Warren and Crystal - The Next Step

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Super-backdated! Warren has some news and a present for Crystal while they're out to dinner.



Dining out with Crystal was a regular occurrence for Warren these days - one of the few breaks he got from work, his unfortunate workaholic habits taking over without a suitable distraction. But thankfully he still did manage to get out occasionally, and he made a point of doing it when his and Crystal's schedules permitted. Tonight, superficially like any other dinner they'd had, was going to be a little different. Warren had something to tell Crystal, and to be honest, he was pretty pleased for her. A small jewellery box rested in his jacket pocket, and he'd made sure to order the best champagne the restaurant had to offer.

What a summer it had been! The 'Untouchables' had their powers back, Haven was in SHIELD custody, and Nick was still missing, resulting in a mixture of positives and negatives in Crystal's mind. She'd been busy for the majority of the summer and had now spent some time in Attilan, and it was good to still be able to go out to dinner with Warren. The start of the school year was approaching rapidly and she had reduced the number of classes she was taking in order to have more time to devote to teaching. With Sooraya decided to enroll in ABSAE, the already small student body of Xavier's was even smaller.

"It is hard to believe that there will be less than ten students at the school this year unless we have a last minute addition or two," Crystal mused out loud. "I would have been delighted if Xavier's had such a small student body during my year as a student at the school. As a teacher, I find myself wishing there were more students I could teach. Different roles carry different perspectives on the same situation, do they not?"

"I can't believe it either," Warren said with a shake of his head. "I feel sorry for the kids - I mean, my graduating class was pretty small as well, and there's only so many times you can hang out with the same kids before you go crazy. I was lucky, I could head back to the city anytime I wanted to, but the current batch don't really have that."

"I spent many of my weekends as a student traveling to different cities in various states," Crystal said. "My parents ordered me to attend the school, and I stayed in the US for most of the time, but no one ever said I had to stay in Westchester or even the state of New York." She smiled a bit. "Are you sure that you do not wish for the students to come and spend a weekend at your penthouse?"

Warren's eyes widened at the suggestion, looking a little horrified. "Why on earth would I want to do something like that?" It wasn't that Warren didn't like the students - he did, at a distance, and certainly not when it involved a lot of interaction.

"To allow the 'current batch' to have the opportunity to spend more time in the city, of course," Crystal said, amused. "It was meant as a joke, although perhaps it is not a bad idea to arrange a weekend trip for the students. After all, students from other parts of the country visit New York City on class trips; the school being close to the city does not mean that the students should not have the same opportunity to spend entire days there."

"Well, no, in theory it's not a bad idea. It's just..." Did it have to be his apartment? There were other people who lived in New York that could play host. Warren hadn't spent a great deal of time with teenagers in a very long time, and he couldn't imagine it going well.

"It is just what?" Crystal asked, puzzled. "Is there a reason why the students should not stay in New York for more than a few hours? I realize that when a group of students gather together for a school trip there exists the potential for the 'field trip curse' to come into play, but that does not mean that the students should never leave Westchester."

"No, there's no reason why they shouldn't. I just can't imagine me being a very good host." At least not to teenagers. Warren was one of the few X-Men who didn't teach at the school, and thus didn't tend to spend a lot of time interacting with the students. He couldn't imagine having them in his care for an extended amount of time. He flashed Crystal a disarming smile, purposefully changing the subject. "But I have some news for you. Something a little more exciting than student field trips, I hope."

"Oh?" Crystal regarded him, surprised and curious. "News for me? What sort of news could be more exciting than trying to plan ways to avoid a well-known curse regarding student field trips?" Crystal had been showing her sense of humor more lately, most often with people she felt comfortable around. It was still hard to tell sometimes when she was being serious or not, but she was working on that, too.

"I'm not sure the field trip curse would be avoided if they stayed with me," he said with a laugh, shaking his head as he drew a small black jewellery box from his jacket pocket, sliding it over to Crystal with a smile. "You're being promoted."

Crystal eyed the box, eyed Warren, then eyed the box again. She took the box, opened it, and looked inside. "Oh, Warren, you shouldn't have," she said upon seeing the contents of the small box, looking up at him again. "I take it this is why we are in a private room, away from spying eyes and ears?" Her gaze moved back to the box and she lightly touched the insignia inside, remembering when she had seen another small box holding identical contents. Back then, she had never imagined there would come a day when she'd receive a pair of X-Men insignia of her own. "Well, I suppose the time for being a trainee has passed. There seems to be little point in attempting to compete for Laurie's title as the one who remained a trainee for the longest period of time. Gray is not my color anyway, and while I would prefer to wear yellow, I can accept black. Of course I will have to have my new uniforms modified as the other ones were, perhaps with some additions this time."

"Not business I thought should be interrupted," he said with a smile, taking a drink from his glass of wine. "You're a good asset to the team, and you're certainly beyond trainee status." He tilted his head a little, curious. "How would you adapt your uniform?" Warren's was pretty standard, other than the modifications made to allow for his wings.

"Neck to toe leather is not quite the type of outfit I would choose for myself," Crystal said with a small laugh. "I like being able to feel the air on my skin, and full-body outfits are not usually designed for that. My version of the uniform contains material that allows the air to get through so that I do not feel uncomfortable and confined by the uniform. I think I would like to add yellow to it as well wherever will be allowed so that it is not entirely dark and solid and boring to look at it."

"That does sound like a good idea," Warren replied. "To be honest - and I say this without meaning offence at all, but I don't think the black leather look suits you all that well." He smirked a little playfully. "On the other hand, white leather - or yellow, for that matter, is a completely different story. I would how the Professor would feel about a complete redesign of the uniform."

"Perhaps it is time for a change," Crystal replied. "Although I would assume that the design of the uniform is one that was thought out and chosen for a reason. The designs might differ slightly, but have they ever been changed completely? While I might like the idea of a uniform containing more yellow than black, such an outfit would not be subtle at all. There is something to be said for members of a team wearing identical or near-identical uniforms, and somehow I doubt that the team as a whole would consent to wear bright yellow uniforms, leather or otherwise."

"They haven't been changed in ten years or so. I can barely remember what we wore when I was at school." My how that made him feel old. "But it's true, there is something very... slick about a team all in black leather." And lord knows it showed off more than one figure.

"I am sure that I would be able to find pictures somewhere," Crystal offered helpfully before taking another sip of champagne. While most of the people at the school were new arrivals compared to Warren's original time at the school, there were once again people living at the mansion who had been there a decade or so earlier.

"Oh no lord, don't do that!" Warren laughed. "High school? Not my best time." It had taken his wings awhile to fully grow in, briefly leaving him with what he'd called 'scrawny chicken wings'.

"I will not share them with others, then," Crystal promised Warren with a smile.

"But you'd still see them," he replied with a grin. "I don't know how you could possibly want to be seen with me after seeing them." Not that the pictures were as bad as he was painting them to be, but he had a reputation to maintain.

"No matter how you looked in high school," Crystal declared, "I will still be fine being seen with you in public. I did not quite look the way I do now during my one year of high school, but that is all right. We are not now who we were then."

"No, we certainly are not." Warren smiled, raising his glass for a toast. "To growing up."



I'm so sorry for the long delay, but yes it did happen, and here it is!