xp_logs | Scott & Wade | Friday Afternoon (backdated)

Wade and Scott meet up in the Box shortly after Wade's return so the merc can get the lowdown on the frankenberry cat peeps.

Wade had needed a box to carry all the food in after he'd ordered it and it was ready to go. Twelve tacos, four burritos, ten quesadillas, and sixteen churros was a lot. He was pretty sure the people at the taco truck thought he was buying for his whole office.

Little did they know it was just gonna be him and Summers in the Box. Because that was literally the only place he felt was secure enough to discuss the things that needed to be discussed. And even then, he intended to make sure they kept their voices down while everyone else seemed to have sort of settled into this routine - or was at least pretending they had - Wade still wasn't quite sure.

And the last thing he wanted or needed to was make the universe collapse around them. Once was enough for one lifetime.

So he wasn't exactly hiding as he made his way through the mansion, but he also wasn't advertising his presence, either. He straight up snuck past the medlab and to the elevator that went down farther, hoping no one would notice one lone mercenary and his box of Mexican food.

Scott wasn't quite sure how he'd managed it but he'd succeeded in sneaking some cutlery and beer into the Box. Since this was Wade, it was a fair bet that his friend would show up with taco's, so Scott had elected to go Mexican himself when he popped out to the market. Now he was leaning back and nursing his beer when the door swung open to reveal a heavily burdened Wade. "You know, I spend so much time down here, I was thinking about putting up some art. Maybe a picture or two - you know make it feel like home." Scott noted with a smile as he helped divest the older man of some of the food packages. "You think you have enough here?"

"I dunno, I thought you were bringing your own," Wade deadpanned. "So I didn't pick anything up for you." Then he grinned and shrugged. "We'll make due. The Box could use some decorative touches, though. Maybe a fresh coat of paint, a few rugs. A plant or three. I'm sure we could swing that. Probably in the middle of the night, when no one's awake or paying attention." The mercenary grabbed a burrito and opened the packaging to take a bite as he walked back to the door and closed it, making sure it'd latched all the way so they were well and truly sealed in. Then he sat down on the floor near all the food and let himself relax just a little, his shoulders loosening. "So. Gimme the low-down. Who's who, who's where, what's what. New people, old people, new old people."

Scott's mouth edged up into a smile as he dragged his mind away from interior decoration and the picture in the hall he had considered liberating for the Box. "The people, where to start. There are some faces around we haven't seen in a while. Kitty's back, she's not our Kitty, well I guess she is now." Scott shook his head "This gets confusing sometimes, You've probably seen some of the other changes, we had Molly come back from the dead, but Matt... is a new one." Scott said giving Wade a sad look, he knew how close his friend had been to Matt in the past.

"I knew about Molly," Wade said, nodding a little. "And I never knew Kitty, yours or anybody else's. So that's not going to be a problem for me." He skirted around the Matt issue for a moment, stuffing his mouth with burrito instead of dealing with it. He could only stall for so long, though. "New Matt - what's he like? I mean, is it like new Lorna, who's... completely different from old Lorna? Or like new Wanda, who's basically exactly the same as old Wanda but not quite."

"It's..." Scott sighed, "He's different, older than the kid we knew and he's been to college, got his law degree and everything. He's working for Warren now doing something for the company. He'd never been here before but there are certain characteristics that are the same, the way he talks to people and his playing around in the kitchen. It's as if Matt had grown up without ever coming back to the mansion and this is who he could have been."

Wade digested that for a few long moments, not even bothering to take another bite of food to occupy himself. "Any sign of his addiction?"

That took Scott aback and he cocked his head to the side. "No," he ventured. "Nothing I've seen at least. He only comes up for the weekends at the moment, but he's working for a major firm and he seems to have everything in hand."

"Good," Wade said, more a grunt than an actual word. He went back to eating his lunch, almost brooding over it before he finally asked, "Anybody else? New people to look out for?"

Scott followed Wade's example taking a bite of his food before reaching over and silently passing the man a beer. "A couple," he admitted hesitantly. "The big one I guess is Jean, well a new Jean."

"Shit," Wade said, his own issues momentarily set aside as he looked up and caught Scott's eyes with his own. "Man, are you okay? That..." The merc didn't have the fondest memories of the last version of Jean that he'd seen - at one point, she'd been literally flaying the skin off his friends and then scrambling Logan's brain with his own claw. But this was Scott's wife. From what little the other man had said before the world ended, there'd been some kind of heavy-duty psychic thing between them - the details hadn't really stuck for Wade, but he knew it was serious stuff.

"I'm... I wasn't," Scott admitted. "Seeing her walk into the room was a real punch to the gut. I mean, I knew that my Jean was dead but then she walked in looking like she was 10 years younger and I had no idea she was coming. I guess I'd gotten used to that," He noted. "Oh, and finding out that she was sleeping with Warren wasn't really a bed of roses, especially since it was part of some scheme of hers to investigate his company. The whole situation was kinda flooring."

"Dude," Wade said, legitimately flabbergasted. "She's sleeping with Warren?" It was like trying to shove a square block into a round hole. His brain just could not compute. "And it was a scheme?" Shaking his head, will obviously bewildered by this new universe and the massive changes it's wrecked on all the new-old people, Wade decided stuffing his face was the best option. Then a thought occurred to him and, mouth still full, he wiggled his fingers at his head and said, "Was there, y'know. The thingie?"

"Was sleeping with him. They had an argument when it turned out he was sleeping with other people at the same time," Scott told Wade. "You probably noticed the tail end of it at Adrienne's party." The younger man shook his head. "There's nothing there anymore Wade, not even the whisper of a sense. Though given some things that might be a blessing."

"Right, right, the theatrics," Wade said, nodding slowly. "I didn't... really realize who it was that was going all hysterical. Was a little busy with the ladybird," he muttered. "Scott, man - I'm sorry. That sucks a lot."

Scott gave Wade a sad smile, "It's what it is, nothing I can do about it now, I've done the wanting to scream and withdraw from the world. I think the Danger Room still has a dent on the floor where Adrienne knocked me on my back, but I'm just gonna have to get used to it and move on aren't I?"

"Yeah, I guess," Wade said, offering Scott a churro. It was a sad, lonely churro, though, so he broke out the chocolate and the white frosting stuff the food truck had given him and slid him across the floor to the other man. "You ever wanna spar, just let me know. I'd be happy to knock you on your ass a few times, if it'd help." Everybody coped differently. But it was still shitty situation of epic proportions for his friend.

The edges of Scott's mouth quirked up slightly. "When did I become the guy who everyone decides to knock onto the ground to show there love," he complained good naturedly. "Whatever happened to people showing their love by showering me with engine parts and cakes. Especially the engine parts."

"Oh, hey, that reminds me," Wade said. "I got you a plane. Or well. It's like. It's an old plane. Basically, a rust bucket. So y'know. When you're not working on the car, you can work on the plane."

"Wait, wait. Say that again. It almost sounded like you bought me a plane."

"That's because I did," Wade said, grabbing another burrito and unwrapping it.

Scott stared at Wade and blinked owlishly. "Well... okay then." He took a bite of his burrito unable to think of anything else to say.

"This is the part," Wade said, amused and not bothering to hide it, "Where people usually say 'thank you.' In case you were wondering."