Adrienne and Scott; Chess Beer and Other Things (Backdated to June 23rd)

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Scott stops by Adrienne's suite bearing gifts and they talk over a game of chess.

Scott carefully balanced the beer on top of the chess board in his hands as he stared at the door in front of him. Adrienne had seemed off during their last e-mail conversation so he had decided to stop by and check on her. At least that had been the original plan, now as he stood here he felt some of his confidence draining away. Shaking his head Scott took a deep breath and stepped up to the door raising his hand to knock on it.
   
Adrienne hadn't had many visitors come knocking lately. Or maybe she had, but her time at the mansion had been so erratic after first getting back from Genosha she wouldn't have known it. Her schedule had become more regular lately, though, with her days being spent at XFI and most of her evenings spent back here in her suite, so she must have been easier to track down. But who was tracking her down? Normally she would just shout that the door was open, but since she wasn't expecting anyone, she went to the door herself. "H-hey," she sputtered, a little taken aback to see Scott on the other side. She took in the beer and chess board with a raised eyebrow.
   
Scott hefted the chess board in Adrienne's direction, "I'm getting a little rusty," he said by way of explanation, "figured you might be up for a game." Well, at least she didn't seem to be in the mood to throw things at him, after the e-mail exchange they'd had it was quite a relief. He held up the beer and offered the six pack to Adrienne, "I thought you might enjoy these too, just a chance to sit back play and relax. You've been bouncing around a lot recently and could probably use to break."
   
Adrienne eyed him skeptically for another moment, but then relented. "C'mon in. You know, I admire you, Scott. It takes a brave man to offer to play chess against a Frost without fear of running away in tears, trying to piece together his shattered confidence from the bone-crushing defeat. A very brave man." She cleared some case notes from an investigation she was working on off the coffee table to make a space for the board and moved a chair up to it, across from the couch. "You want a glass for your beer?"
   
Scott settled into the chair and nodded at Adrienne, "A glass would be great please." he said as he started setting up the chessboard. "You know, I think I'll take my chances," he continued with a grin, "I do have a small modicum of skill at this you know. I mean how can be playing a Frost?" he asked lightly, "It's not like you have a genetic predisposition to being a grandmaster." He stopped and stared at her curiously, "You don't have a genetic predisposition do you?" He glanced down at the board, "White or Black?"
   
Adrienne returned from the kitchenette with two glasses and took a white pawn and a black pawn in each palm, then put them behind her back, switched them around a few times until even she didn't know which one was in which hand, and held her fists out to Scott. "Your pick," she urged. "Also, I'm fairly certain I may have a genetic predisposition. But I suppose we'll soon find out. For your sake, I won't even use my powers," she grinned
   
   
"Thanks," Scott smiled as he reached out and tapped Adrienne's left hand before leaning back in his chair and opening one of the beer cans to pour into Adrienne's glass before preforming the same to his own. Pushing her glass over to her Scott took a sip of his drink before he replying to the woman. "That's very kind of you, although I'm starting to think I should have dragged Charles in here with me."
   
"Ahh, so you <i>are</i> getting nervous about facing me on the field of battle?" Adrienne joked, handing him the pawn in the hand he'd tapped- the white one- and sat down on the couch. Sipping her beer, she gave him a rueful smirk. "Don't worry, I'll play fair. Charles won't be necessary to keep tabs on me." The smile faded. "I won't use kids in the battle this time, either."
   
Scott opened up the game with his first move as he glanced up at Adrienne in worry, "I wouldn't put it past you to be able to find a way to befuddle Charles," he pointed out. "Well that or bribe him to help you beat me, I mean you are going to need every advantage you need." he returned with a smile before he continued softly. "Use the kids? Adrienne, you never did use them in battle or even encouraged them to fight."
   
"No, I'm just the reason they were there in the first place," Adrienne muttered as she made a move of her own. She was bristling about his bribing-of-Charles quip, as well, but closed her eyes, took a couple deep breaths, and pushed it away.
  
  
"You can't blame yourself for that, none of us saw it coming," Scott pointed out. "It's my job to plan for these threats, to be the one who has the plan ready; I'm the one who screwed up. All you did was go to a mutant rights rally, we all thought that was a good idea."
  
