Scott and Alex, Scott and Amanda, Monday evening

[x-cyclops.livejournal.com]

On his way upstairs, Scott runs into Alex, who drags him to the kitchen and proceeds to cheer him up.


Nothing still. Not even an acknowledgement of his attempt to get in touch.

Scott stepped out of the elevator, pausing for a weary moment to remember why exactly he had come above-ground. Food. Right. Or coffee, at the very least... coffee was food, wasn't it?

Alex had his skateboard in hand as he moved toward the stairs. He was going outside to clear his head, the past week and weekend having been too much, not to mention the tension in the mansion was killing him. He was about half way down when he saw his brother step out of the elevator. "Hey Bro! Wait up!" He slid down the banister then ran the last couple of steps.

Scott looked around. "Hey," he said, stopping and frowning. Alex looked tired. "You okay?" he asked as his brother caught up with him, and then sighed. "Stupid question, I know. Are you sleeping?"

He shook his head, grinining up at him. "Funny I was going to ask you the same question. And nah, just more drama then usual. Got to be too much so I thought I'd go skate some of it off, ya know?" Alex gestured to the skateboard under his arm. "But dude, how's it going with Alison and everything?"

"She's stable," Scott said, leaning back against the wall. "That's about as much as we can hope for right now."

"Well that's good. But how're you? Let me guess, you've barely eaten or slept since Saturday?" Alex cocked his head with a knowingly smile.

"Gold star for you," Scott said with a brief answering smile. "This is where you get to talk about old bad habits recurring under stress, I guess."

"No this where I lead you to the kitchen where Lorna has been cooking non stop for the past weekend. You might as well benefit from the food that stole my girlfriend away from me." Alex laughed as he lead the way to the kitchen, checking over his shoulder to make sure big brother was following.

"Her way of coping, I suppose," Scott said, following him. He had been headed in the direction of the kitchen anyway. "Everyone has their own way..." He thought of Betsy, lying downstairs in a medlab bed, and frowned.

Alex again gestured with the arm holding the skateboard. "Yep, tell me about it." He led the way into the kitchen and dumped the board by the door. "I'd be lying if I said I haven't increased my skating time lately. What can I get you bro?" He asked as he made his way over the fridge.

"I'm really not all that hungry, Alex," Scott said, going over to the coffeemaker. "Just came up for some more of the water of life, here..."

Alex rolled his eyes and made a face. "I don't see how you all can live on that stuff...it's okay every once in a while but at the rate Lorna drinks it makes me wonder if her blood runs brown." Sticking his head into the fridge anyway, pulling out some carrots. "Sure you don't want anything?"

"No, I'm fine." Scott gave Alex a thoughtful look. "You and Lorna doing okay?" he ventured suddenly, not sure why he was asking about his brother's love life when he should be focusing all his attention on what to do if Magneto dropped in for tea. But he needed at least a bit of a break, damn it.

"We're doing okay. I've decided to move in with her since she's all by herself now...it's a big but needed step." He sat at the table, munching idly on one of the vegetables, trying not to think about the decision with Shiro. "But that should be the least of your worries right now bro..."

Scott blinked. Then blinked again. "You're moving in with Lorna," he said, tilting his head to one side as he contemplated the idea. "Okaaay."

Now it was Alex's turn to blink. "What?"

"Uhh... nothing. Big step, like you said." Oh, very bright, Summers. Act like he just told you that he was becoming a performance artist or some such thing.

Furrowing his brow, Alex gave him a skeptic look. "What is it Scott?"

"Nothing. You just surprised me, that's all." Scott offered a smile. "When are you two planning to do this?"

"Soon as possible, we...wait..." Then his eyes narrowed a bit. "You're not thinking we're...Scott!"

"Well, it's a natural assumption," Scott protested a bit weakly.

Alex coudln't help the blush and held tightly to the half eaten carrot in his hand. "I wouldn't know what to do if we were..." He mumbled to himself, not letting his gaze meet Scott's.

"Hey," Scott said gently, coming over and laying a hand on Alex's shoulder. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."

Shrugging defeatedly, Alex took another bite of carrot, then blurted, "I know Lorna is tired of waiting for me, and I want to, so badly. I'm just...I don't think I know how to do it right. I haven't exactly had the best experience in that department." Then he looked up at Scott. "Okay, change of subject."

"You're sure?" Scott asked with a ghost of a smile. "I do have a little experience in that department, you know."

"Scott that's just...ewww. Sorry." He really couldn't help making a face before grinning.

"Hey, I'm the big brother, remember? I'm supposed to give you advice of all sorts..."

"Yes but I'd also like to not be scarred for life at the images that would bring up." He shuddered for effect as he took another bite of carrot.

"Us old folks do occasionally indulge in the horizontal tango, you know," Scott said with a deadpan look.

"Ahhh! No more! No more!" Alex laughed as he protested, holding his hands up.

Scott caught himself smiling and shook his head. "You always cheer me up, you know," he said, more affectionately.

"It's my job as a little brother, didn't you know that?" He finished his carrot then crossed his arms on the table, grinning at Scott. "Plus I'm sure it's the only reason you keep me around."

