Log: Bobby and Scott

[x-coldhands.livejournal.com]

Scott stops by Bobby's room on Tuesday night, before the movies, and proves he can actually handle a bit of small talk, now. Oh, and asks him back onto the team.


As knocks went, it was a sharp, business-like sort of knock. It may have had an edge of urgency to it, or simply purposefulness. Depends on who you asked.

Bobby was just emerging out of his room to grab a root beer as the knock sounded. He glanced over at Angelo's door and shrugged, changing direction from the kitchenette to the suite door.

The door opened, and Scott gave Bobby a wide, predatory smile. "So," he said merrily. "Welcome home."

Bobby's face lit up, despite the smile. He knew why Scott was here, but that didn't stop him from being glad to see the man. "Mr. Summers," he said, holding out a hand. "Thanks!" One did not hug Scott Summers. Especially not if the one was Bobby. Jean was one thing, but this was Scott.

Scott's smile turned a little wry, and he shook Bobby's hand. "You're not officially a student anymore. You can call me Scott, you know," he pointed out as Bobby stepped aside, gesturing for him to come in.

Bobby giggled nervously, shutting the door behind him. "Right, sorry. Habit." He gestured into the living area he shared with Angelo. "Can I get you a soda or something?"

"No, I'm good." Scott wandered over to one of the chair, flopping down with a sigh. "A little jet-lagged, but I didn't want to give you enough time to, I don't know, hide, or anything."

Bobby rolled his eyes good-naturedly and grabbed the root beer he'd been fetching before joining Scott. "Gee, this isn't just to welcome me back and catch up on old times?" he teased, casually chilling the soda with a puff of breath. "I never would have guessed..."

"Well, we can do that too," Scott said cheerfully. "I've actually started to master small talk since you were last year. That's progress, isn't it?"

Bobby blinked, and then burst out laughing. "Prove it."

"I have a Model T in the garage," Scott said immediately. "Bought it as a summer project. Want to play with it?"

That got Bobby's attention, his eyes widening. "You're kidding! Hell yes, I want to play with it!" He grinned like he'd just been given a new toy--which in a way, he had, hadn't he?

"Ah, good. I haven't had a whole lot of time to work with it lately - Jamie's been helping, and a couple of the others, but the more the merrier."

"How many Jamies?" Bobby asked wryly, still grinning.

"Not too many. I told him he wasn't allowed to restore the entire car before I had a chance to get my hands dirty," Scott chuckled.

Bobby nodded and took a sip of root beer. "Okay, I believe you. Small talk mastered. And I look forward to getting a look at this car."

"So. Now that I've proven I've been developing rudimentary social skills," Scott said, his smile never altering, "are you coming back to the team?"

Bobby stretched and made a 'hmm...' sound. "Am I coming back to the team...hmm..." He grinned, shrugging. "Sure. Why not?" He really didn't feel as casually about it as he seemed to--he'd just known this question was coming, and had been thinking about it for weeks. "I'm out of shape, though."

"No worries," Scott said with another shark's grin. "We'll get you back into shape. I still do my five AM runs. I find they're very invigorating."

Bobby wrinkled his nose. "Good for you," he muttered. He wasn't in the habit of getting up that early anymore. "How about something I can do at a normal hour?"

"Well, there's the tactical refresher course. Tests in the Danger Room."

Bobby winced, but nodded--it was probably a good idea, at that. "Sign me up then, boss."

"Good," Scott said. "I'll let you know when the next joint trainee session is, too - you should have a chance to talk to the others about what they're doing, get a sense of the kind of things we've been dealing with lately. I'll get access set up so you can start reading the back files..."

"Right. Sounds good." The thought of being a trainee again didn't exactly fill him with joy, but it was fair. He was in no condition to be on the team, as of yet. "Anything else I should do?" He finished his root beer and stood to put the bottle in the recycling bin.

"Smile," Scott said after a moment, rising. "Smile," he went on more seriously, "and look at me when I tell you how glad I am you're back, so that you know I mean it."

Bobby's face lit up at the words, complete with the requested smile. "Thanks," he said softly, leaning against the wall.

"And I don't think it'll be as bad as you think," Scott said, smiling back. "I've learned to curb my sadism. Really. Sometimes."

"...Uh huh. How about you email me a list of the other trainees, and I'll ask what they have to say on the subject?" Bobby smirked teasingly at him.

"Lies," Scott said tranquilly, turning towards the doors. "All lies. People tell horrible stories about me, you know that..."

"I started half of them," Bobby joked, under his breath, just loud enough for him to hear.

Scott shook a fist at him as he reached the door. "Check your email in about half an hour," he said cheerfully. "Lots of reading material incoming."

"Will do!" Bobby walked over to the door to let him out, like a good host. "I'm looking forward to getting back into things," he said quietly. "You have no idea how much I missed this place."