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[x-archangel.livejournal.com]

Seven AM, and there's no coffee in the student kitchen. Not that this should surprise Warren -- it doesn't, considering the ice cream-making frenzy Bobby was on - but it's still annoying. The dawn finds him in the main kitchen downstairs in his boxers and Piotr's tshirt, poking in a cupboard and grumbling over what looks like one can of instant decaf coffee. "I swear to fucking /god/, you can't keep anything hidden around here . . ."

"No, you can't," comes Storm's highly amused voice from the doorway, ".... but somehow I doubt you're talking about coffee." She gives the cannister of /very/ expensive beans in her hand a little shake, like it was a maraca. "Good morning."

"You. Are. A. GODDESS," and he leans against the counter and grins. "Though I really was thinking about coffee. You're still right, but. Coffee." He crosses the kitchen to the coffee pot and plugs in the coffee grinder, pulling coffee filters out of a cupboard with the other hand.

"So I have been told...." She steps into the room, putting the cannister on the large table-chopping-block-cutting-surface-island in the middle of the kitchen. "You said you wanted to talk? Are you still going to the park?"

He nods and picks up the canister from the counter, and turns back towards the coffee-making-devices. "Yes, we are -- I mean, Piotr really wants to go, and I don't have anything else . . . " he blushes, and busies himself grinding coffee. "No sense in sitting home, moping like a spoiled brat, right?"

That makes Ororo's Drama Senses tingle, and she quirks up an eyebrow, studying Warren thoughtfully. "We, hm?"

He turns to look at her and his face is still red, but he doesn't look away. "Yes, we. He wants to go, and I want to go with him." The side of his mouth twitches, and he looks back at the counter. "You didn't know?"

She closes her eyes and shakes her head - but smiles, ever so slightly. "No. I did not. Possibly because it isn't necessarily something I should know...." Her apparent happiness for the both of them is cut abruptly short, and one blue eye opens back up. "Does /Kitty/ know? /Did/ Kitty now?"

He pulls the coffee pot out and walks to the sink, filling it with a frown on his face. "Nobody /should/ know, because I don't think it's anyone's business. And no, she didn't know then . . . from what he's told me, he told her Thursday night at some point. After dinner, I think."

Thumbs quirking up into a gesture of approval, she chuckles. "You're right. It isn't. Glad at least /one/ other couple in this place agrees." She counts backwards on her head. "So it wasn't a revenge thing?"

"Not unless she'd caught on to something Piotr wasn't even aware of . . . and though that's possible, seeing as he's not the quickest to pick up vibes like that, it's unlikely." He returns to the coffee machine and drops in a filter and the coffee, and turns everything on before facing her again. His voice is softer, but firm. "I know I shouldn't have dropped that note to the Professor online where everyone could see it, but I still disagree with what she did. Even if she wasn't actively mad at me then, she had, and HAS, no right to enter my room like that. Especially," and he blushes again, "especially now."

Ororo nods, then reaches out to very carefully put a hand on Warren's shoulder, careful not to touch the wing. "No. You should have. In fact - ... this is something that needs to be discussed. Not just the invasion of privacy, but - all of it." Blue eyes flash, just a moment. "Birdseed. I could strangle them both."

He swallows hard and reaches up to squeeze Ororo's fingers before slipping away, searching the cabinets for a clean coffee cup. "For Kitty's sake, I hope that was purely Jamie's idea. I've known her long enough to assume she's not that cruel -- not to say that Madrox is, but he wouldn't really know any better." He shakes his head and looks outside for a moment -- up at the sky. "The kid was pissed off at me when we went to pick him up. He yelled at me when I didn't get off the plane, and told me his parents were okay with mutants. That they wouldn't be at all disturbed by --" and he twitches a wing, and raises an eyebrow. "Sometimes, the idealist ones are the hardest to handle."

She shoos him away from the cabinets and starts going on a mug hunt. "I -- I can see that. For all that Kitty was very -- odd, when I spoke with her." Frowning, she pauses with a mug in either hand, standing halfway on her tiptoes. "I don't - think they understand, what it's like to have to /pass/. Or not to be able to love your body in polite company."

He grins, and comes back over to check the status of the coffee. "Birdseed. Christ." He lowers his head and places the palms of his hands on the counter in front of him. "I love my wings, Ro. Not a day goes by that I'm not thankful for them, for being able to fly and fight but for fuck's sake. I am a man, too. Not a damn bird." His voice shakes slightly, and he closes his eyes.

Ororo circles around back, and stands over him to kiss the top of his head. "I know. I /know/. I..." She bites her tongue and cringes, affected physically by seeing one of the people she loves in pain. "It's a good thing Jamie didn't make that Xerox comment to my face."

Voice muffled against his hands, Warren laughs. "I swear, if the guy was any older I would have taken him out back for that. My father did teach me a few things, before I left home, and what to do when someone insults a Worthington was one of them." He straightens, and slips an arm around Ororo's shoulders. "Tell me you at least ripped him a new one, like Pete did to me and Bobby whenever we acted like assholes to each other."

She wraps her arms around his waist and nods. "As close as I could while being... suitably teacher-like. Kitty acting like a zombie threw me off. I did tell him Scott, Charles and I might call him back - maybe I should do that." Reaching up, she brushes some of Warren's hair back in place. "Damnit. I hate this. This having to be fair and distant and impartial to all the rugrats. That's /Scott's/ job."

He chuckles and absently rubs his forehead against her hand. "He is more emotionally distant than you are. That's not an insult, mind you; I would pay good money to see Jamie cleaning out the garage without powers for a month or so. But Kitty . . . " he sighs, and rests his cheek against Ororo's head. "I don't know what's up with /her/. Pranks are one thing, but this . . . being malicious just isn't her."

She continues her petting, utterly ignoring the slowly brewing coffee. "I - oo. Now /there/ is an idea. In fact, yes, I think that may well be in order." Eyes closing, she sighs and shakes her head. "Being /thoughtless/ isn't like her, either, and this was /both/. I... maybe I'm looking too hard for explanations. Maybe it's just Stryker, and Jean, and all that. But then - why you? Why this? Why now?"

He hums softly, also ignoring both the coffee and the sounds of a waking student body filtering downstairs. "I told Jean I'd make a good teacher one day . . . " he sighs and pulls back slightly. "I don't know what's going on either, but I doubt they're going to tell us. I hate to say it, but maybe they're just being kids. Kids are cruel at times, and tend to lack true motivation . . . they're just brats sometimes."

"You /will/ make a good teacher," Ororo chuckles and lays a finger on his nose. "Or you had /better/. I am not doing this alone." She glances over her shoulder towards the door. "....to be honest., I hope you're right. Bratty, I can deal with."

"Thanks, " he laughs and finally turns back to the coffee pot, neatly snagging and filling both cups. "It's a good thing, too, because I have a feeling we're both about to get hit with it. Mmmmm, twenty-some unfed children on a Saturday morning." He hands her a coffee cup and after tapping the rim of it with his own, takes a sip. "Remember. You love your job." His eyes twinkle at her from over the rim of his mug.

She takes a /long/ swallow off coffee, after blowing away the white plumes of steam rising from the surface. "We have Apple Jacks. We have Corn Puffs. We have Pop Tarts. We are armed and ready." Laughing, she just shakes her head instead of rebutting him properly. "Before I forget? I'm happy for you."

Warren grins, looking rather pleased with himself, and leans forward to kiss Ororo's cheek. "Thank you. It's been a long time, since Jean I think . . . yeah, I'm happy too." He laughs again, and snags an apple out of a counter bowl. "And now, time to see if he's awake."