xp_logs | Paige and Scott; first mission

Scott and Paige chat on the way back. They try to do the whole formal thing, with the good advice, demands to write reports and meek replies and fail miserably. Points for trying?

Pushing himself up out of the copilot's seat, Scott nodded at Sam and headed back towards the rear of the plane, rubbing absently at his shoulder and wincing. That is the absolute last time I try to reason with a psychotic electrokinetic. Carter hadn't even recognized him, and if Lorna hadn't directed the bulk of the blast away from him it could have been pretty bad. But Scott had really been hoping to avoid getting physical. Carter's condition wasn't his fault, after all.

Idly pulling at a lose thread on at the cuff of her sweatshirt, Paige looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps, nervously crossing her arms. Today had been all right, maybe good enough that they would forget the fact that Paige herself had neglected to bring something to change into for the trip home, but that didn’t make her feel any less of a moron. It was lucky Scott had thought to store some of the grey sweats away, maybe even for her. The thought made her smile, brightening a little as she saw Scott approach.

Scott smiled and sat down on the bench next to her, concentrating on moving a little less stiffly. No point in giving her the excuse to fuss at him. Hank had done that quite enough already. "So I think this goes down in the books as a good first mission," he said lightly. "Although I suppose you technically had that already with Nathan and Pete in Vermont. First official mission?"

Deciding not to remind him that Vermont hadn’t exactly been a good mission of any form, Paige only nodded, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear shyly. “If I hadn’t read the mission logs I would have assumed that you were all just being melodramatic about this X-Man thing being so hard,” Paige agreed teasingly.

Scott rubbed at his shoulder again. The uniform had taken the brunt of what Lorna hadn't redirected, so he didn't have any electrical burns, thankfully. The alternating painful tingling and numbness was kind of aggravating, though. "This went pretty well," he said with a nod and another brief smile. "I would have liked to talk him down, but you and Lorna and Sam handled the takedown very delicately." He grimaced a little, shaking his head. "I just hope they're a little more careful with his medication in the future. Poor Carter... he's a decent guy. I knew him, a bit."

“I’m sorry,” Paige said, voice gentle. She noticed the attention to Scott’s shoulder, but decided babying her Captain was probably not the best option right now. It just felt wrong on the jet, especially when he was trying to hide it like that. “I know this is a rather odd question, considering I just took the man out, delicately or not, but what was he like? We’ll chalk it up to keeping my humanity.”

"Smart, funny... he's only a couple of years older than me. He was at the mansion when I got there, but his condition went downhill very quickly." Scott gave a one-shoulder shrug. "Charles did everything he could. I gather he even consulted with Moira on the case, but they couldn't come up with any sort of permanent solution."

Nodding, Paige folded her hands into her lap, wringing them once before letting them settle, where she stared at them. “I’m sure he’ll be fine. Accidents are unfortunate things, but usually people learn from them at least. Basic human instinct.”

"I suspect Charles will make sure of that," Scott said dryly. "In this case, I mean." He leaned back, sighing a little. "So, Guthrie, how are we going to fix this uniform problem of yours?"

“Well, Summers, we are going to do nothing. You are not an expert on my mutation, while I on the other hand am,” Paige replied in an overly seriously voice, not able to keep a playful sparkle out of her eyes. “But you may bring me sandwiches in the library very, very secretly if you’d like. My usual sandwich maker currently has no limbs.”

"I beg to differ," Scott bantered. "Oh, not on the sandwiches. Sandwiches are nice. But on the rest." He smiled. "You are at least going to keep me updated, yes? I might not always remember to throw extra clothes in the 'Bird for you."

Blushing, just a little, Paige laughed, only just remembering not to swat him on the shoulder. “Of course, Captain. Updates for sandwiches and remembering clothes. Would you like them verbally or written out and if so which format would you prefer? I like peanut butter and cucumber by the way. Sandwiches, not format.”

"You're a strange girl. But very pretty." Scott laughed suddenly, shaking his head. "It just strikes me how wrong that would sound to anyone who doesn't watch Firefly..."