"Oh, you have other redeeming virtues." Scott grinned. "Let me think.... uhhh... you shower regularly?"

"Ahh and here I thought it was because I was cute." Alex batted his eyebrows at Scott playfully.

"You know you're cute. You use it shamelessly," Scott scolded him, then took another sip of his coffee. "And don't even think about throwing that carrot at me. I can see it in your eyes."

"Hey, if you have it, use it." Alex frowned slightly and took a bite of said carrot, which he had been tempted to throw. "And don't think you don't use it either. I've seen you with Betsy and Madelyn and Paige..." His grinned creeped back up.

"Are you accusing me of using my questionable charm in questionable ways?" Oh, yeah. He definitely needed some sleep.

"Duh, what do you think bro? Of course I am!" Alex caught the need for sleep in that question. "Dude, you need some rest. Do I need to drag you up to your room?"

"No, I'll go," Scott said, and actually meant it. He was getting punchy, and punchy was no good. "Need to go wake Ororo up and pass things over to her, I suppose."

"Good idea, don't want you reverting to your old anal self. We've gotten to like this less stressed version quite a bit." Finishing off the second carrot, Alex hopped up to grab his skateboard.

"Oh, you're liking the pod-me? That's good to know," Scott teased, then waved a hand at Alex. "Go skate it off," he said. "I'll stop and look in on you once I've caught some sleep."

Alex nodded and waved as he leaned on the door for a moment. "Alright then, go get some sleep!"

Scott leaned back against the counter, sipping at his coffee again, and tossed off a wave that could have been mistaken for a salute as Alex headed off. Maybe he would, he thought. At the very least, he'd see how soundly Ororo was sleeping...


Upstairs, he has a chance encounter with Amanda. He decides that it's past time he thanked her for the healing and the protection spells. She gets treated to the rare sight of his sense of humor.


It was really starting to catch up with him finally - the lack of sleep, that was. Yawning hugely, Scott paused, resting one hand against the wall to support himself. Okay, you do not need to dislocate your own jaw, Summers. He also didn't technically need to be walking around like the proverbial zombie; there wasn't much else he could at the moment, apart from wait on some of the information he'd gone 'fishing' for. He had checked on Alison, on Betsy, on the medstaff. Security was all in order, Ororo was on watch... So go to bed, idiot.

But here he was walking the halls again. Definitely not a magic wand, his 'day in the city', Scott reflected with a trace of wry amusement. He might have found his center, or at least his motivation again, but it hadn't done much for certain bad habits. Magneto is not going to come crashing through the roof if you get some sleep, Scott... really.

Amanda was on her way back from the kitchen, one of her potions in hand. Manuel was still in pain, and she could only Heal him so much... besides, she might be needed for Alison. So she had tried a new potion, a variation of the willowbark that _should_ act as a painkiller. Concentrating on the mug she was carrying, she only saw Scott at the last minute. He looked _terrible_ - all the staff were tired, but he seemed to be going beyond that into strange and scary new territory.

"Um, hello," she said. "You all right?"

Scott forced himself to stop yawning. "Honestly... no," he confessed, managing a somewhat sheepish smile for the girl. "I'm looking for the invisible bad guys. I think." Amanda blinked at him. "Or maybe just for my bed. You haven't seen it running away, have you?"

"Wouldn't be the strangest thing this place has seen if it was roamin' the hallways," Amanda said with a chuckle. "You want help trackin' it down? I'm an expert bed hunter." The last was said with an impish grin.

"Disney-esque, almost. Mobile furniture, I mean." He yawned again, seriously considering slapping himself. "Amanda... have I told you just how much of a help you've been in the medlab?" he asked, focusing on her again. "I don't think I have, have I? I need to remember to tell people these things more often. Explicit is good."

Amanda blinked at him, then blushed a little. "I just do what I can t' help," she said, toeing the carpet with her boot. "'S somethin' I can do, so I do it. But..." She looked up at him with a shy smile. "It's nice t' know."

Focus. On. Her. Yes, that was it. Good eyes. "I just..." He paused to yawn, then leaned back against the wall. Nice wall. "All the healing you do, the wards on the house... I really don't think a lot of your fellow students, and hell, even some of the staff really understand how much you've done to help." He smiled again. "I just wanted to make sure you knew that I knew. I'm supposed to be the one in charge of looking after the place, after all, and I... well, I appreciate it."

The blush deepened, and crept up to include her ears. "I figured it needed doin', an' it don't really take that much effort..." Well, that was a bare-faced lie, but compliments were something Amanda had no experience in dealing with. With effort, she stopped studying the floor and took in the wall- leaning, the slightly unfocussed eyes. "An' you know, you really should be in bed. Any bed, just as long as yer sleepin'."

Scott waved a hand at her, managing another smile. "Headed in that very direction as a matter of fact. Except I seem to have misplaced the stairs." He looked around, then ah-hahed. "There they are." He looked back at Amanda, grinning wearily. "See? I have a sense of humor, I really do..."

"Is that what it is?" she asked, mock-innocently. "An' here I was thinkin' you were just weird."