Scott & Layla | Monday afternoon

[x-mandelbrot.livejournal.com]

Scott abducts Layla with a plan to cheer her up after spending half of January recovering from her powers incident. Somehow she wins the most. awesome. prize. EVER.

Scott walked down the corridor looking around curiously, he hadn't been into the student's residential area since he had returned to the mansion. On the whole it was the same as ever, the school seemed to be a solid unchanging presence all the way back to the time he had first arrived. Smiling wryly, Scott focused on his mission; he had noticed Layla's behavior last month, and after talking to Jean he had decided to see if he could cheer her up, or at least get her mind of her problems. Stopping in front of the suite door he took a deep breath before knocking on the door.

Music could be heard even though the door. Layla had it a bit louder than usual because Maddie was out and she was trying to make herself do catch up which was sort of a losing battle there. She glared at the anatomy text book, then at the door. "You lose, book."

The music turned down and a moment later the door opened. The teen was a bit pale still, not quite out of recovery enough to look healthy yet. The aching and exhaustion had stopped but she had been instructed to keep eating non-stop until further notice. Her expression was one of mild confusion. "Oh great and powerful Vibra-Socket, what brings you here?"

Scott smiled at the mention of his nickname, "Well I was worried about you, after the whole zombie dog thing and Maddie," he replied. "I thought I'd stop by and see how you were holding up," he continued looking around the part of the suite visible through doorway. "Perhaps see if you're up for a field-trip? It can't be doing much for your sanity to be in here all day."

Eyes narrowing, Layla seemed to scrutinize Scott while she looked him over. "Does this field trip involve cookies?"

Scott laughed, "I think we could managed that," he answered as he leaned against the door frame. "I'm sure we can find something in town that you'll like."

The scrutinizing look immediately morphed into a beaming grin. "Okay, but if you're lyin' you lose Vibra-Socket status, get demoted to Lazy Eye and...um," she scratched her head. "Something." Frowning a little, Layla looked down at her bare feet and wiggled her toes. "Okay that was weak. But I will think up awesome retribution. I need shoes." Without another word she spun around and headed deeper into the suite, leaving the door open and heading into her bedroom to find shoes. Maybe socks. Oh, a jacket, that would be useful.

Scott watched Layla scurrying about the suite trying to get ready to go with a slight grin playing out across his lips. "I'm quivering in fear of 'something'" he teased. "Don't forget your wallet and license."

"Dude, you should be! You have no idea what 'something' could be!" she called back from her bedroom. Layla emerged with shoes, her coat and a knit hat and without any regard for the fact that she was wearing a denim mini skirt and stripey tights in the middle of winter. "And why do I need my license and wallet?" She eyeballed Scott as she walked back to him. "Are you taking me to an R-rated movie and making me pay? Because that is super shady, Socket. Super. Shady."

"It's a surprise" Scott replied as he grinned at Layla. "I've pulled you're carriage round to the front of the mansion," he said as he started off down the corridor. "Shady? Me?" He shook his head, "it's like you don't know me, although while we're on the subject, you could go dutch on the popcorn," he tossed back at Layla.

"So shady," she echoed on their way down the hall. "Seriously, people talk like you're a boy scout or something, Socket, but I'm thinkin' you're totally all undercover with the shady and the scheming. Like it's gonna turn out you're totally running guns and pimpin' out farm animals to nuns and shit."

"Drat, you're revealed my secret identity as an..." Scott turned to look askance at Layla, "animal pimp? really?" he shook his head in amusement. "I'm not quite sure how to take that. You know the thought strikes me, if I have a nickname shouldn't you have one too?"

Layla shrugged, the picture of innocence. Or so she was attempting to be. "What? Animal pimp was the shadiest thing I could think of." She threw in a little whistle and everything. "Oh, wait, you're gonna try to nickname me?" At that he got big, hopeful and expectant eyes, which meant Layla nearly tripped over a book someone must have dropped in the hallway. It was all talent here, all talent... "Alright, let's have it then. What's my awesome alter ego going to be? And no cheating and trying to go all fake Native American with She-Who-Talks-Too-Much or whatever. That's just lame and involves no real effort. I demand effort here, oh Vibra-Socket."

Scott stared at Layla pensively for a few moments while they walked down the corridor before reaching up to scratch his head. "Umm Blondie?" he asked shaking his head. "Sorry that was lame..." Scott let his mind wander over everything he knew about Layla before an idea formed in his head. He grinned down at her, "Careful where you step ... Pumpkin."

The teenager's nose wrinkled. "Isn't that, like, something you call your two year old niece? Or daughter? Or granddaughter?" She took a step away from Scott so she could look at him properly while giving him a look like he had three heads. "Seriously? Pumpkin? That's totally like tiny female relative type territory. You fucking suck at this nicknaming thing. You know that, right? Even Blondie was better than that." She held up a finger and very quickly added, "But not by much."

Scott stopped and turned to face Layla, "I...umm. I didn't even think." He sighed, "Yeah, I do. I never really got the hang of it, didn't get much of an opportunity to practice when I was younger." He smiled wryly at her, "How about I leave the nicknaming to you? I'll just stick with calling you Layla."

"See? Now that's a better plan. You should take this plan, love it, pet it, cuddle it at night and never let it leave your side." She nodded, trying for a rather sage expression but her old wise man impersonation really needed some work. It probably had a lot to do with that whole being 17 thing. "So, is there going to be a pinata? Maybe door prizes?" She widened her eyes suddenly, opening them as far as she could, and asked in an excited voice, "Are we going to Chuck E. Cheese? Giant mice and pizza, no way to go wrong there!" She was kidding, obviously. Well, she hoped it was obvious.