"How do you deal with it?" Adrienne asked him, sipping her beer. "If you're really the one who screwed up? I mean, people keep telling me I can't blame myself, but  how do you just... not?"
  
Scott leaned back and cast a sad look over at Adrienne, "You can't, no matter what people tell you there is always a part of you that knows that it was your fault." For a moment the mask covering Scott's emotions slipped letting Adrienne glimpse the sincerity and anguish behind his words. "You just, have to promise to do better next time and stop worrying about the past. Or have friends willing to help pull you out of the funk."
  
Adrienne huffed out a breath that was half annoyed, half accepting. "It still sucks," she muttered, "but I suppose I'll take the second option. Thanks for doing this," she said with a smile, gesturing to the chess board and beer. "Kicking someone's ass at chess is a great way to get out of my funk." Wanting to change the subject, she switched tracks. "So how are things between you and Jean?"
  
"We're doing...better, thanks" Scott replied grateful for the change in subject. "Genosha reminded us what was important. That some things were worth holding onto no matter what happens. It's nice to have her back." Scott admitted as he pushed a piece long the board. "Besides, I thought hte whole subject of who was kicking whose ass was still up in the air."
  
"It's only up in the air because you're holding on to false hope," Adrienne pointed out with a smirk, countering his move. She'd set her rook up to be taken, but if things went according to plan it would benefit her in about four moves. "That's really good... you and Jean, I mean. It's good to know that at least <i>something</i>... positive... came out of Genosha, you know?"
  
"I know," Scott replied somberly, "there has to be some silver lining to hold onto. in this whole thing." He shook his head and flashed a weak grin at Adrienne, obviously trying to change the subject onto a less painful topic. "We've met gods and fought demons, as well as you know having <i>super powers</i>. I think beating a Frost at chess might just be within the realms of possibility." He ignored her rook, instead moving his bishop forward to set up an attack down the line.
  
"You've obviously never played a Frost before," Adrienne snorted, adjusting her strategy when he didn't bite on the previous one. "But hey, maybe today will be your lucky day. The other Frost does beat me on a semi-regular basis. Of course, telepath," she added with a wrinkle of her nose, "so, y'know, I don't hold my breath about beating her. In other words, at least you picked the Frost you actually might have a chance at beating." She took a swig of beer and countered his move. "Of course, even without the telepathy I'd be inclined to just <i>let</i> her win so she doesn't grind me into a pulp with her shoe." She wasn't sure if Scott knew her sister or not, but if he didn't, Adrienne hoped she was giving him an accurate picture of Emma's personality. After all, what were sisters for?
 
"You think I challenged you by mistake?" Scott asked quirking an eyebrow. "Telepaths are always a pain to play against, the Professor claims he doesn't use his powers but nobody wins that consistantly unless their cheating. Well that is unless he actually is that good, he has been playing for a while; longer than most of us have been alive truth be told." Scott looked at Adrienne curiously, "Emma would really grind you into a pulp with her shoe? The blood would ruin the shoe wouldn't it...although with the amount of white she wears she's probably discovered how to keep whites white." He grinned at Adrienne, "Is that the secret of the Frost fortune?"
 
"Most certainly," Adrienne grinned. "Although, it's more about discovering the world's greatest dry cleaner who can keep whites white, since I don't believe Emma's ever done her own laundering. But no, she wouldn't really grind me into a pulp with her shoe." She was still grinning. "At least, I can't think of anything I'd do to her to warrant that happening anymore. You have a brother, right?" Adrienne had never met him, but she'd heard Scott had a brother. "Do you ever want to grind him into a pulp with your shoe?"
 
"Would I want to grind Alex into a pulp with my shoe? Nah probably not," Scott replied echoing Adrienne's grin. "His surfboard, my fist any handy piece of furniture, well maybe. Depends on how he's acting at the time. My family doesn't really have the best history of family relationships."
 
