Warren and family, followed by Warren and Tabitha | Sunday night

[x-highflying.livejournal.com]

Sunday night dinner at the Worthington family mansion doesn't go too well.

"Evening." Warren breezed into the dining room in the Worthington family mansion, only a little late for the family dinner. It was a ritual his mother insisted on and both men would have happily skipped, if not for wanting to keep her happy.

"Lost your watch?" Warren Junior asked, putting aside the paper he'd been reading while they waited, Kathryn sighing and gently touching his arm to stave off a fight.

"Air traffic was busy today," Warren replied flippantly, sliding into his usual seat and managing not to roll his eyes at his father.

"You didn't --"

"No, I didn't fly here, father. I know better than that."

"Really? I wouldn't have guessed it, what with your gallivanting around District X and all the money you're throwing around there."

"-- are you having me followed?" Warren was incredulous. He had gotten used to his parents' benign neglect growing up, the concept of his father keeping that close an eye on him was mind-boggling.

"Bruce mentioned your interest in that clinic they have there, and I was curious. I don't know what you're thinking, Warren, there are mutants living there who sympathize with -- with that crazy mutant who tried to take over New York. You can't go pouring Worthington money into--"

"First of all, it's my money, and I'll do with it as I please. Second of all, there are people living in that neighborhood who need help, and I don't see anyone else offering it to them. And finally, Bruce had no right to be telling you anything about my affairs!" Warren was half way out of his chair, yelling at his father who was looking particularly unimpressed.

"Now now, calm down." The soothing voice of Kathryn broke in, silencing both of the Worthington men. "No fighting at the dinner table." Warren huffed and sat down again, ignoring the meal placed in front of him.

"Why don't you tell me about the woman you were seen with - not the princess, though I do wish you'd invite her to dinner sometime. The brunette, at Roger's party."

"Her name's Vanessa," Warren replied, before shooting a pointed glance at his father. "And she's not usually a brunette. She's a shapeshifter, and in her natural form she has pale blue skin and gorgeous white hair. Perhaps I should bring her to dinner." The idea of Vanessa sitting down to dinner with his parents was somewhat laughable, if only because he wouldn't inflict his father on her. Or anyone he did actually like.

"What is it with you?" his father burst out asking. "Are regular people not good enough for you? Why do you keeping dating fre--" He cut off at a warning glance from Kathryn, but the damage was done.

"Freaks?" Warren finished for him. "Please, go ahead and say it, you might as well be honest. And if you really want to know why, it's because of you. You're so scared about the family's reputation, about how it would affect business if the world knew the truth about me. But you don't stop and think about what I have to live with because I actually try and make you happy. You don't live with the constant ache of having limbs strapped down. The constant pity for my 'back problems'. The knowledge that I have to lie to everyone I meet, that I can't just go and find some 'normal' person you'd approve of to fall in love with. How do I know I can trust them? How do i know if they will still trust me if I tell them the truth? I can trust other mutants, because they get it. They'll keep my secret, even if they don't understand it. But nothing I do actually makes you happy, not even when I toe your line and do everything you want.

And I'm sick of trying. I'm done. I don't want to be CEO of the company one day. I don't want to keep up this stupid happy family pretense, that either of us even want me working at the company. I'm sick of having to hide everything I am for you. So I'm done. I'm just... done." Warren threw his napkin over his uneaten food, pushing his chair back and walking out, leaving two very stunned parents in his wake.

After walking out on his parents, Warren finds distraction with Tabitha.

Warren had just texted the first number he flicked through to on his phone - it had turned out to be Tabitha, and so it was her that he met at the bar in District X, a hood flicked up over his head and sunglasses on to hide his identity. The reason for that was very obvious - his wings weren't hidden away for once, which had become the norm for Warren when he was spending time in the area. It was one place that they didn't attract attention in - his hood and glasses did that more than his wings.

But for now he was ensconced in a booth in the back of the bar he'd chosen for the evening, nursing a beer as he waited for Tabitha. He didn't really want to spend the night brooding (which he would if he was alone) or talking about his issues (like he would if he'd called someone else). He just wanted to be out and drinking and spending time with someone whose company he enjoyed. So in the end, Tabitha was a perfect choice.

Tabitha made sure Warren saw her before she ruffled his feathers as she came up. She tossed her coat into the booth across from him before she followed it. She held up her much-duct-taped, 9-key flip-phone. "You're lucky I had this on me. I lose it a lot," she said.

"Did you know," he replied with a grin. "That phones have upgraded a little in the past ten years?" This coming from someone who upgraded his Blackberry every time they released a new one. "I know duct tape fixes everything, but it may be time for a new phone."

Tabitha looked horrified. "Have you seen the new phones out there?" she demanded. "All of them have entirely too many buttons. And more ways of keeping track of me. It's enough of an electric leash, thank you." She glared balefully at the phone.