“Hey, just be glad I’m not the Zoe character, that’s all I’ve got to say,” Paige replied, grinning widely. She much preferred her playful Captain Scott to grumpy you’re just my student go away Scott. “Think we could convince Haroun to be my Wash? Then you wouldn’t have to keep playing two roles. And we could get him a Hawaiian shirt! I’m sure he’d be thrilled.”

"Haroun doesn't have the sense of humor to be Wash," Scott said with a grin. "Fundamental problem there. And he'd probably find a Hawaiian shirt detrimental to his dignity."

“Now, see, that’s why it’s funny. I’m positive he’s susceptible to big blinkie eyes, and maybe if I asked with the whole Kaylee lip quiver...” Paige trailed off, giggling. “Tell me I’m evil.”

"You're evil. To the core. Pure, malevolent evil," Scott said obediently, wincing and rubbing at his shoulder again. "On a serious note, I want you to draw up a report on how you gauged your performance today, all right? You don't need to post it to the team board or anything. Just send it to me."

Paige couldn’t resist a tsk, glaring at the offending shoulder. “Yes of course, like you had to ask. You’ve had someone look at that, haven’t you? You’re not doing the macho I don’t need help or drugs blahgruntblah thing are you? Because I will glare a lot of if you are. And then tell on you to someone you can hit you and not get in trouble.”

"Hank gave me the once-over. Wants to do it again, once we're back. I'm glad Lorna's reflexes are fast." He shook his head. "That was not the smartest thing I've ever done. But I was really hoping... I said that already, didn't I?" Scott sighed.

“Sir, I’m supposed to be the eternal optimist who gets herself into crazy hijink-like scrapes. Hence the built in armour, which, you will notice, you do not have,” Paige observed with crossed arms, trying to sound chastising. “But I hear it’s an endearing quality at least,” she continued, reaching up to tap his nose.

"This is a good example for you, you know. No, I didn't mean me trying to talk Carter down. The mission in general. In contrast to Vermont... you could go from one sort of thing to the other from one day to the next," Scott said quite seriously. "Or even within the same mission. The most important thing is to be able to adapt fast."

“And you have slipped into Highly Serious Mode all within the space of three point seven seconds. Impressive, even for you,” Paige remarked, eyebrows slightly raised with a teasing grin. Advice was well and good, but this would almost be insulting if she didn’t know it was just because he cared. “I’ll write that in my notes when we get back. Hold on, let me remember it, it’s very complicated. Adapt... fast... Thanks.”

He poked her sweatshirt-covered arm reprovingly. "Humor the electrocuted man, please, Guthrie. It's the kind thing to do."

Paige laughed, trying to cover up what was quickly turning into a giggle by squirming away. “Yes, sir. Sorry, Summers, sir. Very solid advice, I will embroider it into a pillow. Sir.”

"Excellent. And I'll be checking your work, so no crooked stitches."

Smiling, Paige let the silence stretch out for a moment before coughing and quietly trying out a voice that had gone somewhat rough. “Thanks for this by the way. I know you might not have technically needed me with Lorna and Sam but it was... good. It felt good. I appreciate it.”

"You were the first person I thought of," Scott said firmly, nothing but real sincerity in his voice. "Even before Hank and your brother, who is after all my XO. My thinking went along the lines of 'Hmm, rampaging electrokinetic. Oooh, rubber husk.'"

“It does come in handy now and again,” Paige agreed with a nod, unbeknownst to her giving him her best pleased little girl smile.

"In any case, you did well. I know you can fight, but it's good to know that you can, uh, gently take down the insane-through-no-fault-of-their-own, too. After all," Scott said with a snort, "who knows when you'll have to use that tactic on one of your teammates?"

“I’m already working on a husk that absorbs optic blasts,” Paige replied very seriously, nodding her head. It was her way of saying thank you without blushing too hard, really.

"Oh, am I on the list of 'likely to go crazy'?" Scott teased. "Drat. Here I thought I had you all fooled now."

Paige gave him something vaguely resembling a pointedly amused look. “Sir, I do own a Nerf gun. I know my own kind.”