Log: Warren and Scott

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Scott checks up on Warren after his meeting with the Profesor

The last breath of winter still grasped at the evening's air, bringing with it a faint chill that struck Scott as the stepped out of the door and sucking in a breath of fresh air. Sentinels, Warren and Jean and Stryker, having to save the world all over again. It was all so familiar, but it was all still so different;

It appeared Scott wasn't the only one who had needed to step outside to clear his head he realized as he spotted a familiar looking blonde man leaning against a balustrade staring wordlessly over the grounds."Quite a night huh?" he asked as he crossed to lean next to Warren.

Warren gave a shuddering nod, not trusting himself to speak. The day's events were a whirlwind and he still wasn't sure what exactly was done or said.

He'd gathered from the meeting that this Scott was an important person, a leader for this group. The same said group helped embody ideals for which he hadn't realized were necessary.  High society didn't air their dirty laundry. At least, not unless there was something to gain.

"I don't think I can breathe," he said suddenly, gasping for air. He frantically reached up and started loosening his tie, just in time for him to dry heave over the rail.

Scott reached out and grabbed Warren's shoulder rubbing the man's back, "Just relax and listen to my voice," he said as comfortingly as he could, "It's ok, we've dealt with things like this before, we're very good at what we do and can take care of all of this without any fuss. You're in good hands."

Again, he simply nodded, doing his best to calm down. The other man was very calming, but it was hard to stop thinking enough to relax.

Warren didn't know how long it was before he felt he could breathe again without losing it. "Thank you," he murmured straightening up. "It's been a long day."

"I bet," Scott gave Warren's back one last rub before he went back to leaning on the balustrade, ""It gets to everyone the first time, what we're doing here what we're up against. I've been doing this all my life and I still sometimes it still wakes me up in the middle of the night." The X-man confessed.

Warren gave him a surprised look.  "Your whole life?"  He shook his head.  "I feel as if I just discovered my entire life was a lie and now that I know these things, I can no longer feign ignorance.  How many times did I perpetrate this, without even noticing? How many times did I look the other way?"  It was distressing actually, to skim through one's life memories and see things with a different point of view.  "I can't reveal myself though.  I can't.  I have employees, people, families, who rely on me to ensure they stay employed."  And that was a whole other topic.  "The world isn't ready for a ...<i> mutant </i> CEO."

That was also strange -- being able to say the word and have it relate to him with no worries.  Maybe the more he said it, the easier it'd get.

"Yeah, I've been here all my life, well it seems like that. Ever since Charles rescued me from teh orphanage, fighting the good fight ever since. Nobody is asking you to come out and declare yourself a mutant publicly," Scott replied as he turned to nod at the mansion, "No-one here does. That's suicidal and the last thing anyone would want. All of us here, we want some semblance of normality, want to be able to go out into town without the sidelong stares, the whispers and crowd turning against us. That's why we're here, to give people that place they can go where they can just be themselves, where they can be normal." Scott paused and shrugged, "Honestly, sanctuary, someone you don't have to hide who you are for fear of discovery." He nodded at Warren, "You have people here you don't have to hide or be careful around so out there, in front of your employees, for your employees you can keep on doing what you were doing. Being the same person."

Warren nodded slowly.  It all made sense, but it was still odd.  "It's hard to have this all thrown at me. I don't know what I'm saying, and I apologize that it seems to have fallen on you to deal with me."  Taking a few deep breaths, he sighed.  "So.  What's expected of me?  I continue to act like nothing has happened, get as much information from my father, and keep an eye on things. This feels strange."

Scott shook his head, "Nothing like that, we don't expect anything like that. You've come here, you've warned us about hte threat, that's enough, no body," Scott shot a glance back at the mansion, "expects you to do that. To spy on your father. That's more than anyone can ask of you. What you do from here is entirely up to you, if you want to pass us information then we'd happily accept it. But if you'd rather not get involved then no-one here would blame you either. It's family," Scott shook his head and smiled, "Remind me to tell you about my messed up family history sometimes. If there's one thing we stand for here it's choice Warren, you get to make any choice oyu want and we'll all respect it."

"No. I need to do this."  He straightened up and turned towards Scott.  "I brought the information, and I need to follow this through."  A flash of red hair caught his attention, and he realized he could see into the study where Charles and Jean were.

He hated how his body reacted at the sight of her.

"That's a lie. She found the information. Came into my life, and turned it upside down."    He had a flat affect when mentioning her, almost as if he was devoid of any emotion.  It had been a long day.

Scott followed Warren's gaze back to the window and the redhead behind it, "She has that effect on people, turning their lives completely upside down," he agreed in a flat voice his hand unconsciously clenching on the balustrade before he forced himself to look away. "I guess we all did that to you today huh?"

"She started it," he replied childishly. Warren gave Scott a curious look. "I take it from the tone of your voice,you too have fallen prey to the ingenue who wasn't.". He cleared his throat. "Am I not not the first to be brought this way?"

"I..." Xorn's warning echoed through Scott's mind, "No, you're the first person Jean's brought to us like this. I...it's a little complicated. There was an incident with the Astral plane where I lost someone very special to me. Jean just reminds me of her so much."

Astral plane? Warren didn't even want to ask. "Well, no offense to who you lost, but Jean only looks innocent. She's trouble, that one. Smart, beautiful." A sigh. "Passionate. Eloquent."

Okay, he needed to get off this train of thought.  "Anyways. Trouble.". He shifted his attention to Scott. "I do appreciate you coming after me. I feel as if I can breathe again."

"The least I could do," Scott replied, "I mean you came all the way out here and agreed to help us. Like I said, I know just how overwhelming all this is."

"It's not just you, right?  I think the ..Professor, he alluded to it being a team effort.  How do you guys do all that, with the world being the way it is?  I bet none of you are registered," he commented off-handly, in an almost awed voice.  If he was a public mutant, he'd have to register, of that there would be no doubt. And he didn't like that idea.

Scott nodded slowly, "There are a team of us," he allowed, "An no, none of us are registered. We try to stay out of the public spotlight as much as possible. Our main concern is helping people, mutants who are in trouble, or people who are troubled by mutants. The professor believes that a peaceful coexistence is possible, that's been his driving goal all his life.But there are people who abuse power, whether mutant or not, they're who we're here to stop."

Another slow nod.  This was so much to process, but Warren was finding Scott much more approachable and easier to talk than others. "How do you recruit people then if you're not a public group?"

"Honestly? Mostly things like this," Scott admitted with a wry smile, "We go out and help people and get involved in issues and offer them a place at the mansion. Sometimes they come and sometimes they stay, like I said choice is important. The life here is too difficult and dangerous for it to be any other way. We all just kinda stumble into this one way or the other."

There wasn't much he could say.  Turning back towards the railing, he peered out onto the grounds, his breath warm against the air.  The cold didn't bother him, never had, and in a way, it was refreshing.  He wondered idly if he should let his vigilante friends know about this. Daredevil and the Spiders. Maybe he'd give it a bit more time. See how they were. He'd already felt he could trust them, but this..this was huge. "Well, I guess we all need to stumble before we learn to walk," Warren finally replied.  "But it's good to be supported at the same time."