xp_logs | Ororo and Marius

Marius shows up with food at Ororo's office and surprises her into inviting him to join her for brunch. They talk of education, best-laid plans, and mutant mice.

Ororo had returned to the mansion after her trip to Yosemite greatly refreshed and ready to face whatever the school or its inhabitants might throw at her. There were still leftover doubts, issues which she would no doubt have to address at some point, but she no longer felt like diving through a window every time she saw the face of one of the students that had been kidnapped. True, she still viewed the phone with distrust, but Scott and Charles had fielded most of the irate parent phonecalls, and she didn't flinch anymore when it rang. Still, it wasn't enough to keep her away from her office on that fine morning, the windows open wide so that she could enjoy the pleasant weather outside while she checked her emails and phone messages.

For a few brief moments he had pondered the possibility Ororo might be elsewhere; after all, the term was complete, and it was within the realm of feasibility the headmistress would be otherwise occupied.

But not, Marius was pleased to discover upon catching a glimpse through the office's open door, the reality.

"Mornin', Ms. Munroe," Marius beamed, balancing the tray expertly under the assumption, as always, that 'open door' equaled 'permission to enter not applicable,' "I've come to serve you."

"Marius?" The headmistress looked up, looking from the young man to the tray in his hands and then back again. "I am afraid I did not realize I was missing breakfast." A glance at her clock. "Brunch."

"Ah, the fault is mine. However, it did occur to me that even safely graduated servin' the headmistress breakfast in bed might constitute a breach of etiquette." Marius cocked his head thoughtfully. "Of course, my plan hinged on the assumption you are once again hungry but have not yet engaged in plans for lunch. I could guess as to a rough estimate, but certain factors such as cooking time, available ingredients an' such make such timing inexact at best. It was somethin' of a gamble."

...he had brought her lunch. It was a bit of a delayed realization, and it was a very good thing she had regained some of her usual aplomb as she managed to smile and motion for the young man to take a seat. "No, your timing is quite good, as I have not eaten since early this morning and would be grateful for a bite now. If you would join me." Otherwise it would just be awkward. Oh, wait...

Marius batted not an eye. "So pleased you asked." Eh . . . I can't believe she just asked. This had suddenly become unexpectedly complex. He'd been rather depending on the theory of performing a charming good deed and breezing out, as he had said little to Ororo since his eventful joining of the team and had foreseen casual conversation might prove Awkward. However, his misgivings were overpowered both by the years of instinct directing him never to refuse an attractive woman, authority figure or not, and an equally unfortunate tendency towards dealing with awkwardness by flinging himself bodily onto it. Marius sat.

"Apologies, I had to make due with what was on hand," he said, laying out the tray on the open space between them. The setting was not for two, but he'd provided silverware as per custom in his mother's household, which meant there were more forks than most would find strictly necessary. He settled himself in and removed the cover from the main dish. "I believe I shall adhere to the fruit cup. My tastes tend towards the light. I bake only for the greater good."

And now was time for the second surprise in as many minutes - the meal that Marius revealed was nothing short of impressive. He seemed to have concocted an artful display of crepes with berries and cream, and just the sight of them made Ororo realize how hungry she actually was. "I would say you acquitted yourself quite well with 'what was on hand'," she remarked with a slight laugh, picking up a napkin to spread in her lap. "If only we all were as handy with dining on the fly, perhaps Lorna would not find herself with such a full-time job managing the kitchen."

"Ah, I am not versatile. A few things I can manage. It is my good fortune to have within me some small redeeming qualities, as well as a mother who made certain they would be hammered into me. One supposes she was preparin' me for times of dire need, such as the eventuality of emergency repast." Marius grinned and claimed the small bowl of diced fruit nearest to hand.

"I am sure Amanti will be very glad to hear that you have been making use of your available skills," Ororo replied, picking up her fork. Because she would surely be mentioning this to the woman the next time they spoke - it would be a pleasant respite from trying to explain exactly what Marius had gotten himself into this time. Amanti was very understanding, though, almost frighteningly so. Though with a son like Marius, perhaps it wasn't completely surprising. "Just as she will be happy to know that you are very nearly done your coursework, too. As I'm sure you yourself are glad of."

"Indeed, it was perhaps causin' a bit of overfocus." Marius tapped his fork on the side of the bowl a touch pensively. "Nearly missed Mondo's departure, which was rather impressive as he's not the most inconspicuous of blokes. I believe the excessive studies have honed some manner of secondary mutation which includes selective blocking."

"Well, they will be over soon enough," Ororo offered in a reassuring manner - though it wasn't as if she was counting down the days until Jennie and Marius were officially graduated. Oh, no.

"Yes, an' then it's off to uni," Marius agreed. "Or rather carpoolin' to uni with Forge, though I'm not certain whether my courage is equal to the drive. Of course," a grape was skewered with all evidence of confidence, but the slightest hint of hesitation edged into the boy's airy tone, "that will be between the trainee business."

"Ah," Ororo said with a shake of her head and a vaguely disapproving expression, though it was far from stern. "You mean that the trainee business will be between schoolwork and university obligations." She resisted the urge to lick her fork clean - that really wouldn't be appropriate, under the circumstances (no matter how delicious the crepes were) - and set it carefully on the side of the plate. "Though I understand and appreciate your commitment to the team, Marius, right now it is of secondary importance to you. Your trainee duties should never supersede your schoolwork, no matter how much gruntwork Cain or Nathan or any of the others tries to give you. Education is your priority."

