xp_logs | Forge & Crystal: late night

Crystal returns from the Red X Mission, and in conversation a mutual surprise is realized.

The door to the suite closed behind her, and Crystal walked through the living area of the third floor suite. She'd decided to stay in Iowa for a couple of extra days and was just getting back now, having checked the journals only briefly during her recent time away from the mansion. The Attilani princess had had enough of water for a while, and was content with the shower she'd had prior to her return, not feeling the need to be surrounded by water in a bathtub, hot tub, or swimming pool. Forge had posted about the new X-Men jet being near completion, and Crystal figured maybe he was with the plane, or he was probably in his lab. As she made her way to the bedroom, a small flame flickered into being to light her way.

She was mostly slipped into a sheer nightgown when a voice from the bed, slurred with sleep, surprised her and caused her small flame to flare brightly and vanish.

"New trick there? With the fire?" Forge mumbled from where he lay half-covered by a sheet, sprawled across the left side of the bed. "How was Iowa?"

"It was wet," Crystal replied a few moments later, sitting on the right side of the bed. "It was also very, ah, interesting. I am not entirely sure why, but this particular trip with Red X seemed to be full of problems for the people from the mansion who went to help. Perhaps we should have been clear to them from the beginning; this is a flood zone, but please do not attempt to swim in the water." Crystal lay down, shaking her head in the darkness.

"Didn't see much on TV, but folks seem to think that you all helped a lot. 's good work," Forge said, scooting over next to Crystal and putting an arm around her shoulders. "Missed you," he said quietly, nuzzling her hair briefly. "Quite a bit."

"I was away for less than a week," Crystal said, smiling a bit, "and I believe you been keeping yourself busy, yes? The 'X-Wing' is almost finished, is it not?"

Even in the darkness, Forge's grimace was palpable. "It's not the X-Wing," he groaned. "Given the lack of panache demonstrated from my peers, and I use the word loosely, I'm probably just going to petition for Blackbird Two. I mean, I know it's supposed to be bad luck to use the name of a crashed ship, but we kind of make a living by thumbing our noses at fate. Should see what Scott thinks."

He was quiet for a moment, then laughed quietly to himself. "You know, the other day I was bringing laundry up, and I kind of realized, um... you realize we've sort of... moved in together?"

"We... we have?" Crystal asked, the utter shock of that statement bypassing the confusion she felt about Forge's 'make a living' terminology. She paused for a moment, thinking about the various items in the rooms in the suite that hadn't been there when she'd lived in this room as a member of the Xavier's staff. Somehow, little by little, Forge's possessions had been making their way to the room.

Forge nodded, sitting up and propping himself against a pillow. "I mean, I know you suggested staying here while I was recovering, and you've been helping a lot with that, as well as..." For a quick moment he was glad that the darkness hid any blush that he may or may not be experiencing. "And I was thinking that the past month's been really comfortable, and it's felt good to be coming here at the end of the day. I'm not falling asleep on a counter in the lab or under one of the hangar racks these days... it just seems, I don't know, natural to be here with you and... am I making any sense?"

There was a short silence while Crystal's mind raced. Although she had ended up returning to Attilan for only a few days when she had left the school after this year's graduation, she had definitely not been planning on staying at the mansion forever. She'd put her summer travel plans on hold after Forge was hurt, but she'd always meant to resume them after he recovered. "Of course you do not have to return to the suite you shared with Angelo," Crystal began, "and I am planning on remaining here through September as the summer session of the Red X field leader program does not end until then."

"I am in favor of this plan," Forge announced with a yawn, sliding back down onto the pillow and smiling as his girlfriend relaxed into his shoulder. "Details can wait until morning, though. Glad you're back," he murmured, kissing Crystal lightly on the forehead.

"I, too, am glad to be back now," Crystal said, closing her eyes. Forge's words went through her mind again: "You realize we've sort of... moved in together?" How and when had that happened? Was that what other people had been assuming all along? At what point would one be able to say that Forge had made a complete recovery, and what would she do then, just leave? She could not just stay here as Forge's girlfriend; that Crystal knew, what other reason could she have for staying here? The young woman let out a barely audible sigh, frowning a bit for a moment before resigning herself to the idea of sleep. "Good night, and sleep well."