xp_logs | Backdated Invasion Aftermath Logs

Pre-blowing stuff up, Shiro finds Alex in his suite and they talk a bit about the invasion, powers and the X-Men.

Everything seemed calm after the chaos of the
previous night. Leyu was sleeping, and Clarice was unhurt and as
relaxed as she could be. Satisfied that they were well, the next
person on Shiro's list of people to check on was his best friend, who
was back in his own suite. He knocked on the door, hoping that Alex
and Lorna weren't too busy with each other to spare him some time.

Rubbing his eyes, Alex got up form his position
on the couch and shuffled over to the door. He was still dressed in
his pajama pants, and hadn't slept another wink since the attack. He
was just too riled up. He had yet to see Lorna, who was most likely still mourning the loss of her kitchen. Random non-breakable items were strewn across the room from one of his throwing fits. He opened the
door and leaned on the doorframe. "Hey Shiro, how's Leyu?"

“Asleep," he replied, stifling a yawn. "As I
ought to be too, but I cannot sit still. You as well, I see. May I
come in?"

Alex nodded slowly and moved to allow Shiro to
come in. After closing the door behind him, he collapsed on the couch
again, his long legs draping over the arm. "Glad to know I'm not the
only one who couldn't go back to sleep..."

Shiro sat down on the floor, leaning against the
couch, and closed his eyes. He appeared to have dozed off for a
moment, but a soft snort signified that he was still awake. "This is
your first raid, yes? You were not here when Wisdom's colleagues came,
nor when Stryker invaded."

Groaning, Alex actually had to think about it, his
sleep deprived brain scrambling. "Yes...no...wait yes, this was my
first. Wisdom must have been when I was...right. Which ironically came
up again last night." He couldn't stop the growl the came out mostly
under his breath.

"Congratulations. You are no longer an
invasion-virgin." Shiro snorted again. "Were they sent by Selene. They
mentioned her."

Flinching slightly at the mention of that name,
Alex had to take a few deep breaths to calm down again. "I have no
idea, no one will tell me yet. But I can't not ignore the fact they
recognized me and then tried to kill me!"

"And they failed," Shiro pointed out, eyes still
closed. "They did not seem to be actively searching for you. It was as
thought they had orders separate from their mission in the event that
they encountered you. Hmm." Shiro was too exhausted to go on from
there, but he made a note to tell this to someone. Assuming he
remembered that he made a note.

Alex's eyes closed for a moment too before opening
them quickly to prevent falling asleep. "Still not a comforting
thought dude."

"Then ignore it for now and let your brother
worry about it. You can tell me how you managed to use your powers
like that." Shiro smiled at the thought. "That was quite amazing. When
did you learn that?"

A sleepy grin appeared on Alex's face as he let
his head rest back on the arm of the couch. "It's the suit Forge made
man, it's awesome. It allows me to actually control my energy. It's
totally awesome!"

"Two consecutive awesomes. It must be," Shiro
said, yawning. "So you have been able to progress more in the past few
weeks than you have since you came here? If only Professor Xavier had
found him earlier."

"Seems like it. I just needed something to fliter
the leaking power caused by Her and now I actually can control my out
put and this, " point to the white circle on his chest, "is like a
meter that warns me before I go into overload. Dude did an amazing
job."

"So what have you learned to do so far?" Shiro
asked, as excitedly as he could manage after such a night. "Can you
fly or shape the energy, or can you only blast things?"

He couldn't help but laugh at Shiro excitement.
"Dude I still just learning. Mostly, I'm learning how to regulate how
much energy I release. I can do either wide beams or short bursts
now...which is a major improvement over energy going everywhere!"

"And you can release it with just a thought? You
no longer have to concentrate hard on someone getting hurt?"

Alex nodded, "Yep, no more morbid thoughts for me,
though it still takes some concentration to shape it."

Shiro stood up and stretched, barely wincing at
the sound of his joints cracking. "We should talk to your brother and
see if we can train together. Since we are able to fuel one another, I
am curious as to what he can teach each other and how our powers
interact."

Yawning, Alex managed to nod again. "Though we'll
have to be careful how we do it or he's going to have us on the X-Men
training roster. I hear they just added Marie-Ange and Doug and I
don't know about you, but I'd rather not join the local superheros."

While Shiro knew that Alex had no desire to join
the team, he was surpised by the ardor behind it. "Oh? Why not? You do
not want to join Lorna as the leather-clad Surfer Boy?"