"Yes, so I have been taught. Extensively." The boy smiled a little to the grape speared on his fork. "I am quite highly educated, Ms. Munroe. An', though it shock many, I am also not the unintelligent sort. My path has been very clear. Get high marks, attend a worthy business school -- and ah yes, excel therein, but no worries there -- an' then progress to a suitable position at one of my parents' respective companies, or wheresoever my skills would be most appropriate. All was goin' according to plan before the unfortunateness of the last year, an' now that the silliness is once more at lull proceeds once more apace. I came to Xavier's quite a ways along my future road." Yellow eyes, still fixed on the purple grape caught by the tine of the fork, flicked closed as he popped the fruit into his mouth. "Yet for all my education, I can't help but feel I did not learn much."

Ororo listened quietly, taking a few more bites of her crepe but otherwise sitting still as Marius spoke. When he finished she took a moment to think about what she was going to say, never one for blurting out the first thing that came to mind. "I think in part I understand what you mean," she said eventually, nodding a bit to show her agreement. "The world that your education was supposed to prepare you for is suddenly much larger and much stranger than it was before. Everything you learn in school, though you may excel in it, can barely educate you for what to expect in it or how to react to it. In this way the team is like another form of education - one that will hopefully shed some light on events slightly more stressful than your next big promotion."

The boy reciprocated her nod with one of his own. "I hesitate to say the business world's not the real world -- society hangs upon professionals bein' professional an' that, getting on with things. It is quite real. The one I still expect to find myself in, in fact." He hesitated a fraction, as if considering what he was about to do; not usually a worry crossed his mind. Then Marius lay his empty hand knuckles-down against the desk between them and slowly unfolded it, revealing the silver-dollar sized scar pitting the dusky skin to Ororo.

"It's just the detours along the way that give cause for the occasional stop and look-about," he finished.

"And I would be nothing if not a hypocrite if I said that you did not deserve one. I did not mean to chastise you, Marius, only to remind you that your trainee duties are flexible - there is no set time limit nor any deadline for you to follow." Ororo's gaze was steady and warm; it was a testament to how well Yosemite had soothed her nerves that she was even able to smile when meeting the young man's eyes. "I admire you for taking this step, and I only want to help you complete it as smoothly and easily as possible. That is all."

"Indeed, an' in no way because it would vastly benefit the uncertain blood-pressure of many." Marius' grin took the sarcasm from the phrase. He retracted his hand from the desktop and let it rest at his side. His attention returned to the nearly empty bowl in front of him, though something of the smile remained. "It occurs to me that were I more the impertinent sort I would ask, purely for the sake of curiousity, how accordin' to plan your own life went. An' whether the answer has in any way influenced the handling of circumstances such as the dining of delinquent former students in your office an' other such peculiarities." The boy's yellow eyes flicked up at her again from beneath his heavy brows, amusement there now. "But that, as stated, would be impertinence."

"And we could not have that," came the reply, followed by a chuckle as Ororo sat back in her chair. "But if I were to be posed such a question, hypothetically I would reply that in my experience, both personal and observational, life very rarely goes according to plan. Especially if one skews the plan by residing in a place particularly known for unpredictability and unexpected surprises. If anything, it teaches one to be very adaptable. Even in situations involving brunch." Now it was Ororo's turn to look amused. "Hypothetically."

"Ah, but this begs the question of whether it is feasible to plan that things will not proceed as expected, or that the very pretext of such an approach will ensure its inevitable failure," Marius pointed out. He grinned as he emphasized his point with a balled melon. "So, in all your years of experience an'-in-no-way-implying-those-are-in-any-way-offensive-in-number, is it then better to plan not to plan, or to plan that your plan shall almost certainly fail to go accordin' to plan?"

"To be honest, I think it depends on the planner. Or not-planner, as it may be. In my personal experience, I find it is easiest to have a plan, certainly, but to not get so attached to it that I would be devastated should necessity dictate the plan must change. For you know what they say about mice and men…"

Marius tapped his lips thoughtfully with the tines of his fork. "They're not to be allowed in the house? Ah, wait. That's only mum, isn't it."

"Hamsters, dogs, cats... what is a few more rodents?" Ororo asked breezily. "Though I draw the line at radioactive supermice with plans for world domination," she added, arching an eyebrow at Marius as if this was somehow his plan. "As you know they would somehow become, with our record."

"Now you've quite slighted the hamsters," the boy said, furrowing his brow. "They will endeavor to prove you wrong, likely by means of gamma radiation or violent devolution. An' judging from our past . . ." Marius sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. "Right. I believe I have now no choice but to see it preemptively entered into the team record that you have doomed us all."

The smirk that the headmistress had been wearing flickered a little, though she rallied and re-adjusted the smile smoothly enough. "Fair enough. Though no matter whose fault a particular situation may be, we still operate as a team. So you will of course be expected to do battle against said malicious mice should the opportunity arise. Keep that in mind as you peruse the petshop."

"In such an emergency I would insist we first attempt to pit the hamsters against the mice. I feel this would place us in such a position that we may then either challenge the victor or arrange a generous bargain with them as our unquestioned lords an' masters." Marius regarded Ororo's expression for a moment, then lowered his fork and gusted a sigh of resignation. "I'm to be the first to fall to our rodent overlords, aren't I."

"Cannon fodder is an integral and necessary part of every team," Ororo observed solemnly, folding her napkin neatly to place on the plate. "Also, I must thank you. For the food, of course, it was delicious, but also... I believe I have a very good idea for the trainees' next simulation combat scenario thanks to you. I will be sure to give credit as credit is due."