Who: Storm, tag Thorn; open When: Thursday, June 12th, 2008 Where: Xavier's; greenhouses and estate What: Therapeutic gardening Status: complete Rating: PG
Ororo had realized at the beginning of this ordeal that eventually, supply missions would be less and less bountiful as time went on. Food goes bad, and the X-Men weren't going to be the only people looking for packaged, processed goodies. However, she knew there were untapped stores of backup supplies far under the surface of the estate.
She hoped and prayed to the goddess that those would continue to be untouched - with help by her own hand, and the efforts of others. Several people - mostly from rural backgrounds, or those who had beneficial abilities, had been contributing their labors to the makeshift farm that had come to be on Xavier's property. Nearby livestock that was found untouched by darkseekers had been gathered and contained within the walls and were being seen to daily. The New York countryside had initially been littered with stray farm animals and family pets. Now, though, any animals not under the protection of the X-Men required keen survival instincts to still be walking the earth - especially at night.
When it came down to it, there was milk, eggs and whatever wild animals had been hunted for meat. Around the estate, the horses were used more frequently that gas-powered vehicles to do perimeter checks and other long-distance duties by non-flyers.
Ororo was making sure that their supply of earth-grown food was flourishing. Surely without the assistance of Thorn, however, the X-Men's efforts in the way of crop-growing would be severely stunted. Storm was grateful to him. On a different topic - she was also nearly fond of him. Galen was a good man, she knew. Ororo Munroe was an excellent judge of character. His brother had been released from his 'prison' in the middle of May, and she sensed that things weren't quite right between the two of them any longer. In her opinion, this was all the better.
It was on Thorn, currently, where her thoughts lingered. When she was in the greenhouses, her mind wandered. Her hands moved naturally with little thought where the earth and flora was concerned. She was working with some of the hydroponics - tomatoes that were just beginning to leaf. It was nearly noon, and that was when she and Galen could usually be found outdoors conferring about their vegetables. It was her lunch break - no class or guard duty. She rarely ate, then.
Her last, undisturbed thoughtlings were focused on the Wolverine. She felt her stomach growl, and he came to mind instantly, which made her smirk to herself. Most things that growled made her think of him. She was honestly surprised that she hadn't seen him all day, yet. However flattering his nearly-constant presence around her was, it was torture. She wanted to give in and tell him she was his - completely. She wanted a lot of things. But her guns were firmly in hand and she wouldn't be torn from them. He was still proving himself. She wouldn't allow a few weeks' time to be what caused Logan to forget Jean Grey and decide Ororo Munroe was the person he wanted. Of course, there had been a year since her death and months since her return, but she couldn't judge Logan's sense of mourning. He seemed completely unfeeling toward the whole situation between he and Jean, and even her death(s). For all she knew, he was bottling things up - or was simply creeped out by Jean's second return from death and decided to go a safer route with her. Whatever the case, Ororo was giving it a little more time before giving in.
'Where is he?' she wondered to herself, frankly unclear on which of her 'friends' she was waiting for.