Scott and Ororo, Thursday late afternoon

[x-cyclops.livejournal.com]

Ororo is summoned outside, only to find out what Scott went into town to pick up.


What now? had been Ororo's first thought when one of the students skidded into her office, looking excited and babbling something about how she had to come see something outside right now. After surpressing a groan she had followed politely, trying to convince herself that it couldn't be anything bad if the kid was smiling. Unless he has been brainwashed... or telepathically controlled... Really, it said a lot that she even had to consider that possiblity. But she looked a little wary as she stepped outside, just in case.

"I know it's a little cool for having the top down today," was Scott's greeting for her as she stepped outside, "but I just couldn't resist." He sat there in the driver's seat of the sleek little dark silver car, giving her a crooked grin that was somehow sheepish.

"Scott?" Ororo's eyes widened in surprise as she took in the sight of him in the sportscar. To say this was one of the last things she had expected to see would've been pretty accurate; second only to perhaps Crystal and Logan having a tearful apology session in the driveway. "You bought a new car?"

"Yeah. I had, um... been looking into it for a while," he confessed, the smile growing a little steadier as she moved towards the car to get a closer look. "Had dealt with all the insurance issues and so forth, after what I did to the last one... I just decided that today was a good day to stop thinking about it and just do it."

"It is lovely," she murmured, stepping around the car and taking in its smooth curves. It looked fast; the kind of car Scott had drooled over when they were teenagers. And now he had bought it. That is a good sign, right? "I approve," she said finally, stopping by the passenger's side door and looking down at him with a smile. "You will once again put all the rest of the cars in the garage to shame."

"Well, any new car of mine has to be faster than Forge's, right? Otherwise, how would I look at myself in the mirror?" His smile quirked as she just stood there, eyeing the car. "So are you getting in? I was thinking, you and me, quiet country roads... we can see just how fast she goes. This engine's supposedly got the highest output of any GM's ever made."

Ororo laughed and opened the door, sliding gracefully into the seat. "You know this is only going to prompt Forge to add yet some more crazy modifications in his attempts to beat you. I think we ought to draw the line if he requisitions jet engines."

"Oh, I don't know." Scott waited until she'd buckled in, then headed down the driveway. At a reasonably sedate pace - they weren't properly on the road yet, of course. "I think maybe after our little race in the summer he realized it has as much to do with the driver as the car."

"Now there is a bit of the cockiness I remember," Ororo teased, enjoying the feeling of the wind ruffling her hair. "What was it you used to say - true prowess comes not from skill, but from being one with your car? I always thought you sounded like Yoda when you said that."

"Car or bike or plane... but yes. Although really, I was shooting more for Obi-Wan Kenobi," Scott said, affecting his very best Alec Guiness impression for a moment, just to make Ororo laugh. He turned out onto the road and stepped on the gas. "Zero to sixty in under six seconds, by the way."

She did laugh, grabbing onto the door handle as the car accelerated quickly. The white slashes in the middle of the road seemed to run together for a moment, and not for the first time she likened the stomach-tensing feeling to flying. "I did not know you were looking at cars," she said after a minute, raising her voice to be heard over the rushing wind.

"Well, I hadn't advertised it, I admit," Scott said, raising his voice as well. The car handled beautifully. For an American-made sportscar with a reasonable price, one might almost term the handling 'sublime'. "Last thing I wanted was anyone telling me I was having an early midlife crisis or something."

A witty remark about the X-Men's life expectancy and a not-so-early midlife crisis flashed into Ororo's mind, but she quickly stifled the morbid thought. "I think they would all be too busy drooling to do that. Too many people at the mansion have an unhealthy fascination with vehicles and technology."

He glanced sideways at her - just for a moment, as he really needed to keep his eye on the road. "You know that with me it's not the technology, right? Just the speed..." It struck him to make an observation about what that said about him, that he was constantly looking for ways to move away from where he was as fast as possible, but down that line of conversation lay Depressing-Land.