That earned Shiro a half-hearted swat to the back
of his head. "Oh shut up. I don't think they make the leathers small
enough for you anyhow..."

If Shiro's eyes could shoot Evil Laser of Doom,
he'd have incinerated Alex with his glare. "We are talking about you,
not me. And I am not that short."

Alex only smirked in reply to the glare. "Hey if
we work together as well as I'm sure we do...They'll try to hit up
both of us." Then as an afterthought, he added, "And yes, you are that
short."

"I am almost five foot eight," Shiro protested
hotly, "and that is average height. And even if your brother
approaches you about the X-Men, he will back down if you say no. I do
not think he would ask me, anyway, if Dayspring has spoken to him at
all since New Year's."

"Almost is the key word in that statement. And
Ramsey almost got himself killed and they're letting him on, why not
you?" Then he laid back, looking up at the ceiling. "I know Scott
would if I say no, but I know how much he'd love for me to follow in
his footsteps, especially now that I have control."

Sighing and closing his eyes for a moment, Alex then shook his head. "No, he wouldn't. I just know that deep down, that's what he wants. I know it hurts him that I want to go back to Hawaii..." Then he smiled slightly, "I know, you too...But still...I know he'll be happy for me now that my powers are under control and I can go without fear."

"What about me?" Shiro asked suddenly, looking directly ahead. "Not about you going to school in Hawaii. I mean, should I ask to join the X-Men? Would they even let me on? Would I make a good X-Man?"

"Shiro, honestly...I think you would be one of the best X-men ever. You have the heart and the determination. The question is, is it something you really want for yourself? Because if it is...I say go for it." Alex was all smiles as he said this, having complete faith in his friend.

Shiro wasn't so sure of himself. He had no question that he'd excel in combat. He'd thoroughly kicked Baymax's ass in Tokyo, afterall. "How could I pass up the chance to become an actual super hero?" he asked lightly.

That made Alex burst out laughing, or as much as he could whilst practically falling asleep. "For some reason I knew you'd say something like that..." Finally managing his feet, Alex tapped Shiro on the shoulder. "Come on, Cain actually gave us permission to blow up stuff...We should totally take advantage!"

"So long as we do not fall asleep on our feet," Shiro replied with a yawn, getting up. "I will race you there, Ms. Diaz."

"Oh you are so on, Ms. Barrymore!" Alex said with him more enthusiasm then he felt at the moment, yawning in return to Shiro's.

Afterwards, Lorna finally returns to the suite to find a halfasleep Alex and they comfort each other

Going out and blasting debris with Shiro had gotten out some of Alex's pent up frustration and anger from the invasion, but not all of it. Not wanting to get in the way, Alex lay in a pile of couch pillows in the middle of the floor, still spread all over from when he was throwing them around before his talk with Alison. Finally calm enough, he was dozing lightly, not even aware someone entered the suite.

:Not that Lorna was easy to miss after a moment or two. Particularly not when she hurled a small vase across the room without thinking. She realized Alex was sleeping about half a second before the vase smashed against the wall. She winced. “Shit. Sorry.” She folded down in her tracks and sat on the floor with her head in her hands.

The invasion was still affecting him and it was evident when he didn't even start when the vase smashed against the wall. He wasn't worried about it, he'd hid all the valuable before his own throwing fit. Alex opened his eyes slowly and cocked his head back to look at her, upside down from his viewpoint. Without a word, he opened his arms for her to crawl into.

She did, curling up beside him and pillowing her head on his shoulder. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she squeezed him tightly, her eyes shut against the angry tears that were threatening. “Hi,” she said after a long time.

He hugged her close, sensing she needed comfort right now. Pushing his anger at the situation to the side, he nuzzled and kissed her hair untill she spoke. Somehow he managed a small smile. "Hey."

“My kitchen is gone.” The almost conversational voice was marred by a cold tone under it. “And we just got attacked again. And I was off on a fucking wild goose chase when it happened.” There went all pretense of calm and back came the rage that had her throwing things.
.
His hold tightened on her as she mentioned her kitchen and the fact she'd been away. Sighing deeply to keep his own emotions in check, he spoke as calmly as he could, "They're going to build you a better one...and no one blames you guys for not being here...heaven knows it was probably part of their major plot..."

“Hmm, yeah, that too. I don’t suppose you left any bits of the bastards I can deconstruct? Because fucking with my boyfriend is not cool.” Lorna was not going for calm anymore. Of course, it was a little doubtful she ever had been.

