xp_logs | Log | Ororo and Scott

Ororo and Scott discuss students and training techniques, and decide to shake things up for their too-complacent XO's.

Frowning slightly at the file in his hands as he strode down the hall towards Ororo's office, Scott was quickly reminded that a man with no depth perception really shouldn't be reading and walking at the same time as he didn't quite make it squarely through her open door.

He stopped, grinning ruefully and rubbing at his shoulder with his free hand. "Do not laugh," he told Ororo. "I was all distracted by the interesting reading here." He waved the file at her as he came in and sat down in the empty chair opposite her desk. "Jones is pulling his test scores up after all. That talk you had with him must have been a good one."

Ororo had glanced up at the sound of something intercepting her doorframe, and was barely able to repress a smirk before Scott's warning words. Rearranging her features into a suitably stoic expression, she set aside the papers she had been marking and folded her hands on the desk.

"That's good to hear," she said, nodding. "I was hoping it'd get through to him... though I was prepared to have another, and another if necessary."

"You know," Scott said, slouching comfortably in the chair, "one of these days I'm going to figure out how it is that you manage to be the good cop and yet such an effective disciplinarian. There's some trick you're not sharing, isn't there?" he teased gently. It was an old 'argument'.

"It's not such a secret," Ororo replied, smiling slightly as she regarded her friend. "Kids don't want to be yelled at or given ultimatums. You just have to figure out a way to make yourself clear and tell them what you expect. They usually figure out the rest themselves, and if they don't..." She smiled and shook her head ruefully. "Well, you just have to be persistant."

"Again with the logic." Scott leaned forward and laid the file on her desk. "You'll probably want to look at that yourself," he said. "He's made a particularly sharp improvement in the math, even... I'm impressed. But he's a good kid," Scott said, a fond smile flickering across his face. "I think he was probably just suffering from a lack of attention."

Reaching for the file, Ororo nodded, her lips pursed thoughtfully. "It's good you noticed it when you did. I don't think his grades suffered too badly, and he's certainly shown he's capable of improvement. It's just so hard," she said, glancing up at Scott. "There's so many of them. Sometimes I wonder if we can give them the time and attention they all deserve."

"I think we do our best," Scott said after a moment, slouching again in the chair. It was a worry they shared, really. "We do after all have a heck of a staff to fall back on when our youth and inexperience comes back to bite us in the ass," he said more playfully. "Although you realize we're not going to be able to use that excuse, soon..."

"You sooner than me!" Ororo retorted, her smile growing into a grin. "And you forget - I'm going to age gracefully. I doubt anyone will even notice." She reached up, scrubbing a hand through her shock-white hair.

"Yes, yes, we all know you're blessed on that score. No need to gloat." Scott was grinning, though, his expression at odds with his severe tone. "You do realize," he said, and knew he was taking his life in his hands, "that as that certain milestone approaches, you can probably expect concerted efforts from your married friends to see you happily paired off with someone. Jean muses about it from time to time. It's somewhat disturbing."

Ororo's grin faded a bit; she sat back in her chair and folded her arms. "It's silly, really, how people put such... importance on arbitrary milestones. I would think that your antics are more than enough to entertain Jean's 'musings'..." She gave Scott an arch look. "Or has domestic bliss made you boring?"

"Oh. Oh, I get it. I'm supposed to distract her, is that it?" Scott adopted a completely overdone contemplative look. "I suppose I could see my way clear to doing that. For a price."

"Are you asking for a bribe?" Ororo asked, putting on her own mock-outraged expression. "Why, Mr. Summers, I don't think such behavior is suitable for the heads of such an honored and prestigious school like the Xavier Institute."

"If you promise to do the next three rounds of tactical reviews with the trainees," Scott went on shamelessly, "I could probably see my way clear to distracting Jean. I do not, however, make any promises when it comes to Moira."

Groaning, Ororo briefly considered flicking a paperclip at her offending friend, but settled for rolling her eyes at him instead. "Then what good are you?" she teased.

"But see, it's a win-win situation on my part..." Okay, she really was going to give him his own personal raincloud if he kept it up. Chuckling, he straightened in his chair, his smile lingering but his voice more brisk as he went on. "Actually, speaking of the tactical reviews, I think we should step them up. I know the trainees get focused on the Danger Room sessions and how well they do, and I don't think that's entirely productive sometimes."

It seemed Ororo had no trouble switching to a more businesslike manner as well. She nodded and pulled out a drawer, glancing at Scott as she rummaged through it. "I agree. I had actually drawn up a suggested schedule... it seems logical to me that more time should be spent on tactical reviews, especially as it's a more equal-opportunity assessment for those who are still exploring their powers."

"Alison said something similar to me the other day, as well. I adore the fact that the three of us are usually on the same page about things like this, have I mentioned this lately?" Scott said vehemently, then grinned a bit sheepishly at her as he reached out for the schedule she handed him. "But yes. After all, the whole point of these things is to get us to the point where the tactical decision-making is second-nature, and as fun as the Danger Room is, it's not always the best way to do that."

"Mm, not at all," Ororo agreed. "Though personally, I think these kids are lucky not to have to learn that the hard way. You'd think they'd listen to us when we tell them that, but nooo..." She chuckled then, shaking her head. "Speaking from experience, I wish I had the preparation they're getting."

"On the other hand, if we hadn't been making it up as we went along back in the good old days, we'd probably be struggling more these days, with all these new people to incorporate." There was more to it than that, of course - the influx of new, experienced X-Men and so forth, but the trial and error approach had borne fruit. "You know what I think we should do," he mused. "You, Alison and I can settle on what kind of schedule we want. Then we can make Sam and Haroun and Kurt do all the work of implementing it." He gave her an innocent look. "What else are XOs for?"

"I have never heard a more inspired idea come out of your mouth," Ororo exclaimed, grinning. "And it's not as if we'll be any less busy... it seems the moment we get any free time, something comes up to fill it. I'm all for delegation... besides, it'll be good experience for them. Right?" She tilted her head playfully, raising an eyebrow at Scott.

"I think they've been getting bored and restless lately. I actually saw Sam yawn in the Situation Room the other night, while we were programming a scenario. This sounds like a plan," Scott said, amused. "I can't imagine Alison not being in agreement. Let's grab her for a quick meeting after dinner tonight, maybe? She and I were going to review some training tapes anyway. Trainee tapes, coincidentally enough. We should make an evening of it."

"I'll bring the coffee," Ororo said, nodding. She closed the drawer and shuffled the papers on her desk, neatening them almost automatically. Luckily, though not surprisingly, she was totally free after dinner.