Scott looked at her in shock, "Chuck E. Cheese? Really? Do they even serve cookies there?" he asked. His face morphed into a smile and he raised a hand to scratch his head, "Well I was thinking about the DMV myself, but if you're rather go visit the cheese mouse house..." his voice trailed off expectantly.

"They have pizza! It's cookie shaped and therefore totally counts. It's a big, melty, cheesy cookie. OKay, that was weak. But they probably have cookies. Also, I was totally kidding." Layla frowned and put a hand on her stomach. "But now I want pizza. And are you taking me to pay parking tickets? Because I don't have any. Or speeding tickets, thank you very much. And you taking me to pay your tickets is a totally lame outing unless you've got a totally James Bond ride or something." Then she paused for half a second, eyes going wide. "Do you have a totally James Bond car? All super fucking awesome with tricked out shit hiding in it and stuff? Because that would be awesome and you would get so. many. cool points."

"Cookies and Pizza? This is gonna be an expensive trip for me, isn't it," Scott grumbled as they reached the entrance hall. "I feel hurt though, as if I'd get a speeding ticket. If I was gonna go fast I wouldn't get caught," he paused before continuing, "Although I am in no way endorsing speeding or trying to out-run traffic cameras." He held the front door open for Layla, "A little bird told me that you just turned 17, and I thought you might like to go get your license today. Although learning to pay for tickets is always a good idea."

He gestured to the Pontiac parked by the stairs, "Sadly, it doesn't have smokescreens or machine-guns, but it's fast and gets me from A to B comfortably."

"You are totally not Vibra-Bond," she sniffed. "I'm disappointed. I was totally looking forward to you secretly being like all James Socket and shit. So disappointing!" She threw her arms in the air as if she was really upset, flounced down the stairs and then tried the passenger handle to see if the door was locked. Happily, it wasn't so she hopped inside with a grin. "But dude," she called loud enough that Scott could hear her even before he opened his own door to get in, "I already have my license. Oh, wait, you mean like my real license so I can be all 'fuck you, New York, I can totally drive in the boroughs now, bitches!'? Because, dude, that would be like useful and shit." She eyed him once he was inside. "But I still get cookies, too, right?

"And Pizza." Scott agreed as he shut the door and started up the car. "But did you think of this, if I was James Bond I wouldn't tell you that now would I?" he asked as they pulled out of the mansion, "that would mean it wouldn't be a secret identity anymore. You can get shot for giving away secrets like that."

"Real license, junior, fake license," he continued. "Driving is the most important part." He grinned.

* * * * *

It was basically just paperwork to get done in order to swap Layla's junior license over to a senior one. The Great and Wonderful Vibra-Socket had obviously prepared in advance because he had the signed off stuff from her last foster parents and stuff and the stuff from driver's ed she went to and everything. So once it had actually been her turn it hadn't taken very long to get everything done, get shuffled over to getting her picture taken and her thumbprint and signing her name. When she came out to find Scott again she was beaming.

"Duh-du-duh-dun!" She held out the piece of paper serving as her temporary license proudly. It didn't have the same effect as having the actual card but she would take what she could get. "I am totally official! And I didn't even swear once when I was in there." She stuck her tongue out at him.

Scott looked up from is position leaning on the hood of his car watching the street and laughed. "Congratulations, you're now officially all grown up." He wiped away an imaginary tear, "They grow up so fast," he said with a grin on his face. "Not even one swear? That must be some kind of record."

He nodded to the car, "So pizza first or cookies?" he asked.

"Dude, you cannot violate the scared rules of foodness," she declared emphatically. "Obviously pizza has to come first!"

"You've never had desert before your meal? My god you have no idea what you're missing out on." he answered with a smile.

Scott looked down at the keys in his hand then up at Layla's beaming face, then sighed. "Heads up," he called. "Don't even think about scratching the paint." As he spoke Scott tossed the keys to the teenager.

Layla caught the keys with wide eyes. Because this totally wasn't like just a car. It wasn't even just her teacher's husband's car. This was a really fucking hot car. Like, really, really hot. "Are you serious?" She stared at him with those same wide eyes, but when he didn't immediately say he was kidding or that he'd changed his mind she sprung into motion. It was a bee-line to the Pontiac's driver's side door.

She was sitting with the seat adjusted for her height and her belt on before he even made it into the car. The key was in the ignition but she hadn't turned it yet. Layla was, of course, beaming at him again. "So where you wanna go for pizza? And have I told you that you're like my favorite? You need like a serious upgrade for your nickname now. You're still stuck with Vibra-Socket, but this is like Obi-Wan levels of awesomeness. Like, for real."

Scott blinked in surprise, a little taken back by Layla's speedy rush to the car before shaking his head with a smile and climbing into the car. "Slow down," he laughed as he tried to keep up with Layla's excited chatter, "I can barely keep up with you on a good day."

He considered the question, "Well," he replied. "I'm sure there has to be a good pizza place somewhere in the boroughs. Feel like taking the senior license for a spin?"

The beaming grin that erupted onto Layla's face said all that needed to be said about taking her license for a spin. "I know the most amazing pizza ever in Queens and Manhattan," she told him excitedly as she turned the key in the ignition. "And I promise not to scratch the paint. Because, dude, that would be like a crime or something. She is so pretty."