Jean and Adrienne - Boiler Beach

[x-adrienne.livejournal.com]

Jean and Adrienne decompress after the encounter with Magneto, chatting about the Classic Film Festival, Garrison, clothes, and Jean's bedside manner.

"I'm glad we could take the time to do this," Adrienne smiled, handing Jean a glass of wine as she settled into her lawn chair on Boiler Beach. Not a huge fan of the cold weather, she loved hanging out at the faux beach on days like this, dressed in shorts and a tank top, soaking up the sun after a long day of work. "It's been far too long."

"I think the next time it gets past a month..." Jean said, adjusting her sunglasses as she took the wine glass with a nod of thanks. "One of us should track the other one down and drag her down here, regardless of protest."

She herself wore a yellow summery dress that had a soft metallic shimmer in the light and a pair of flip flops to go with the beachy theme.

"I keep meaning to try to ask Scott to come but if I can't even make the time to do it myself I don't really think it fair to force him..."

"I like the dragging plan," Adrienne agreed with a smirk, sipping her wine, "but yeah, it may not work so well with your husband. He seems pretty busy with training the students lately. Which of course is a very important job and all that, I suppose." she shrugged. "Still, I hope the two of you can manage to take a couple days off at the end of April?" she asked hopefully. "I've been meaning to ask you for ages now, but I've been looking into taking my shiny new ward to Hollywood for the Classic Film Festival, and I thought maybe you and Scott might like to join in?"

"As a wise blue elf once told me....sometimes you need to take breaks," Jean said, slipping out of her flip flops to curl her toes in the sand. She smiled.

"I'd love to join you. I'll have to ask Scott, see if he's free. Hopefully we aren't liberating a country around that time."

Adrienne had to laugh at that. "Yeah, or rescuing friends from being New Son guinea pigs. Or rescuing girls from life-sucking demons their fathers sacrifice them to. Especially if they end up as your ward after. I'm so not doing that again. I mean, how did that even happen to me?" she muttered, shaking her head. "I think I was drugged. Somehow I was fed LSD and that's how this happened. Had to be. Now I'm living with a teenage girl, having to sneak off to Garrison's room to have sex, and there are clothes everywhere, and they're really nice clothes but I can't wear any of them- even if I could, by some miracle, fit into them- because I'm too old for them!"

And now it was Jean's turn to laugh, and it was a generous, hearty one, punctuated with a wince at the end. "Oh!" she said, covering her eyes. "Gah I really did not want that mental image of you and Gar."

She shook her head. "Well at least maybe the clothes give you some inspiration?" she said.

It sounded like she was happy, though, despite it all. And that made Jean happy.

Adrienne laughed at Jean's wince. "Sorry," she mumbled, but in a tone that told Jean she probably wasn't all that sorry. "We shall not speak of it again," she smirked. "And I shall use my mental shields vigorously, since now I'm thinking about it." She sipped at her wine and struggled to get her brain out of the gutter. "The clothes are a great inspiration, yes! Actually, I'm in the middle of buying into the District X clothing shop and becoming Warren's partner," she admitted with a proud grin. "I'm in negotiations with Veronica Eisen, the current designer-in-residence, to establish my own line that would run as a counterpoint to what she works on. She does a lot of workwear and some formalwear, but not so much shoes. And since my former line did a lot of activewear, we're working out a business plan to get into that market."

"I probably should've learned long ago to keep my own shields up a little stronger around you," Jean mused, clutching the rim of the glass of wine lazily from her fingertips.

"There were clothes, then there weren't, then something with maple syrup..." She was kidding about the last part. Mostly.

"So is the clothing going to be adapted for mutations?" There were so many but there were some that could have a streamlined set. A shirt for those with wings, for example.

Since there had been maple syrup on one occasion- purely as an homage to a topic of discussion at their first meeting- Adrienne very nearly blushed before she remembered she had nothing to be embarrassed about. Instead she just chuckled and picked up a bowl of fruit she'd brought with her, to go with the wine. She nodded in response to Jean's question. "We have a lot of off-the-rack items for more... typical mutations," she explained, "such as tails and wings, and items with specialized fabric for mutations that affect skin. But everything and anything can be bespoke, as well. I've been undertaking some reinforced shoes lately, for example. Why?" she inquired teasingly. "Are you planning on growing wings? Or a tail?"