Alex had to close eyes to stop himself from retorting and adding to her fumes. "Cain was still adding the pile when Shiro and I left so I'm sure you can have some fun down at the lake later." He took a deep breath so his voice was calm. "Of course, anything that looked like the guys that tried to kill me has been fried by yours truly."

“Pity. Threatening Alison with a carving knife just doesn’t have the same satisfying edge as dissembling bad guys.” She lifted her head and looked at him. “Aren’t you upset? How can you be so calm about this?”

Keeping his eyes closed, Alex forced himself to take a few more deep breaths. "Oh I am, don't worry, though throwing pillows and blasting things helped a little. I just don't understand who the hell they were and why the felt the need to try to kill me in Her name..." He shook his head and opened his eyes lazily.

Lorna sat up and looked down at him, bracing herself against his chest. “Well, I’m upset. And we’re going to figure out who these bastards are and we’re going to take them out. She gets nothing.” They had been astonishingly stupid to get lured out of the mansion and it had to be at least a little bit because of what she was. They had to have known that their damned robot boys wouldn’t have gotten two feet with her there. “I’m going to hit things for a while. Before I break another vase.” She pushed herself to her feet.

Suddenly more awake then he was earlier, Alex stood up with her. He wrapped his arms around her waist, trapping her for a moment. "Lorna...I'm fine...everyone in the mansion is fine...Do not let yourself feel guilty because you were not here." He spoke as calmly as he could though his own anger was seeping through now, but Alex known he had to make her hear it.

“We were set up, Alex! They got the ones they thought were the biggest threat out. If they hadn’t underestimated everyone else, I would have come back to a hell of a lot worse than just a torn up kitchen!” Lorna shoved her hand through her hair and muttered curses when it got caught in the tangled remains of her braid. She shook her hand free and clenched it into a fist. “I’m not feeling guilty. I just I should have been here!”

Taking both her wrist in hand, Alex looked her in the eye. "And how is that any different? Your right, we were set up, but frankly, the would not be good enough to invade the mansion if they hadn't. The point is, we dealt with them and the only causality was your kitchen." Then he moved his arms to around her waist, holding her now more for his own comfort then hers. "I wish you had been here though...God I was scared..." His voice shook as he whispered the last in her ear.

Lorna rested her head on his shoulder, still nearly shaking with emotion. “I was terrified when Scott called us back to the bird. We were so far away and we didn’t know what was happening. Then when I got here and everyone was okay but the damn kitchen and then it wasn’t okay because they’d been after you.” She twisted her wrist so she could grip his hand with her own. “I can’t even begin to deal with that.”

Holding her close, Alex finally did the one thing he hadn't allowed himself to do all day. Tears came out of his eyes as he buried his head in the crook of her neck, his body shaking softly with emotion. "Why does this happen? Don't we deserve some peace? Don't I? I just want to get away from Her but everything leads back to it..." He sniffled loudly as he pulled away to look down at her, finally looking as tired and upset as he felt. He tugged their clasped hands as he took a step toward the bed room.

Lorna went docilely, walking close to Alex, her arm brushing his. “She’s gone. This doesn’t change anything. She gets nothing.” She stopped them at the door and turn to face him, tilting her head back to look at him. “Besides, we’re going to school and all the mansion’s craziness won’t be our problem then.” She gave him a half-hearted smile, about as feeble as her attempt at humor.

Alex couldn't help himself. The thought of him and Lorna leaving this place for Hawaii made him smile, even if just a little. He pulled her the final few steps to the bed and quickly laid down, pulling her with him. "I love you..."

“I love you too. I’m sorry I was shouting earlier.” She propped herself up so she could lean over to kiss him. With the tips of her fingernails, she traced a line along his jaw, just taking the time to look at him and appreciate how much he meant to her.

Shaking his head slightly, he lifted his head to meet her in the kiss half way. "Don't be. I did my fill earlier." He noticed her intense gaze and couldn't help but smile bashfully. "What is it?"

. She shook her head, “Nothing. You’re beautiful.” She smiled and kissed him again.

"Not as beautiful as you..." Alex had to get in the last word as he pulled her down to cuddle next to him, grabbing the covers and pulling them. Then he showed her how much she meant to him by holding her as closely and securely as he could.

Yes these are a week late, I'm sorry! Eep! I'm a lazy butt, I know....