"We'll have to try and one-up each other with horrible family relationship stories sometime," Adrienne replied with a smirk. "Some day when I'm more drunk. I'm starting to think that everyone thinks their family relationships could be better, though," she shrugged. "I mean, I don't know a lot of people who <i>don't</i> want to throttle their siblings every once and a while. So how did your brother turn into a surfer and you turned into... you?" she asked to change the topic again. "I mean, is that uptight older sibling versus rebellious younger sibling syndrome? Or are you a closeted surf bum like your brother, just hiding your inner... bum-ness?"
 
Scott laughed, you say that like being me is so bad." he teased as he took a sip of his drink. "I honestly don't know, I hadn't seen Alex for years, not until he got involved in the mansion." Scott shrugged, "I ended up stuck in the system till Charles found me, I was apparently 'unadoptable' cause of the brain damage. He got adopted and then ran off to Hawaii when his powers manifested." He looked over at Adrienne with a grin, "He decided to be a surf bum and get his adrenaline rush catching a wave, me I get my rush off speed. Cars, bikes and planes it doesn't matter, faster is better. What about you and Emma hwo did she turn into her and you're you?"
 
Adrienne had to think about that one for a moment. "I'm not too sure, really," she finally said, studying the chess board intently. Oh, she had theories, sure. Beginning with the asylum on Emma's part and the habitual abuse on her own. But she didn't want to share them with Scott, feeling like she owed it to Emma to keep Emma's past private. "But you can bet shoes would factor in at some point," she smirked, then went back to a safer topic. "How do you get an adrenaline rush off a plane, exactly? I mean, I get the car and the bike, because you can feel the wind in your hair, but like, an airplane? Seems a little weak to me."
 
"Are you kidding?" Scott asked with a smile. "Why do you think it is that the most commonly sought power is flight. Since we first saw birds, from Leonardo through to the Wright Brothers man has always wanted to fly. The sense of freedom you get when you're up there in the big blue sky, not another person in sight or anything. Just clear blue sky and all the speed and freedom you want. There really is nothing like it."
 
"Well, yeah, but that's different than being in an <i>airplane</i>," Adrienne countered good-naturedly. "You don't get all the speed and freedom you want in an airplane. Actual <i>flying,</i> like going up with a flier like Beaubier or Worthington? I'd take that any day of the week. But sitting in a tin can with no leg room and a bunch of screaming kids and entitled jackasses asking for extra peanuts?" She was just bugging him with semantics, of course, as she knew he was talking about a plane like the X-jet and not a commercial airliner, but it was fun to needle him.
 
"You have no soul Adrienne," Scott complained with a smile, "I pilot the airplane, I don't go as a passenger; at least not if I can help it." He looked at her askew, "When was the last time you flew coach anyway? Business class is much more comfortable. Beside do you remember flying with Warren or Jean-Paul? You're hair gets all messed up and the wind? It's freezing. I think I'll take the warmth and comfort of a sealed environment thank you. And I hate not having control when I'm in the air," he admitted with a self-deprecating laugh.
 
"I fly coach," Adrienne snorted. "Now that I'm broke I do, anyway. And since when do you care about your hair getting messed up, or being cold? That's why you put your hair in a braid! And wear a jacket. It's the same as being on the bike. Wow." This was a very surprising conversation. Who'd have thought Scott Summers would be more high-maintenance than Adrienne Frost? "I never really pictured you as a warmth and comfort kinda guy, Summers. You getting old or something?"

"Older than I'd care to admit, I look at all these kids we have here now.  Making the same mistakes we did, making mistakes we can see coming and yeah, I feel old." Scott chuckled, "I will admit, I do complain about not being the man behind the stick more than anything. Flying the blackbird has spoiled me a little. I'll take any of your little fliers and challenge them to match my girl's speed." 

"Wow, I went to a really dirty place in my head when you said that thing about not being the man behind the stick," Adrienne snorted. She took another pull on her beer. "I'm not going to pit a flier against the Blackbird, but I'll pit my bike against yours any day, old man."

Scott couldn't help but let out a laugh, "You'd pit your, admittedly nice, Kawasaki against my heavily customized super bike? Time and place little girl. Loser buys dinner?"

"You're on," Adrienne grinned. She was less confident about beating him in a bike race than she was at beating him at chess, but it would still be fun. "Just remember for when I win, I'm a vegetarian."