"Curious, mostly," Jean said. She closed her eyes, leaning her head back to feel the warmth of the "sun" against her face.

"I think it's a great thing. Kurt and I once visited one of the stores in District X....guy fawned all over him. It's nice to see more options being made available for those with physical mutations."

Adrienne nodded in agreement, copying Jean's movement of leaning back in her chair to absorb the sun. "I just wish it was a lucrative enough business for mass consumption. Of course," she amended, "if we had to deal with mass consumption we'd also have to deal with a lot more competition in the market, I'm sure. So there's something to be said for staying 'niche'," she said, using air-quotes. "I have world domination plans that begin with expanding to other cities with very heavy mutant populations," she confessed, including an evil cackle to turn the statement into a joke, even though she wasn't quite joking.

Jean laughed, the impassive look of the sunglasses looking stark with the grin on her lips. "That's one type of world domination I would be glad to root for," she said, then paused, pulling her sunglasses down.

"But if you go evil we may have to have a talk," she said, smirking.

"No worries there," Adrienne responded emphatically. "Even pretending to have joined Creepy Erik's Band of Merry Murderers in the South Pacific, having Garrison think I had, made me hate myself. I don't think I could be evil for real anymore. Which I'm sure is a disappointment to no one." She went to bring her wine glass up to her lips when she appeared to freeze. A moment later, the glass slipped from her hand, spilling the small amount that was left in her lap as it hit the sand. "Shit! Sorry!" she exclaimed to Jean, though she was hoping Jean was too far away to be affected. "Fucking hand-coating substance," she muttered angrily, rubbing her hands together. "I think I'm developing a tolerance for it. It doesn't work that great anymore."

Jean uncurled, having immediately backed away following the flying splash of wine. The glass, however, had been saved by Jean's better-than-average reflexes and floated just above the ground. It came to rest back on the table. She tilted her head.

"Is this the first time this has happened?" she said.

Adrienne was drawn to the sight of the wineglass hovering and being returned to the table, not used to seeing Jean using her telekinesis too often. "Cool," she mumbled, not realizing Jean had asked her a question until a few moments later. "Uhh, what? Well, with the hand-coating substance, yeah," she answered. "But for most of my teens and twenties, even early into my thirties, it happened a lot. Wearing gloves, even. I didn't have a lot of control over my powers until I came to live here and started learning meditation and things like that. I don't know," she shrugged, "maybe the shipwreck messed with my... zen or something. No big deal. I just might have to go back to wearing gloves again." She wrinkled her nose at that thought. "And, y'know, never let Garrison take me on a trip again," she smirked.

Pulling her sunglasses to rest on her head, Jean resisted the urge not to go in doctor mode and channeled that urge into her own glass of wine, taking a long sip.

"I don't think any of us would've expected to find Erik there."

She let out a breath, then slid her toes out of the sand, shaking away the memory.

"I wouldn't really blame Garrison. I think all of us have suffered from the trip-gone-wrong at one time or another." She paused.

"I think we should fire our travel agent."

Glancing over, she studied her. "I'd like to maybe do a checkup, rule out any possible problems. Changes in body chemistry, etc."

"If you want me to take my clothes off for you, you don't need to pretend it's for medical reasons," Adrienne teased, though she was actually very grateful for Jean's concern. It took her a moment to realize that she wasn't with the Brotherhood anymore, though, and could drop the tough facade. "I mean, thanks. You're a good friend. And a damn fine doctor." She poured herself another glass of wine and held out the bottle to Jean, offering to top up the redhead's. "Do you ever wonder if the Professor initiates these... capers... y'know, the kidnappings, the attacks, those sorts of things, whenever we leave the mansion because he doesn't want us to leave the mansion?"

"No," Jean said simply, then nodded to the offer of more wine. She'd never turn down that one.

"I just think the world is insane and we happen to have a front row seat for that craziness because we try to stem the tide."

