Scott and Shiro, Saturday afternoon

[x-cyclops.livejournal.com]

Scott ventures back into his office for the first time since his rescue, only to discover that things have indeed been looked after in his absence, and there's no work to bury himself in. (Damn.) Shiro stops by to see how he's doing.


The first thing he did, walking into his office, was to pull the curtains back all the way. Then he turned the lights on, too. A waste of electricity, given that it was the middle of the afternoon, but Scott didn't really care. Only then did he sit down at his desk, staring a bit absently at the uncannily empty in-and-outbox. Had Dani been looking after paperwork, while he'd been... while he'd been away? He and Ororo conspiring again, maybe...

He turned on the computer, reasoning that he'd be able to find some work on there somewhere. He wanted to get back to his usual routine. Really badly. It wasn't a realistic goal, but maybe he could pretend, with some things at least...

They didn't cover post-torture conversational techniques in X-Men training, Shiro thought wryly as he walked down the hall to Scott's office. He hadn't yet gone to see his leader since he didn't place himself on the top ten list of people whom Scott really really needed to see, but he hoped that Scott at least wouldn't refuse to see him. If it came to that, then Shiro could play the Alex card, but he'd keep that trick up his sleeve for now.

"Mister Summers?" Shiro called, knocking on the door. "It's Shiro. May I come in?"

Scott looked up from the computer, debating for a moment. Usual routine, Summers, he told himself, and then shrugged, almost irritably. "Door's open," he called back, and gazed as steadily as he could at Shiro as the younger X-Man let himself in. "Hi."

"I wanted to say 'hello,'" Shiro said, suddenly feeling rather awkward. What could he say that hadn't already been said a hundred times before by others? "And I do not know how to follow that up with something that is not an empty pleasantry," he admitted.

Scott just stared at him for a moment, then cracked a very slight, mostly humorless smile. "I could fill it in for you. 'Hello, Scott.' 'Hello, Shiro.' 'How are you doing?' 'Just fine.' 'Really?' 'No, not really.' Cue the awkward silence." He waved a hand at the chair. "Want to sit down?"

Shiro wasn't sure how to react to that, so he just settled with a small smile and took the offered seat. "Replace 'Scott' with 'Mister Summers' and that may work," he amended. "Best friend's brother or not, it is still too strange to call you by your proper name."

"You should practice. Maybe in the mirror. 'Hello, Scott. Nice Danger Room scenario, Scott. Were you born that sadistic or is it environmental?'" Okay, so the manic chatter was maybe a little over the top, but what did Shiro want? Scott kept his expression calm, made the smile fractionally wider. Joke. It's a joke, Shiro. Laugh.

Lucky for Scott, Shiro's sense of humor was at least that much developed. He kept the smile on his lips, even if he was unsure about the joke. "I assume that since Alex is very much not a sadist that either you inherited a recessive trait or it is a socially learned characteristic," he said, trying to flow with Scott, though he shifted a little uncomfortably in his seat.

Alex. Scott could have blessed the younger man, right then and there, for giving him the perfect safe subject. "Alex... do you think he's all right? Really?" Scott asked, looking back at his screen as the computer finished booting up. Two clicks of the mouse showed him that there was indeed nothing in the active directory. Damn it. "I worry, because he's not really talking about how he feels about what happened to him... I don't want him bottling it up."

Ah, good. Something to talk about that hopefully wouldn't result in flashbacks or explosions. Those were nice. "He is more worried about you than anything," Shiro replied. "I do not know if he has really processed what he experienced himself. I think he sees himself as an ends to mean - that is, you."

"I was afraid of that," Scott muttered. "I'll have to-" He paused, then shrugged, almost apathetically. "Figure something out. I don't know what. Talk to Charles about it, maybe. Alex doesn't really need any undealt-with trauma piled on top of what he's already dealing with."

Shiro frowned. It would be much easier for Alex if he didn't have to be within a hundred mile radius of the green-haired bitch monster from Hell, especially given that she was the one who found him. Good thing Scott wasn't not a telepath, though. Not like Shiro was going to utter that thought aloud.

It struck Scott that he'd been silent for a little bit too long, and he sighed, giving Shiro an awkward look. "I'm sorry. I'm having trouble focusing."

"You know as well as I do that Alex is not the most . . . complicated individual," Shiro said slowly, trying to carefully construct a sentence that was apt and concise. "I do not think that he is someone about whom you need to worry much." Worry about yourself.

For all that he'd just said he was having trouble focusing, Scott had no trouble at all filling in what Shiro hadn't said just there. "I can't help it," Scott said with a slightly defensive smile. "I worry about him. It's this thing I do. Kind of like the sun rising in the east."

"I understand. Big brother syndrome," Shiro said light-heartedly, fighting a blush that threatened to bare his nervousness. "I should - anou - probably let you get back to work. And enjoy the giant light bulb that is your office."

Scott flinched, just a little. "I suppose I do have it very bright in here," he said somewhat heavily. "I... also don't have any work, apparently. In here." He had the sudden, probably alarming urge to laugh. "You'd think they'd let me do paperwork," he said, his voice definitely brittle-sounding.

"I could ask Leyu-chan to write an essay that you could grade," Shiro volunteered. "She would be happy to help, I bet. Maybe Artie and the other kids, too." He shrugged and got up from his seat. "Something to do before Sam and Dani return your own work to you."

"That's all right. Let them enjoy their summer," Scott said, resting his chin in his hand, his gaze unfocusing. "Someone should," he murmured under his breath, then summoned up a very small, tight smile. "Thanks... for stopping by, Shiro."

"Of course. If there is anything I can do for you . . . You know, I think the Nintendanger Room is still available. That might" - cheer him up? Reclaim his sanity post-torture? - "Entertain you."

"Once Amelia's cleared me for strenuous exercise, I just may take you up on that."