Scott (as in Summers) and Paige

[x-foliate.livejournal.com]

Scott comes looking for Paige to see if she's all right, given the circumstances. Paige pulls the avoidy act for as long as she can, but has never really been able to lie to him. Present and future leaders of the X-Men do the bonding thing, in short.

Scott poked his head into the stables--his second choice after the library for places most likely to contain Paige on a summer afternoon--and walked the rest of the way inside when he spotted her in Nemesis's stall with brushes and snacks and other instruments of horse-spoiling.

"Afternoon." He smiled. "Got a minute?"

Paige looked up, startled out of her silent thoughts. Not many people came down to the stables other than herself and her brother. There was occasionally Manuel or Amanda as well, or Jono and Angelo, hunting her down, and of course Jamie, who was a regular, but that was about it. She smiled a little, dusting her hands off on her jeans and came up to the wall, leaning over it. “I think I can spare a moment for you, Scott. What can I do you for?”

"With everything that's been going on lately, I'm a little concerned. How are you?"

Paige tilted her head and gave him her trademarked amused with a dash of confused look. “I’m just fine. A little tired, I think I need to start up with regular sleeping habits again, but fine. Why, do you know something I don’t?”

Scott shrugged, expression neutral. "The Professor told me about Sarah's e-mail. It didn't seem like you to keep that secret, Paige. So I thought I'd be a nosy teacher and ask if there's something wrong." Scott smiled ruefully and tapped his sunglasses. "Little bit of experience pretending everything's fine."

“Oh.” Her face fell instantly, all the breath expelling from her in one, long sigh. “Yeah. Guess it’s not. And guess you do.” Paige shrugged, looking away and then back again. “Honestly? I didn’t think she’d do it. And don’t tell me that wasn’t my decision to make, and I was obviously wrong and I’m responsible for those deaths and could have been responsible for Sarah’s as well, okay? I picked up on it already. Smart like that, or something.”

"Wasn't planning on it. I got myself all lectured out at Shinobi last night, and again this morning." Scott shook his head. "I don't need to tell you you screwed up; you can do that yourself. I actually came out here to ask if there's anything I can do to help. You said you aren't sleeping very well?"

A hint of her former smile resurfaced then. “No, I’m sleeping okay. Honest. Or at least, I’m getting better. Nothing worse than usual and all that.” She halted her own rambling with a wave of her hand. “I guess I’m just not pleased with myself, that’s all. My own worst critic or something.”

Scott smiled. "That reminds me of someone." More seriously, he continued. "But the problem with being your own worst critic is that you know your subject matter too well--and you can't leave the room. Easy to lose your perspective that way." He shook his head. "Paige--I've been over this ground before. You're not the first overachieving perfectionist to live here, you know. So here I am. I'm here by myself, class isn't in session, I'm not wearing the X-Men uniform, and I left that stick Logan always wondered about back in my rooms. Between you and me and the horses--no inner critics, no wanting people not to worry--just Paige Guthrie talking to Scott Summers. How are you feeling, really? A friend of yours killed people on purpose."

“Sick to my stomach,” she replied, almost automatically. His words hadn’t unfolded on deaf ears, however; she’d smiled slightly, at what exactly one can guess, and frowned when she’d needed to. Suddenly feeling very tired she rubbed at her eyes, trying to bring some focus back. “Sarah is always bullshitting us. She has been since day one. The whole monster act. Leaving. Killing. Blood, guts, gore. It’s all an act. Or at least, I really thought it was.” She paused, trying to make sense of the thoughts running through her head. “And now, not only has she left, but she killed people. Killed people, Scott! And, I mean, I know that sometimes that has to be done, but never out of revenge. No one has a right to just kill someone, no one has a right to pass that kind of judgement, just out of petty revenge,” she continued, before taking another deep breath, trying to ease the rant into coherence. “I live on eternal optimism. That everything is going to be all right. Stuff like this isn’t good for my view on life.”

"Keep the optimism. It's good for you. Really." Scott adjusted his sunglasses reflexively. "As for the rest . . . I'm not sure what to say, really. What happened happened, and it was a terrible thing, and I wish we had stopped it, but we didn't." He smiled. "I'm . . . glad that's how you feel about it. No, back up. I'm . . . proud, I guess, as if I have the right to be, that you're willing to take the hard ethical stand, whatever happens to your view on life. And I'm glad you were able to talk about it." His smile went wry. "I'm not very good at this kind of conversation either, you might have noticed--it doesn't help that the people I'm closest to have this habit of knowing how I feel before I do. You're a good person, Paige. Don't let yourself tell you otherwise."

Paige couldn’t help but blush and smile at that a little. She’d thought she’d gotten over her hero worship of this man, but obviously not quite. “Thank you. Don’t make it a habit or anything, but I needed this, as much as I’ll deny it on my father’s grave.” Part of her knew that he was probably the only one she would have admitted this too. She couldn’t lie to Scott; he was probably the only person this was true of. She offered him a cheeky grin, just peeking over the stable wall now. “Better watch out, Scott. They’ll be hunting you down to help fill the counsellor role if you keep this up.”

Scott grinned back. "I have a deal with the Professor, actually. He doesn't try to make me teach physics or serve as a guidance counsellor, and I don't make him pay for repairs to the plane more often than I have to." He nodded, more seriously. "I'm just glad I could help. If you ever need a way to vent, I have a very fast motorcycle and keys to the Danger Room. You can pick."

Paige couldn’t help but laugh at that, a little of the old sparkle coming back, before she realized exactly what Scott had just said. Her eyes suddenly grew very wide. “You mean it? You’d… let me? I mean, your motorcycle is, please excuse the term but, your baby and the Danger Room is generally off limits.”

"I don't mind sharing the bike. I just like being the one doing the sharing. Still haven't gotten it running quite right since Logan went to Canada on it last year." He looked slightly smug. "And the Danger Room is only technically off-limits without supervision. We don't use it for regular powers classes, but a little advanced study with a generally dependable student who's already demonstrated a handle on her powers . . . well, that falls under staff discretion. And if it helps said student blow off some steam . . . we can chalk that up to economical teaching strategy."

“I… I…” Paige did a little bit of a flail, trying to come up with some actual words, letting out what could only be described as a ‘squee’ and circling around the stall. When she’d finally come face to face with Scott, she had little to none of her reasonable thought left, and did the only thing possible in this given situation; tackled him with a hug. “Thankyouthankyouthankyou!” At this point is was all she could do to not do a little happy dance, and her grin was possibly bright enough to light up most of New York. “You won’t regret it, I promise, thank you so much.”

Scott automatically shifted his balance to compensate for Paige's hug, his expression more than a little surprised. "I know I won't. Besides, I could use the extra exercise until Shinobi can keep up with me. Just don't bottle up so much from now on, all right? You've got a lot to offer, and I hate seeing you choke yourself off. That's my besetting sin."

“I’ll try to do better,” Paige said seriously, although, her grin wasn’t fading very fast. She knew that was the best she could offer right now. It was her way to pretend nothing was wrong and she couldn’t lie to Scott. Finally letting go, she looked up at the older man, trying very hard not to beam. “And this gives me an excuse to find some new substance that’s light enough for me to get out of the way of that blast of yours,” she continued, almost giddy with anticipation and gesturing carefully at his eyes, “But strong enough in case I screw up.”

Scott nodded. "I'll hold you to that. Breaking habits isn't easy, but sometimes it's healthy." He grinned, then, and tapped his shades. "Maybe we should see if you can manage ruby quartz."