xp_logs | Sue and Maddie: Valentine's Day

It's a belated Valentine's Day celebration and a break from the Mansion Drama.

The weather was still unreasonably cold, it was the kind of weather that frosted your breath as soon as it left your mouth. The kinda of weather that made you want to curl up in bed with a hot drink and just wrap yourself up in your blankets and never leave. But those brave few who dared to venture out into the cold were rewarded with a world that seemed almost empty. Sue looked around the ice rink and noted the 3 other couples slowly skating around with a smile as she spun around happily. "You'd never be this alone at the mansion, well like ever," she noted as she came to a stop next to Maddie.

Maddie eyed the six other people circling around them, and smiled; they were in their own little worlds, totally uninterested in anyone and anything else. As much as she loathed the cold, she was grateful that Sue dragged her out and onto the ice at the local park. Sure she was a little shaky and the ice was bumpy in places, but it felt good to be out and gliding along; maybe not as fast as she normally would, but given that she was only recently fully de-casted, the redhead wasn't gonna beat herself up over a little wobble.

"Yeah," she said. "Hard to believe how many people there are sometimes." With new faces popping up all the time, it seemed. "At least it's never dull. Admit it though," she smiled wryly, "it's still a lot better than living in a crowded dorm. I've seen some of them, communal showers, teeny tiny rooms, and no plane in the basement."

Sue shuddered, "Anything is better than communal showers," she pointed out with a grin, "Although I'm not sure having a plane in the basement counts as a positive or not. Just think about the noise it makes when it takes off and lands, it makes it so hard to sleep or study or you know concentrate on anything," the blonde noted as she skated closer to Maddie's side. "You're right," she allowed, "It's never boring, but you're never alone either. Makes it hard to just be alone with someone," Sue smiled at Maddie as she slipped her hand into her girlfriend's.

Maddie gave the blonde's hand a small squeeze, smiling warmly in return. She knew exactly what Sue meant; even alone in her room she was cognizant of the fact that Hope was on the other side of the suite. And it wasn't just the telepathy either. Xavier's buzzed with energy. "At least even with our busy schedules we can still hang out in the evenings? Not like we have to drive home after studying in the library."

"On the other hand at least you're kinda alone when you're driving," Sue pointed out as she grinned at Maddie, "And you have all those wonderful opportunities to get lost or stop on the way home if you feel like it." Sue loved it at Xavier's, but sometimes the atmosphere just felt oppressive there.

The redhead smiled wryly. "Are you suggesting, Ms. Storm, that we get ourselves horribly lost? After stopping for hot chocolate, of course."

"Would I suggest anything like that Ms Pryor?" Sue asked trying to keep an innocent look on her face as she smiled at Maddie, "It's just that, I don't think I can remember the way home."

"As long as we stop for something warm before you lose your way." Maddie was stifling her giggles, but just barely. She knew that look, and it was far from innocent. And while the exact details of Sue's plans were unknown to her, if they were anything like what she was thinking (which really, making out was way tame compared to other things she could be thinking)... Well let's just say that the flush on her cheeks wasn't completely due to the cold.

"I'm freezing! And my nose is cold."

"Something warm? Are you sure? Cause I was totally thinking of going for some ice-cream after this," Sue teased with a wicked grin on her face, "Or perhaps a slushie, something nice and cold." Pulling the redhead to a halt Sue pulled Maddie around and skated a little closer so she could examine her girlfriend's face, "You do look a little flushed, and your poor nose is prety red," she told Maddie before she leaned in and kissed her on the nose in question.

With a happy almost dopey smile, the redhead angled herself in until her lips pressed against Sue's. "I'm cold," she said softly. They had been out there for awhile, and even with all the moving around it was impossible to not feel the cold. "Please?"

"It is getting kinda cold now, I guess I just lost track of the time," Sue admitted giving Maddie's hand a quick squeeze and echoing the dopey look back at the other girl. "Maybe that hot chocolate would be kinda nice."

"We still have plenty of time to get lost before we really need to be back though, right?" Maddie sounded hopeful, excited.

"Loads of time," Sue confirmed with a grin, "I mean it's still early and we've got the rest of the rest of the night to get lost in before we need to go discover where we are again."