"I have," he replied. "And they're great. I don't need to go near a computer for days if I don't want to. Everything I could possibly need at the tip of my fingers. And then if I want to take a break? It turns off." He continued to grin, waving down the waitress to get them both a new drink.

Tabitha ordered a beer and powered down her phone so she'd actually have some battery life later. "You seemed... broody, when I walked in," she commented.

Warren shrugged. "Just a fight with my father. The usual poor little rich boy issues." Warren had something of a tendency to talk down his issues with his father - in the long run, there were plenty of people out there that had worse issues than bigoted control freaks. His problems? Didn't really compare.

It had been half a lifetime since Tabitha's last fight with her father. Since there had been bombs and getting kicked out of the house involved, she figured that was her lifetime quota. So she just nodded. "I could tell stories of student antics?" she offered. "Including those who think the library is an appropriate place for copulation."

"Of course it is," Warren replied with a cheeky grin. "All that quiet, all those out of the way little nooks. It's a great place for hook-ups." Warren may or may not have been one of those sorts of students. Not that he'd exactly grown out of the habit, to be honest. Sex wasn't just for beds, as far as he was concerned.

Tabitha's face flamed, only a little less than normal. She wasn't that inured to the talk. "If one of them is capable of muffling sounds or the like, they should have the courtesy to do so, so the librarian doesn't have a heart attack and worry about losing her job," she pouted. Her eyes widened and she threw her hands over her face. "When did I turn into such a prude?" she squeaked.

"I've never gotten a librarian fired over it," he replied teasingly. "And I really think you need to work on this whole prudish thing a little more. You're much more fun when you're not." He winked at her playfully, taking a sip from his drink.

She pursed her lips and mock-glared at him over the rim of her pint-glass. "You say that after only one incident of seeing me not-prudish?"

"It's a general rule that people are always more fun when they're not being prudish," he said with a teasing glint in his eye. "But hey, maybe you'll prove me wrong. It happens sometimes." Not often, but sometimes.

"Hey! I know I've made you laugh more than once when it didn't involve-" she stumbled over the word, face still hot. "Kissing."

"True," he conceded with a nod. "But I'm not sure I did a very good job of kissing you if you're stumbling over mentioning like that. Maybe you need a little more practice at it."

A small, wicked part of her just grinned. She bit her lip in an effort to keep it off her face. Instead she traced the rim of her glass with a finger, eyes down. "They do say practice makes perfect," she said innocently.

"It's true," he replied with a grin that was definitely not innocent. He reached over and tilted her chin up a couple of fingers so he could meet her gaze. "And I used to be a very good teacher, if I do say so myself."

She bit her lip on another grin. "Well, I did finish my degree in two years. Stands to reason, I'm a terrific student."

"I'm completely jealous, I was at college for years," he groaned playfully. "Let's see how well you remember your last lesson..." He leaned over, holding onto her chin more firmly and brushing his lips against hers.

Tabitha made a happy squeak and responded in kind. She half-rose from her seat, hands braced on the table. She pulled back a little and smiled at Warren. "How am I doing, Mr. Teacher?"

"Hmmm, not bad," he grinned back at her. "But I don't think a refresher course would go astray. Revision is very important." He crooked a finger playfully at her, then patted the space in the booth next to him. "Come over here, and we'll see just how much you remember."

She hesitated only a second, but left her jacket behind to join Warren. She sat next to him, tense, but reaching out to touch his face. "Damn, you're pretty."

Warren smiled at the compliment, shrugging a little at it. "Pretty enough." Okay, so Warren knew how very good-looking he was, but occasionally he wasn't insufferable about it. "Relax, beautiful," he said in a low voice. "I'm not going to do anything you don't want me to."

She wouldn't admit, even to herself, that that's what she was afraid of. She tucked one knee beneath her to give her a little height. "Yeah, this is much better," she said as she nudged the table away from them.

Warren smiled, a wing moving around to cradle Tabitha slightly, blocking them from the view of the rest of the bar. Granted they were already fairly out of the way, but now they certainly wouldn't have any voyeurs.

He brought one hand up to cup her cheek, his thumb running over her skin a couple of times before leaning in to kiss her again. The wings were seriously hot. Her hands itched to run through his feathers, so she settled for the hair at the base of his neck. She reveled in the textures of his touch on her skin, his hair on her fingers.

Warren, honestly, wasn't used to keeping things to just kissing. He had a tendency to rapidly accelerate things with people, not ever really taking the time to take things slowly.

But this? Whatever it was with Tabitha, he honestly enjoyed it. Maybe it was the latent teacher in him, or it was the contrast between Tabitha's tendency to blush at the slightest thing and her enjoyment of their kisses. Maybe it was the novelty of actually establishing boundaries for himself.

