xp_logs | Guys' Night Out

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Tuesday night

Scott knocked on the doorway to Alex's room, now with another student occupying the space. Where once he had it all to himself, he'd had one, then a second, roommate added. Scott wondered absently if it had bothered him at all, but space was tight in the mansion as it was. Though, he frowned, with the rate they kept losing faculty...he shoved the thought aside. Pete would find Emma, and Betsy would awake. So thinking, he knocked on Alex's door with a bit more force than he might have, two sharp, hard raps.

Alex jumped at the knock, having been deep in thought in a homework assignment. Being the only student in the room at the moment, Angelo and Shiro being god knows where at the moment, he stood up and went to the door, curious to see who was knocking so forcefully. He cocked his head when the person behind the door ended up being his brother. "Hey Scott, what's up?"

Scott smiled down at Alex. "How about a guy's night out? I know you like sports that are in the sun, but I've got two Islanders tickets." He flashed them out and waved them under Alex's nose. "Hockey, in case you didn't know. You game?"

Alex's face lit up, the homework behind him completely forgotten. "You serious? That would be awesome!" He'd only seen hockey on TV but it looked like a great game. Plus he'd finally be able to bond with his brother...something they'd hadn't gotten much time to do in since he'd gotten there. He opened the door wider so Scott could come in as he went looking for his sneakers, revealing the mess that some how divided into the belongings of three teenage boys.

Scott leaned against the door frame, watching his brother search through the mess. He didn't want to intrude on his brother's domain.

"It'll still be cold in the arena, so bring a sweater. Of course, for you anything under 80 is cold..." Scott grinned as he took in the whole room.

He had to crawl under his disk, but Alex emerged with two shoes and after slipping them on and grabbing his warmest sweatshirt from a chair, he came back to the door. "Damn right anything under 80 is cold. I don't know how you people survived up here so long! Part Eskimo or something..." He smirked at Scott, obviously enjoying the teasing.

"Cold does have some advantages," Scott moved down the hallway when Alex was ready. "While you may get to see the girls in bikinis, no one wants to be skin to skin in that heat. Here, you can curl up in front of a fire, and keep each other warm."

Alex gave Scott an odd look before shaking his head with smile. "Yeah, okay...what ever you say bro. I don't think anything will ever convince me that cold is better, but if it amuses you to try...be my guest!"

Smiling enigmatically, he put his arm around Alex's shoulder. "You haven't been here in the winter yet. I'm sure Lorna will teach you how to keep warm."

"We don't have time for dinner beforehand, but we can get something at the game."

Almost unnoticeably, Alex moved closer into Scott's arm, enjoying the embrace by his brother. Though this was after he playfully hit Scott in the shoulder. "That's none of your business..." but he grinned as he spoke then burst out laughing. "I'm not that hungry anyway, I can wait."

"So, how's the new roommate?" Scott opened the door to the garage, clicking the alarm for his car, then the garage door to open.

Alex shrugged. "Eh, Shiro's okay. Kind of picky about how Angelo and I talk though, it's getting rather annoying. He should be glad he wasn't here when I...first..." His attention was grasped by the blue sports car Scott had just unlocked. "Wow..." He heard his brother had a nice car, but he'd never actually seen it.

"Close your mouth, or you'll catch a bug," He opened the door for Alex with a grand gesture. "At least I don't have to disable it to keep Logan from ... 'borrowing' it since he's away."

Alex lifted an eyebrow at that comment but only shook his head and laughed as he slipped in the car, hands in the pocket of his sweatshirt. "Something tells me not to ask..."

Closing the door carefully, Scott inspected the car briefly for scratches before sliding in the driver's side. "Logan and I ... had issues. Something that won't come up again. Especially if he never comes back." Scott hurt a little bit for Rogue at that thought, but put it aside as he started the car.

Alex raised both eyebrows at that little comment, noticing the animosity Scott seemed to have toward Logan. So instead of continuing that conversation, he just settled into the seat and looked out the window. "So...besides dealing with staff being lost left and right, how ya been? Haven't seen much of you in while..."

