xp_logs | Scott and Ororo

Another greenhouse/infirmary encounter. Thankfully, this one ends relatively well. There's even singing.

Ororo pushed open the door to the greenhouse, glancing inside. The usual neatly-ordered benches and tables were slightly rearranged to make room for the hospital bed and machines, the peaceful quiet broken occasionally by a mechanical beep. Dr. Voght, who was surprisingly unobtrusive in the tropical-looking room, caught her eye and nodded, and the weatherworker stepped inside. She came every day to check nominally on the plants, though she was more concerned with the newest arrival.

She made her way past the orchids and ferns, coming to a halt beside Scott's bedside. His color was slightly better, or so she thought… the sun had shone brightly over the mansion that day. She smiled, reaching out to pat his hand lightly. It was good to see improvement, even the smallest bit.

Scott's eyes opened at the gentle touch. "Hey, 'Ro," he murmured, a bit of a catch in his still-hoarse voice. She was smiling down at him, and he stared up at her for a long moment, the calm in her eyes and expression... soothing to watch. It was the only word that really fit.

"Hey," she replied, her voice warm. "I did not mean to wake you, I am sorry. How are you feeling? Is there anything I can get for you?" She wrinkled her nose at the barrage of questions, knowing that he was perfectly well cared for here.

"Pleasure... of your company for a little while?" It was hard to enunciate the words quite properly. When the sun came back up, he felt better - the pain was less, the waves of nausea went away, but it made him drowsy. Dopey, he supposed.

"Of course." Removing her hand from his, Ororo turned to pull up one of the stools from a nearby workbench. She perched on it, hooking her feet on the bottom rungs and rubbing her palms over her thighs. "You are looking much better today. I think we ought to keep the secret of the greenhouse to ourselves, or they may want to move the entire infirmary up here."

"They're talking about maybe letting me out tomorrow." Maybe. If his test results were normal tomorrow morning. Enzymes and things. He wasn't sure what it all meant. "I don't know," Scott murmured, his gaze shifting to the blue sky he could see through the glass ceiling. "Wouldn't be so bad, to be in here for a while..."

"You know you are welcome here as long as you wish. Even if it is just to set up a cot... I would not kick you out."

"Me being a coward, I think..." Scott trailed off, his real eye hazy and distant. It took a long few moments for him to go on. "Thanks. For coming for me."

Ororo leaned in, her hand once again sliding over Scott's. "There was never any other alternative," she told him. "I am only sorry it took so long..."

The line of Scott's jaw trembled for a moment. "You did your best," he finally said, more softly. "I can't... imagine you had much sleep last week." He swallowed visibly. "You or Charles... or Jean."

It was fortunate that he wasn't staring at Ororo's face at that moment, or he may have noticed the involuntary twitch that passed over her features. "Yes," she said carefully. "But what is important is that you are back. We did all we could to find you... Jean would not have it any other way."

Drugged and drowsy though he might be, Scott wasn't dumb. "But there's something wrong with Jean," he murmured. "Something happened. I can tell."

"She was very upset." That, at least, was true. And diplomatic. "She would not hear of us going to find you without her. I agreed because the alternative meant she would depart without us... and I did not want that. For anyone's sake."

Ororo was skirting around the truth; he could tell. Scott sighed. His eyelids were getting heavy again, but he was too troubled about what she wasn't telling him to properly relax. "I can tell there's something wrong," he muttered. "I just... I just don't know whether it's to be expected, with everything, or if there's something I should be... doing, or saying..."

"There's nothing you need to do, Scott," she said, shaking her head. "Except rest, and be well. I am sure Jean will speak to you about it when the time is right."

"But..." She was worried - and angry? There was a tightness to Ororo's voice that he knew all too well. "'Ro... talk to me, please?" His chest felt tight, suddenly, and he gazed up at her with mute appeal for a moment before he found his voice again. "I'm not going to be able to rest and be well, knowing there's something this wrong..."

Another sigh, and then she wilted, ducking her head. "Jean... broke away from the rest of us. She went ahead to find you while we were dealing with the soldiers. When I arrived, there were many men on the floor... they did not look well. Charles says... he thinks he can help them."

Scott stared up at her for a long moment before he looked away, some of the color that had returned to his face since the previous day draining away again. "Oh," he said very softly. "I... I didn't think to ask, what had happened. To the ones questioning me when she c-came in..."

"She took it upon herself to punish them." This was not helping Scott, and it needed to stop right now. "We all felt the same way... for what they did to you. But in her it went too far, and that is what worries me. It is not your fault, though, Scott. Not at all."

"I think... I can actually believe that." Scott made a noise that was little more than a harsh exhalation, although it might have been intended to be a laugh. "Strange, huh?" His hand was shaking a little as he raised it to rub at his eye. "Maybe I'm just too tired to blame myself. Don't feel well, 'Ro..."

Ororo glanced up at Dr. Voght, though she made no move to leave Scott's side just yet. "Perhaps you need to rest again. I can turn on more lamps... leave you to sleep." Anything to make him feel better.

"Please don't go." It was a very quiet plea, as pleas went, but very unmistakably one. "I won't... push anymore, or anything," Scott said, stumbling over the words. "Just... I feel better when you're here. You're not angry at me, for telling..."

"Of course not, Scott. I am just glad you are home safely." Ororo pulled her stool closer, squeezing his hand. "Do you remember when I first got here, and you could not believe I had not heard of jazz? You played me so many albums... I always liked that. Maybe I will bring a stereo up here... the plants will like it too."

She smiled, humming softly under her breath for a moment. Dr. Voght came over to fuss over the instruments, and even she was a bit surprised to hear the headmistress begin to sing, very gently.

"I was blue, just as blue as I could be,
Ev'ry day was a cloudy day for me.
Then good luck came a-knocking at my door,
Skies were gray but they're not gray anymore.

Blue skies,
Smiling at me,
Nothing but blue skies
Do I see..."

The remembered image of Ororo sprawled sideways on the immense old sofa that had once occupied the rec room, humming along under her breath as he played jazz for her, was suddenly clear and bright in his mind. Scott smiled a little, his eyes closing and the visible tension in his body easing. "Always thought you missed your calling," he murmured as she paused.

"I will tell you what," Ororo said as Amelia moved away, satisfied with the readings from the machines. "After you practice your saxophone a little more, you and I can put on a concert for the whole school. We will show them once and for all how cool we really are." Her voice hushed suddenly as she noticed that he seemed to be asleep now, lulled by the sun shining in above them and the gentle hiss of the misters. Still, she couldn't help but finish very softly as she sat there, perfectly content among the flowers and the humid air.

"Blue days,
All of them gone,
Nothing but blue skies
From now on."