Scott and Jean, Thursday afternoon

[x-cyclops.livejournal.com]

Another moment with Scott and Jean in the Adirondacks. We find out one of Scott's favorite movies.


Bolton Landing was a small enough town that you could very definitely tell this was the offseason, yet large enough that a good selection of places were still open for business. They'd been in and out of half a dozen little shops already, and to an opera museum that had been entertaining in a quirky sort of way. Smiling, his hand in Jean's as they headed down the street, Scott caught his eyes straying in the direction of Lake George.

"It's too bad it's too cool for a cruise."

Jean followed the direction of his gaze and eyed the lake. "Want to go take a walk by the lake? Not quite the same, I know, but..."

"It's impressive," Scott said as they switched directions, heading down along the shore road. "The lake, I mean. I can see why this is such a vacation destination." He had to admit that he preferred their quiet little inn on its tiny lake, though. At least this week, he did. He gave Jean a sideways look, appreciating, like he had yesterday, the color in her cheeks that all the fresh air and walking was giving her. She had been looking very... wan, those last few days before they'd left.

"It's a nice place," Jean agreed, smiling. "Quiet, which is perfect. And I like the people. They're nice, but... not pushy. Maybe they know us too well in Rockford. Out here we're just another couple in a long string of couples. They don't want anything from us. They don't need us to do anything except enjoy the scenery and spend some money." She wasn't sure when not needing her had become such a selling point.

Scott mulled the point over for a moment, thoughtfully. "I suppose it's something of a liberating feeling," he said slowly. The disjointedness he'd been feeling had faded - not entirely, but to a significant degree. Maybe that meant he was relaxing?

Jean nodded. "Yes, maybe that's the word. I'm willing to admit I don't want... that I will want to go back again but... For a holiday, this is perfect." She squeezed his hand slightly, smiling at him.

"I'm glad." He squeezed back. "And hell," he went on, a bit of humor creeping into his voice, "I'd say that if you're willing to admit that after only two days, the vacation is doing precisely what it was meant to do."

"I'm willing to admit that I will want to go back," Jean said, arching an eyebrow at him. "Not that I do. Yet. But yes, I'd say this has been quite a successful holiday. And there's a jacuzzi, which is always good."

"You're going to be all wrinkled and pruny by the time we go back, the amount of time you're spending in that hot tub," Scott teased. "You do realize you fell asleep in there last night? Good thing you had me around to keep you from drowning."

"I did not! I..." Jean blinked. "I did? Er, I blame it on the wine. Yes. Definitely the wine's fault. But thank you ever so for saving me from the dread jacuzzi."

"You most certainly did. And yes, I imagine it was probably the wine. I fished you out at which point you mumbled something and proceeded to sleepwalk your way through preparations for bed. You only walked into the wall the once, though."

"Hmph. Lies. Lies and slander." She contemplated sticking her tongue out at him, but there was a pair of probably college aged kids coming down the road and she decided they would be scandalized. At which point she went ahead and did it anyways. Kids needed to be scandalized regularly. "You're making up the bit about the wall."

"Possibly. Then again, can you really tell?" He gave her his best utterly straight face, the deadpan look that had been fooling students and X-Men for years.

"Telepath," Jean said, grinning smugly. "Yes, I can. You're far too amused for me to believe you."

He was going to count every smile as a victory this week, and not feel the slightest bit fussy in doing so, Scott decided, leaning over and kissing her. "You're right. I'm making fun of you."

"Knew it." She kissed him again. "Although I'm not sure if getting you to admit you're mocking me is a good thing or not. Perhaps I shall just have to find a suitable revenge."

The wind off the lake was crisp, but not uncomfortable, since they'd both dressed for spending most of the afternoon outside. "I want to make sure we head back the way we came," Scott said idly, "when we go. I wanted to stop someplace."

"We have a while before the shops close," Jean said, glancing at her watch, "but if you want to go..." The lake and its surrounds were quite lovely, but all that water still got to her a little bit and she could generally take large bodies of water or leave them. Which was quite a step up from the addamant refusal to come anywhere near them.

Scott grinned at her. "Why don't we? It's the video store, actually... I want to see if they have a copy of Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. Since the TV in our room has a DVD player and all."

"Feeling the need for another idealistic lobbyist in your life?" Jean grinned. "The video shop sounds good to me." Turning back the way they'd come, she caught sight of the college students glancing back at them, giggling.

"Or maybe I just want to escape into goofy escapist idealism," Scott said a bit wistfully, then noticed the college students and arched an eyebrow at them. "If only we lived in Capra's world, hmm?"

The kids, aware they'd been caught, grinned and nodded before turning back on their way and heading off to find some other tourists to speculate about. There wasn't a lot to do in the off season. "It would be simpler," Jean agreed. "And I could definitely get behind the idea that impassioned oratory could actually change the minds of some of the stuffed shirts in D.C."