"I ... well, I'm dealing. The shortages have kept me busier than I'd like to be, but ... I'm sure Emma will be found. And Betsy will find her way back." He thought briefly about Jean, without lingering sadness. Ororo was right...their telepaths were targeted, by chance, hopefully.

Alex nodded, "I guess it's all you really can do." He bit his lip, not sure what to say next and left an odd silence in the car.

"And hope that thing stay quiet at the school." Scott switched topics himself. "What are your thoughts on Essex's dismissal?"

"Thank. God." With that he couldn't but smile a little. "The guy just creeped me out, always lurking down in the labs, like a big rat or something. I have no doubt he was a great scientist, but man, just a little too much on the spooky side!"

Scott's mood lightened. "He was not a people person. Or rather, he chose not to be. He did know how to get to those he wanted. Or needed. How to get them to do things for him." Kitty's involvement in Betsy's surgery wasn't widely known, Scott believed, and he wasn't going to spread the information.

Alex shuttered. "People like that really shouldn't be in a school. Not good for morale ya know?"

"No. I don't know what the Professor was thinking in inviting him as a visiting professor. I know Moira speaks highly of him, but I've never thought he fit in here."

"Me either." He looked at Scott through the corner of his eye. "What did the other teacher's think? I mean, Moria wasn't here when he came..."

"It was a rough time, when he started. Right after..." Scott waved his hand, gesturing vaguely. The car handled smoothly as they sped toward the city. "I think Xavier wanted all the help he could get. Though things might have been different if Hank had been around and Jean was still here."

Alex nodded slowly, then got a goofy grin on his face. "I thought this trip was about fun and talking about stuffy Essex is just a downer. It's time I found out more about my big brother. What do ya do for fun, man? You can't work all the time..."

"Fun? Who has time for fun?" Scott managed a grin again, then looked thoughtful. "Actually, most of what I do *is* fun. But if you mean for relaxation..." He looked over at Alex for confirmation.

Alex rolled his eyes before laughing. "all right then, relaxation..what do you when your not driving kids up a wall? and you know I mean that in the nicest way..." He gave Scott an innocent grin.

"Storm's a Yankees fan. I catch the occasional hockey game. I read, mostly popular fiction, because otherwise it's not for relaxation. I also watch action movies. In fact, I'm going to set up an early Steven Seagal viewing this weekend, for Marie-Ange. She wants to see Aikido in action. I think it may work out for her as a defensive art."

"Movie and books? oh and don't forget hockey.." Alex shook his head. "Don't you ever go outside? You know, be in the sun?" Not going outside for relaxation was a foreign concept to Alex.

"I do. But mostly in the summer." He gestured to the glasses. "While it was cool in the 80s to wear sunglasses at night, it does get one noticed."

"Oh, right... forgot about that. Sorry." He smiled apologetically. "Hey maybe when you get some time, we can play a little basketball. Can't seem to get anyone to play with me and those real courts are just oh so tempting." He sounded hopeful as he spoke, really craving the pick up games he used to play with his friends in Hawaii.

"Sure, we can do a pickup game, or just one-on-one. Indoors, if the weather isn't good. But if we have others, we'll need to make sure they know no powers." Scott grinned. "No mutant-ball. Sounds like Calvinball." He chuckled.

"Oh god, we would definitely need a no powers rule. With one, Jamie could have his own team!" Alex laughed at the thought. "To mention what some of the others would do!" Doesn't voice his thought that it wouldn't be any problem for him.

"Don't even get me started. With the new kids, I don't even want to consider it." Scott stopped at a light, and was oblivious to the car full of girls checking out the brothers next to them.

Teenage boy not noticing girls even if said teenage boy was taken? Yeah right. Alex looked past Scott at the girls and gave them a playful smile. "It's probably good for us to have things that we can't use our powers for, even simple stuff, like basketball. Makes us remember we're still human after all."

'Yes, very true. We all need things to help us remember that."

Alex nodded. "It's important...and stuff like that."

Scott looked out the window at what had distracted Alex. He grinned, that boyish grin, and focused his gaze ahead again. "Does Lorna let you look?"

"Not really, but what she won't know won't hurt her right?"