"I know," she assured him with a nod, though by now his attention was back on the road before them. "As it has always been. And I think it is good you have once again embraced something you enjoy. Although I do not worry quite so much when you spend all night out with the saxophone." All right, so that was a white lie. "Just be careful, Scott."

"Wrap one car around a tree," he said, deliberately misunderstanding her, "and suddenly your driving skills come into question." It was blazingly sunny, even if the air was late-October cool. He slowed down a bit so that he was only ten miles or so over the speed limit. Love for speed aside, getting a speeding ticket his first afternoon out in the new car would be a bit embarassing. "So Amelia read me the riot act yesterday evening," he said casually.

"Oh? It is good to know that it is not just students subjected to her ire," Ororo responded, equally casual. Of course, she knew what Amelia had been upset about, having been the person to bring it to her attention in the first place. She felt a flash of guilt for betraying Scott's personal choices like that, but it was quickly overwhelmed by the protective instinct she felt for her best friend. "I hope she was not too harsh."

"Not nearly as harsh as I expected her to be. Although she 'couldn't find a vein' for the blood tests. Hah. She didn't enjoy that one bit, of course." Scott focused on the road for a long moment, silent. "'Ro," he said a bit awkwardly, "I knew it wasn't a good idea. It was just..." Easier? "They weren't helping lately, anyway," he muttered.

"I know how difficult it is to lead by example. Especially when circumstances seem to be pushing you harder than you think you can take. I just wonder... what would Shiro think if he knew?" Okay, that had been unfair. "I am sorry," Ororo said a second later, shaking her head. "I should not have said that."

"No, you're right." It took an effort to keep his hands relaxed on the steering wheel. "Amelia was angry at herself, too. She apologized, believe it or not - remember I told you I told her the pain wasn't going away and she said there was nothing wrong physically wrong with me?" He gave a sigh that might have been a laugh if there'd been any real humor behind it. "Hey, if nothing else, I got our doctor to reassess her bedside manner."

"A fact of which I am sure there will be many grateful infirmary visitors. Did she... are you going to try something else now? For the pain?"

Scott nodded. "I may be suffering the consequences of my stupidity for a little while," he said, almost lightly. "Amelia says we can handle that if it happens. All in all, it hasn't been that long that I've been being stupid - I should probably thank you for ratting me out when you did. But in any case, she's going to talk to Jack and the three of us are apparently going to brainstorm." He looked briefly embarassed. "She looked up studies on how many people who've been... through what I went through have this kind of pain. I hadn't realized how common it was."

Scott let his attention rest on the road and was silent again for a long moment. "I suppose the car," he went on finally, "is me trying to be positive. I feel like I've lost all kinds of bits and pieces of my life this year, even before Lyman got his hands on me. And wrapping the old car around the tree was a fairly symbolic piece. So." He mustered up a smile that, while tired, had a glimmer of real humor behind it. "Call this me trying to get in touch with the old Scott. I seem to remember he got a lot of joy out of flirting with the speed limit."

"A little too much, if you ask me," Ororo replied, though her tone was more affectionate than chiding. "But I suppose if you have to break the law, you might as well look good doing it."

"And you make a perfectly lovely passenger-seat ornament," Scott teased warmly, feeling strangely relaxed. He doubted he could attribute that all to the car, and there was no sense of having unburdened himself of a secret to explain it, either. She'd already known, after all. Maybe it's all the kicking of myself I'm actually not doing over this. Even last night, he hadn't. He'd been too grateful for Amelia's offer of help - and her reassurance that this wasn't all that uncommon. "Although your hair doesn't quite match the paint job. Shame, that."

"Well, you will have to take the car in to the body shop, because I am not changing my hair," she said, laughing. She was more than glad to see Scott handling this well - she never stopped worrying about him, but this was heartening. "Now this passenger-seat ornament demands that you show her what this thing can really do."