xp_logs | Ororo and Scott | Monday afternoon

Ororo finally stops by to see Scott and... not yell at him? Is it possible? Read on and see.

"Scott Summers, open up."

The tone wasn't exactly... demanding, but it wasn't all that polite, either. Ororo knocked again on the door in front of her, knowing she was being impatient and not much caring. She had been patient for quite long enough and right about now needed to reassure herself that her best friend was truly safe and in one piece. And there was only one way to do that: hugging.

Scott, who'd been in the process of coming out of the bedroom at the knock, cringed at Ororo's peremptory tone. Oh, crap... Steeling himself, he went over and opened the door. "Um. Hi."

Luckily for Scott, he was greeted not with a slap but with an embrace as Ororo threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly (though not too tightly) and closing her eyes. "There you are," she said as if she was addressing some wayward student and not a man two years her senior. "I am glad to see you."

Scott... wasn't sure what he'd expected. It was nice that it hadn't been a smack upside the head, though. "Hi," he said again, more softly, and after a moment, hugged her back.

Pulling back a few seconds later, she searched his face, taking note of the lingering weariness and slight apprehension that seemed to be permanently affixed to his expression. "Are you busy? Because I would like to go for a walk outside. With you. It is a beautiful day out."

Scott actually smiled. "I... wouldn't mind doing that, no. Just a second, though." He took a step back into the room, scrawling a quick note for Jean - and catching Des on her way to the door. "No, cat." She meowed at him as he shut the door firmly in her face.

From any given point in the mansion Ororo usually knew the quickest way to get outdoors, and she led Scott through the hallways until they could slip out a side door, emerging into the still-dormant gardens along the side of the mansion. It was indeed a beautiful day outside, the blue skies above radiant with sun and just a few drifting clouds that didn't linger very long overhead. "Soon it will be time to start planting again," she told him, peering down at the flowerbeds with a calculating expression on her face. "It was not so long ago that we were bedding things down. Time moves so quickly."

"You should recruit some students to help. Gardening would be good for them," Scott said after a moment, still sounding subdued. He was waiting for the other shoe to drop. He couldn't help it.

"Cain has already started asking for volunteers. I will too, soon." They continued strolling at a leisurely pace, and before long Ororo glanced sideways at Scott. "I am not going to lecture you, you know, Scott. My hair is not nearly red enough for that task."

"Really?" Scott was quiet for a moment. "I suppose I deserve the lecturing. Jean's... I think we'll be okay, but I really didn't... " He stopped, shrugged a bit helplessly. "Well, I wasn't expecting to be alive to have to deal with reactions."

"I doubt that explanation is very popular," she replied, turning to face him. "Regardless of how true it may be."

"No, it's not winning many converts at all," Scott said, a bit dryly. "Which is fair. It's not a very compelling argument."

Ororo shook her head, though it was unclear whether this was meant as disagreement, or merely a general reflection on the situation. "I cannot say how I would have reacted in your place. But I think I would be a hypocrite if I were to fault you for what you did. I am just glad you are here, Scott. I cannot tell you how much I would have missed you..." She found that her voice was becoming the slightest bit unsteady, and fought to keep her calm. "You are a very brave man. That much has been proven many times over. And I think what you did was the action of a brave, if very resigned and hopeless, person."

He didn't miss the slight quaver in her voice. "I'm awfully glad I'm still here too, 'Ro," he said more softly and then stepped forward, hugging her again. "And I'm sorry."

"What are you apologizing for?" she asked, trying to smile. "Besides leaving me to deal with the hole in the wall and all your leftover paperwork."

"I think the word Jean used was 'fatalism'. Well, one of the words. The adjectives were a little harsher."

"While I would not describe you as the eternal optimist, Scott, nor would I call you exactly fatalistic... you did what you thought what was necessary, yes?"

Scott nodded wordlessly as they kept walking. "I really felt like it was the only choice," he said. "I didn't... I couldn't handle the thought of killing anyone by accident."

"Then I do not see what you have to apologize for. Although you did give Jean an impressive black eye. But that is between you and her, not me." This time the smile came a bit easier. "I think your problem is that you have a hero mentality... but I challenge you to show me one person on the team who does not. Perhaps each of use would have reacted differently in your situation, but we cannot blame you for what you did."

Scott shot her a sideways look that had a certain amount of black humor to it. "You know, I almost wish you weren't quite so understanding. Because it means you would have done the same sort of thing, maybe, in the same situation... and I have a terrible double standard."

"Nonsense. The difference between you and me is that I would never get myself into that situation to begin with," Ororo retorted. "So the question truly becomes moot at that point."

Scott just grumbled in response. His expression was vaguely pensive as they made their way through the gardens. "I'm glad everyone's more or less okay," he said. "Mexico sounded quite hairy." It struck him that he was shifting the conversation, but maybe that wasn't such a bad thing.

"Putting it lightly, yes... I wish I had been there." Not that she didn't trust everybody implicitly, or that her presence would've made one ounce of difference to how things had gone, but... "It seems as if the theme of the week was 'proving oneself against all odds'. They made it back, though... and if we could only convince them to rest now that they have returned, we might still have a functioning team on our hands." She was even happier than she sounded about this prospect.

"I saw the post about Nathan and Kurt's misadventures. Funny to think that it's been two years since Youra," Scott said, then smiled a very odd smile. "Two years later, I have yet another brush with death. Kind of ironic."

"And once again you make it through. I do not know what Jean is so worried about; obviously you are too stubborn to be gotten rid of."

"Hah! You've got a point, you know," Scott said, his mood visibly rallying. "No healing factor, no probability-warping, no unconscious powers that protect me no matter what I do... and yet I still keep not dying. I think that takes talent."

"Quite a lot of it, obviously," Ororo agreed, chuckling. She reached up to ruffle his hair affectionately. "Just do not let it go to your head. That is the last thing we need..."

"I think if I ever got too full of myself there would be a rupture in the space-time continuum," Scott said, smoothing his hair back down and smiling at her. The sun was clearly improving his mood; the tension in his shoulders was visibly easing.

"That is somewhat reassuring. Still, I think I will ask Forge to keep an eye on it, just to be sure." Grinning, she gestured at him to follow as she started down the path towards the lake. "Come, I want to see if Nate is still so drugged up he will believe us when we tell him it is his sole responsibility to see that the Blackbird is up and running again in two week's time."