Scott laughed. "Right." He turned off the main road, losing the car full of now-giggling girls. "So, had a lot of girl friends? Is my little brother a heartbreaker?"

Alex blushed slightly. "Not really and it's not from a lack of girls either. I just didn't have the time ya know? Had to work most of the day and then usually went surfing right after to relax." He shrugged. "Never really thought about it..."

"No surfer chicks? I've seen Blue Crush..." Scott grinned evilly at his brother.

Alex laughed and rolled his eyes. "Oh god, after that movie came out, we had swarms of teenage guys invading the beaches looking for surfer chicks. But yeah, I was friends with a few. Now Annie...that girl could catch a wave to the breaker almost every time." Then he added almost as an after thought. "Had nice legs...nice butt too..." He smirked back at his brother.

"Girl's always gotta have a talent. Legs will only get you so far." Scott laughed. It had been a long time...if ever...that he could talk to a guy about guy stuff. When he and Alex had been together before, they'd been too young. "So...looking but not touching aside...things are good with you and Lorna?"

Alex laughed then nodded. "Things are great, though I still find it amusing to have my girlfriend as one of my teachers."

"Girlfriend and a brother. You get it from all sides, don't you?" Scott hesitated. "Marie is thinking about applying to college. Have you thought about it, at all?"

"Yeah well, it ain't all that bad." Alex noticed Scott's hesitation and bit his lip. "Actually I have...a little."

"Oh?" He tried to sound casual, and realized he likely failed miserably.

Alex smiled softly. "Yeah, I have. I wanna study Geology, maybe go back to Hawaii and study the volcanos." He sighed, knowing this was going to come up someday. "I can't stay at the mansion forever Scott, as much as we both would like me too. I have to grow up...get an education and all."

Scott relaxed, visibly pleased. "That's great, Alex. I mean, you know I'd love to have you here, but you need to do something...something that has meaning to you. Geology, huh?"

He smiled genuinely now, glad that Scott was taking this all right. "Yeah, the volcanos in Hawaii were fascinating, especially when the erupted...I'd love to study them someday."

Scott shook his head. "And there's no need to worry about all this cold down there, hmmm? Mind you, I don't want to hear about you falling in, got it?" He swerved into a turn, barely missing a car, its horn blaring as they continued on.

Alex held onto the door as Scott swerved. "Heh, why do you think I'm trying to get back to Hawaii? ANd as for falling in, I'm not going to answer that..."

"Oh, and cars." Scott threw out, almost apropos of nothing. "Interests. Cars and driving. And flying the Blackbird."

Alex gave Scott a strange looks before bursting out laughing. "Well that was random! Cars, I'm finding, are very nice things. Driving on the other hand...not so sure."

"Sorry, it was your hanging onto the handle that made me think of that. And what, you don't like driving? You like being driven?"

"It's not that I like being driven, the driving part just still freaks me out a bit."

Scott blinked. He had no idea. "Oh, you need to practice. We've got to arrange that. Sunday. We'll go out for a drive, but with you behind the wheel."

Alex grimaced but nodded. "Okay, though I assure, Lorna loves to make sure I practice...makes me practice every time she can."

"Ah, but see, you'll be driving this car." Scott took his hand off the shift to punch Alex lightly in the shoulder. "She handles much better than any of the other cars we have."

"This...car...?" Alex stammered. The last thing he wanted was to be responsible for smashing his brother's car. "Are you sure about that?"

"Absolutely. You don't appreciate driving until you have a car that handles like it's on rails. Ah, we're almost there." Scott took a few more turns, and then got in line for a parking garage.

Alex welcomed the change in topic, suddenly getting really excited. "This is going to be great, thanks Scott."

"You're welcome," he said, taking the ticket and driving to the top of the garage to find a parking space. "Now, coffee or hot chocolate? Or, like Paige, is tea your thing? We should get some nice hot beverage on the way in."

"Now that sounds like a good plan." Alex shivered, just thinking about getting out of the car. "Coffee would do just the trick."

"Let's get some, then!" He locked the car behind them, wrapping an arm around Alex's shoulder as they headed for their "guy's night out."