She smiled after a moment. "And thanks, about the friend and doctor thing. You may change your mind, though, if you ever have to stay with me for an extended period. People try to escape me all the time," she mused, mostly joking. You'd think she were imprisoning them. But people were never really that happy to see her when they were sick. She knew it wasn't her but they had to have some way to deal with the fact that they were covered in bandages and sporting an IV.

Adrienne nodded wryly in agreement at Jean's comment about the world being insane, saluting the statement with a tip of the wine glass in her hand towards Jean after she'd poured her friend a second glass. Her mention of people escaping made Adrienne chuckle. "Not me! I would never try to escape. I'm not like Vee, or the others. I like being looked after... in certain circumstances," she added with a shrug. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I can do the whole 'independent woman who takes care of herself' thing, Girl Power and all that. But I'm not silly enough to go against what people smarter than me are recommending for my best interests. Besides, couldn't you use your powers to make me think I was a toad or something if I try to escape?" she grinned.

Jean's smile faded at mention of Vanessa and she glanced away, absentmindedly rubbing the two red, bruised lines around her throat left from Erik's attack. She tried to put any troubled thoughts out of her mind. Dwelling on the past did nothing.

She smirked. "I could, but I only do that to the people who deserve it," she said, then took a sip of her wine.

"Seriously...I don't understand why everyone tries it. Am I that bad? You'd tell me right?"

"Sorry," Adrienne mumbled in reference to her Vanessa quip when she saw Jean's discomfort, wincing. She had no idea what had happened with Vanessa in the medlab was still an issue between her two friends. "Of course I'd tell you! And of course you're not bad! Please don't turn me into a frog," she added quickly, hands raised defensively. "You're awesome. And I'm definitely going to come visit you for a check-up. I swear. Psychologists are the only doctors I avoid, really." She paused and frowned. "Wait, there's a joke in there somewhere about check-ups and STDs, but I don't want to make it about myself, so I'm just going to shut up now."

Quirking a brow, Jean left that one alone save for a huge grin that disappeared into her wine glass. As for the other part...

"It's okay," Jean shook her head. She didn't want to go into it herself. It had been a year, maybe more since she'd seen her. Perhaps it was for the best.

She shrugged. "Do you think you deserve to be turned into a frog?"

"Uhh..." Adrienne looked skyward innocently. "No, of course not. I guess I just have a guilty conscience, what with the whole 'pretending to join the Brotherhood' thing. But no," she decided, "if you made me think I was a frog I'd be so confused about screaming when I saw myself. So I'll pass. Thanks." She stretched out in her chair. "I can't face Garrison," she admitted. "I'm worried he won't understand why I did it. And I feel awful we didn't capture Magneto." She winced at the bruises on Jean's neck. "Especially after what he did to you guys."

"Why do you think he won't understand?" Jean said, then shook her head.

"You don't know what he's thinking. If he is mad? Explain yourself. You did what you had to do. I understand, and I'm sure the others do too. If you hadn't, we wouldn't have been able to rescue you and New York, along with a few places, would probably be a crater."

She reached over to squeeze her hand. "He loves you, Adri. I know you're scared, since you two finally got back together after all that happened, but you can't let yourself dwell in possibility and not truth. Talk to him."

Adrienne's eyes went wide when Jean mentioned the L word, and she sat with her mouth open for a few moments, still holding Jean's hand, unable to form words. "Craters. Right," she finally mumbled. "Yeah. You're right. You're very right. I did do what I had to do. I wouldn't change it, and without me New York would be a crater. So screw him if he's mad. But he might not be. I don't know. So I'll have to find out." But Jean was right, she was scared after all that had happened between them. "You could give Yoda a run for his money, you know that?"

Jean laughed. "I think I'm a little too tall, but thanks," she said, then shrugged.

"He wouldn't bother if he didn't care about you. But he's had a really crappy time lately...Just, don't let your worries, or your temper, control how you react," she said with a wry smile. "I have a little bit of experience with how well that turns out. Be patient. You're both kind of stubborn."

She grinned. "In a loveable way, of course."

"Right back atcha," Adrienne chuckled, holding out her glass to Jean for a toast.

Smirking, Jean toasted her back, then closed her eyes and went back to listening to the waves.