Scott and Forge, Friday afternoon

[x-cyclops.livejournal.com]

Scott and Forge do some catching up.


When he got off these damned crutches he was going to smash them into toothpicks just for fun, Scott thought dourly, sinking into his chair and propping the crutches against the wall behind him. His knee was throbbing, and he eyed the bottle of painkillers for a moment, debating, before he turned his attention to his computer screen instead. If he was still in this much pain in a couple of hours, he'd take something then.

A knock against the doorframe signaled Forge's arrival, as the returning inventor stuck his head into Scott's office. "Hey," he asked briskly, "is this a good time? You'd said you wanted me to stop by and jeez, what'd you do to your leg? I told you already, one replacement body part per customer, boss."

His bad mood proceeded to evaporate - although the throbbing knee stayed, unfortunately. Scott grinned crookedly at Forge, giving him a quick up and down look. "Jumped off a shipping container to get away from an acid-breathing dragon," he said. "You look good for someone recently returned from an alternate dimension."

"Why does everyone keep saying 'alternate dimension'?" Forge complained. "There's totally not enough evidence to back that claim. I'm sticking with 'isolated temporal anomaly', given the empirical data gathered over the..." He stopped in his stream of babble, then shrugged. "Whatever. I had a lot of time to keep busy. Helping orchestrate the civil engineering needs of a nation isn't a sit-down job. Helped pass the time, really."

Scott waved at a chair. "Speaking of sitting down, do before I start envying your uprightness and have to throw something at your head." He shook his head slightly. "I'm trying to imagine some of the engineering challenges, now... I think Attilan must have been lucky you were catching that later flight. How's the settling back in going?"

"I'll let you know, once things start actually settling," Forge replied, taking the proffered seat and stretching his legs out. "I just... it's weird. I feel like I should have missed so much, that the world should have moved on more than it has. I mean, not like flying cars and jetpacks, but it's weird to see everyone younger than I expect them to be." He tapped his head. "Eyes and brain aren't in sync, and it's weirding me out, man."

"I can't imagine. I mean, I know the people who went to Asgard wrestled with the time difference, too... but this is two and a half years." Scott shook his head again. "It's strange from this end, too. I mean, it's not as if you've gone gray or anything, but still..."

Forge nodded. "Angelo said as much. The only person who'd really know what it's like, I'd imagine, would be Illyana. But then again, going that route would seem to equate being stuck in a temporal anomaly to becoming an utter hellbitch, so I don't really think that'll be much help." He looked around, steepling his fingers. "I've talked to the Professor, and he says it's mostly like a case of deja vu that should pass once things start becoming routine and familiar again."

"I guess the key, then, would be to get back into the routine." Scott leaned back a little in his chair, studying the younger man. "You've already said you want to get back to work," he went on amiably, "and trust me, very glad to hear it. We've made do over the summer, but we also haven't had any real serious security problems to test that making-do. Are you wanting to get back into training, too?" He raised a hand before Forge could answer. "No rush on that if you haven't decided yet, I'm just asking."

Forge thought for a moment, then nodded. "Maybe not right away," he said, "but... I think that I could do some good here. With the school, with the team. That's what it comes down to. My dad, he asked me what I wanted to do, and that's what I decided. To be where I can make the most impact, and that's here." He eased back into the chair, unconsciously mirroring Scott's posture. "I even got to lead a rescue party the other week. Went off pretty well, too."

"I'm glad you've decided to come back," Scott said, quietly but firmly, a smile tugging at his lips. "I know we've had people come and people go over the years... but you were missed." And that's probably enough of the touchy-feely crap, Summers. "And a rescue party?" he asked, more whimsically. "Dare I ask?"

Forge thought for a moment, debating how much of Crystal's adventures in hunting Maximus were appropriate to be shared. "Princess Crystal was a bit... independent in resolving some royal matters," he explained. "I covered for her absence for a while, but when the King found out, I kind of got offered the choice to either put together a posse and bring her home, or have words with Blackagar. I believe he meant in the literal sense."

The slight wince was unfeigned. "I'll assume based on your journal post that all turned out well enough with Crystal, at least. It's hard to imagine her two years older, too..." Scott trailed off, then shook his head. "Well. Mental adjustments all around. I may have killed some time last night when I couldn't sleep drawing up a report of sorts for you on how we carried on security-wise in your absence..."

"Ah, reports," Forge nodded. "I spent yesterday afternoon catching up on the journals and the mission logs. Once I realized that the acid-breathing dragon wasn't some extended metaphor, I'm very glad that I missed out on that one."

"Yeah. Not on my top five list of mission experiences to repeat." Scott rubbed at his jaw, trying not to smile. "You know, I'd offer to buy you a beer to celebrate your return, now that you're legal, but I gather you have celebratory pizza to have. Raincheck?"

"Indeed," Forge said with a nod, leaning forward and standing up. "Speaking of which, Kyle and Marius are likely to steal my leg if I don't rendezvous with them for that pizza. Tell you what, forward me those security reports, and I'll sit down with you and the Professor in a day or so and get back on track?"

"They'll be in your inbox before you're out the door," Scott said, and laughed suddenly. "'Welcome back - here, have some paperwork.' At least you know for sure you're home, huh?"

Forge smiled widely. "I wouldn't have it any other way."