His lips moved against hers slowly, taking his time before he teased them open with his tongue. There was no need to hurry, no urgency. Just the pleasure of a really good kiss.

She squeaked when the tongues got involved, but really, she liked that part. She engaged cautiously, pictures of alien movies not far from her thoughts.

"Relax," he murmured against her lips, the hand cupping her face sliding around to the back of her neck, playing idly with the hair there.

She huffed nervously. "I'm going to do something wrong."

"There isn't anything wrong for you to do. Kissing's an art, not a math problem. You just need to relax and follow your instincts of what feels good, and what doesn't. And if you're really not sure, then follow my lead. Or ask." He smiled, his fingers tangling in her hair for a moment.

She gasped, eyes widening. "Do that again," she demanded. That can't have felt as good as she thought it did.

"What?" He asked in a bemused fashion, letting his fingers slid into her hair again and tugging just a little. "This?"

For a moment, Tabitha couldn't say anything. She couldn't quite wrap her brain around having her hair pulled feel good. She clung to him with both hands. "Is that weird? It's weird, isn't it?"

"No, it's not weird," he said with something of a laugh, leaning in to press a kiss against her jaw. "It feels good, doesn't it? Nothing that makes you feel good is weird."

She nodded, taking a deep breath. "Hey," she paused. "You smell really good." She grazed her cheek along his. There was a spot, right there where his shoulder met his neck. In her opinion, it looked like a very kissable spot. So she did.

Warren tilted his head to the side to give her better access, stifling a small moan. It was very much a kissable spot, and his fingers tightened a little in her hair again.

Tabitha forgot any embarrassment, and answered with her own little pleased sound. Her hands slipped around his ribs, fingers splayed. Her arms trembled with the urge to pull herself closer.

"You, Miss Tabitha," Warren murmured, turning his head to trail kisses up her jaw and to her lips. "Are far too tempting for anyone's good."

She laughed, a little breathlessly. "Me?" More than a little disbelief bled through her voice.

"Yes, you," he replied seriously, his gaze dark as he pulled back to meet hers. "You have no idea how tempted I am to sweep you off to my apartment and have my way with you all night." Rather than let her respond, he just kissed her again, pouring all of that desire he spoke of into the kiss.

For a moment, she felt like she was drowning.

It felt almost like fire in her blood. Her hands clenched in Warren't shirt, wrinkling the fabric. She forgot all about keeping a bit of physical distance, and pulled herself closer, until they touched from chest to hip.

It was all Warren could do to hold himself back, shifting slightly, his hands sliding down to rest on her hips, playing with the edge of her shirt before sliding his hands under it. He never was much good with boundaries, and Tabitha wasn't helping much either.

She started at the touch of skin on skin, but relaxed. Well, her mind did. Her abdominal muscles twitched, unused to the touch of someone not her.

Warren didn't draw his hands away, but he also didn't start exploring further. His fingers teased the skin he found, doing his best to acclimatize her to his touch.

Her twitches calmed into shivers. She blamed the devil on her shoulder (again) for the courage to unclench one of those fists and find the hem of his shirt. She was pretty sure that was fair play.

That was definitely fine with Warren. His fingers pressed against her skin for a moment, and he slowly drew back the kissing so he was dropping light kisses on her lips as his hands slid further up her back. It still found it utterly fascinating how different women felt to men, the curves men didn't have and that enticing mix of soft and strong.

Tabitha pulled away from the kiss. She needed a moment to breathe. She panted slightly, heart racing. Her head rested against Warren's shoulder.

Warren let her take the pause, his hands stilling once more. As much as he did want to push things further, he knew he shouldn't. Tabitha needed to move at her own pace, not his. Even if he would like the distraction.

"I-" She stopped, because that sounded far more breathless and frog-like than she intended.

"You?" Warren queried softly, more encouraging than anything. Whatever she wanted to say - was trying to say, he wanted to hear it. He knew she was enjoying this, even if she was still nervous about it.

Her voice was small, but she couldn't seem to make it any stronger. "I am just a little overwhelmed."

Warren smiled at that, his hands moving back down to sit on her hips, pressing a kiss against her forehead.

"Want to go for a walk?" The cold night air would clear both their heads, and give Tabitha some time to breath.

Well, now she was well and truly divided. She hesitated before she nodded. Kissing Warren was far more wonderfully confusing than she could have imagined.

"After you, my lady," He replied with a grin. She had him trapped in this booth, which meant he wasn't going anywhere until she did.

Her eyes widened and she scrambled to get out of his way before she could blush yet again. "Right! Yeah. Sorry."

Warren grinned and joined her, sliding an arm around her waist and steering her out of the bar.