sushi should be here soon, and then we can see what happens.” She didn’t want to mess anything up.
Scott lifted a hand to stroke Ororo’s ear, trailing his fingers across her skin. “I’m looking forward to it.” He was suddenly less hungry for sushi.
God, that made everything better. “Oh, God, I didn’t want to look easy. I can breathe now.” Ororo laughed. “Write a note and leave it on the door, would you?” She leaned into that hand, smiling a little differently. Darker. She undid the strap on her shirt, simply heading up the stairs to Scott’s room, without waiting for him.
He laughed, then stared, then chuckled nervously. Then he put a note on the door and hurried after her. That one strap had given him enough of a view that he wanted to finish the show.