"Good." The redhead was beaming. An afternoon with Sue away from the mansion was, in her mind, the perfect way to celebrate Valentine's Day, even though the 14th had been the day before. "Cause there is no one else I would rather get lost with."

"By the way," she asked as the two glided toward the edge, hand-in-hand. "Where did you get all of those pictures? And how? I don't remember having half of them taken." Maddie nudged her girlfriend and gave her hand a squeeze. "Do you have hidden cameras all rigged up?'

"Better," Sue grinned over at Maddie, "I have an Angel, and she has all the photos. I'm not joking, she actually has photos of just about everything good that's happened at the mansion. But what about you? When did you find time to finish it, on top of everything else?"

Maddie shrugged and plopped down on the nearby bench where their shoes waited for the return of their owners. "While you and Clint are busy doing your mad scientist robotics work," she said as she began to unlace her skates. "I couldn't really run or practice my tumbling. So I just went to the Boat House and painted." Glancing over at Sue, the redhead smiled. Truthfully, she had been terrified that her painting would be ill-received, or at least a lukewarm reception. Not really being in the habit of gifting art she did on her own, or any art really except for those elementary school crafts you made to give to your mom, Maddie wasn't quite sure why she decided to give this one away. Perhaps it was because she was quite proud of the painting, it had turned out far better than she originally expected. Especially as its had started out with her just playing around, trying to do something different.

"I'm glad you like it."

"It's beautiful Mads, I love it," Sue assured her girlfriend with a smile as she settled on the bench to unlace her own skates. The blonde knew the other girl was in art class at the high school and liked to spend time at the boathouse, but she'd never seen the other girl's artwork, Sue understood how personal someone's artwork could be and had never pried, that's why Maddie's gift was special. It was something personal given to Sue without asking, and that meant everything to her. The blonde's eye's widened as a thought struck her and she looked up at Maddie, "It's kinda funny, on the jewellery and chocolate holiday we both ended up giving one another a home-made gift instead," she remarked with a smile.

Another shrug from the redhead as she worked to unlace her skates and employed brute force to remove them from her feet. She didn't want to show Sue how difficult it had been to figure out what gift to give; jewellery had been out from the start given she couldn't afford anything that didn't look like a complete joke compared to what Sue currently owned, and chocolate just seemed so half-assed and impersonal. Honestly, Maddie had been just a minute away from purchasing some bubble bath (really nice bubble bath, of course) and some ultra-rich lotion to combat that winter dry skin.

"Maybe one day you can hang it in your big fancy office and proudly point out you have a 'Madelyne Jennifer Pryor' original." Maddie's demeanor brightened and she smiled broadly. Even though she doubted she'd become a famous artist (in part due to her lack of interest in pursuing a career in art), but it was still nice to dream. "From her early works. Long before she became famous. And a personal piece, to boot."

"Well no pressure then, you just have to get famous enough that people will be awestruck by my amazing and unique early personal piece," Sue replied with a smile, "Besides, I think I'd prefer early works than later ones," Sue mused, "When you're painting for money you paint for your clients, but early works, they're all about the artist and their vision," she smiled at Maddie, "it makes them special and unique, there's more personal feeling in them."

Overcome with the urge to kiss Sue for being so sweet and supportive, Maddie grabbed the blonde by the lapel of her coat and pulled her in until their lips met. All those worries about kissing in public she had at the beginning of their relationship had long disappeared, but she still wasn't big into PDA. But it was Valentine's Day, and the past week had some bumps in it, and she wanted to kiss Sue. So she did. And if anyone had a problem with it, quite frankly she didn't care.

Sue's eyes widened in surprise as Maddie grabbed her coat, but the blonde's surprise was only fleeting as she closed her eyes and relaxed into the kiss. Her arms slipped around Maddie's waist pulling her girlfriend closer to her. The rest of the world faded into the background, barely even impinging on Sue's consciousness as her world contracted down to the soft feeling of Maddie's lips against hers. As much as she wanted it to the moment couldn't last forever and the rest of the world came flooding back as Sue had to break the kiss to catch her breath. The blonde couldn't hide the sappy smile on her face, nor did she want to, as she leaned forward and rested her forehead against Maddie's. "Hey," Sue smiled at her girlfriend, "Come on, let's go get lost... together."