xp_logs | Alison and Lorna, Alison's Suite

x-polarisstar.livejournal.com posting in

Midmorning before Amanda and Alison meet, Lorna seeks out Alison to hang out and discuss an idea. Alison's got an opportunity of her own.

The window was open, allowing a gentle breeze to drift inside the room now and then. Alison had pushed the couch right up against the window, throwing off her shoes to curl up on it directly in the sunlight that streamed through unhindered by the poor curtain which had been manhandled out of the way earlier. Brightness and warmth. How could anyone do without such things, Alison wondered, even as she curled up on the already warming cushions, reaching over to pull the book she was reading closer. Opening it, she blithely ignored the sunlight reflecting off the white pages, smiling a bit to herself as she settled into her reading, music playing softly in the background, as it often did in whatever room she settled in for a good period of time.

Lorna was learning to hobble along, most of her weight on her left arm while her right shoulder continued to heal. It beat the chair, hands down, anyway. She was on a hunt for the wild Blaire. She'd already caught the young one raiding the cookies. Like the expert Blaire hunter she was, she'd wrangled him away from the dinner ruining snacks and sent him to torment Alex. But everyone knew that the mama Blaire was harder to track. You had to be sneaky and catch her in her lair. Lorna wrapped on the door and nudged it open. "Fee fi fo fum," she called, leaning in the door.

The hobbling sound wasn't particular to many people in the mansion these days, and it hadn't been hard to guess who was approaching. At the sound of Lorna's voice Alison looked up slowly, lips quirking a bit at the brilliant shades of green framing her best friend's face. She missed seeing that color, and the brief wistfulness wasn't shy about making itself known, before subsiding gently. Raising an eyebrow slightly, half greeting and half amusement at the entrance line Lorna had chosen, Alison waggled the fingers of one hand at her, book still held between thumb and index.

"Hi," Lorna eased inside, "I'm not interrupting, am I?" It felt odd asking but Alison was so clearly at repose with her book and her sunbeams that even coming inside felt like intruding. The new décor was more richly exotic than Lorna's own traditional choices, a beautiful display of Morrocan style. It wasn't anything like a their suite had been. Then things had been a little more clashing, a little more chaotic.

There was a pause at the question, Alison processing the words belatedly. "Of course not." She held her breath for a moment after replying, then finally let it go, curling her legs up on the couch to give Lorna some space to sit down with her. She'd kept the same couch for the common area when she and Lorna had used to be roommates, although the throw was new, the colors a match for the Moroccan Kilim rug on the floor.

Lorna smiled and crosses the room slowly and lowered herself on to the couch, setting aside the crutches then reached out and nabbed Alison's ankle. "Caught you. I'm two for two on Blaire hunting now. I collared and tagged the little one earlier then set him loose on new prey."

Stiffening her leg enough so that Lorna could also use it as support to lower herself to the couch, Alison smiled a bit, a suddenly genuine and unguarded expression. "Well, you caught me," she answered, the corners of her eyes crinkling briefly as the smile deepened further. She wasn't worried about Lorna potentially spoiling Miles' supper, so the question of bait never came up - besides, all Lorna would have had to do was call out. "Who's the poor to be preyed upon soul?"

"My favourite one, of course," Lorna grinned. "I figure it will do them good to chase each other around the grounds for a while. And it will keep their grabby hands off my kitchen." Even when most of the cooking was still the province of others, it was Lorna's kitchen. She was going to miss it when she went to college.

"Oooh." Nodding wisely at that, Alison grinned a bit. "Miles was skulking about in the kitchen, was he?" While his nutrition was stable now and his schooling was also near the total caught up and ready to go with age group level, he still had a habit of just checking to see if the food was still there, now and then. She wondered if he'd ever stop doing that, sometimes.

"Stealing cookies." Lorna confirmed, resting her head back against the couch cushions. "Oatmeal chocolate chip which means Rahne did the baking last. Can I say how much I like letting everyone else do the cooking? It reminds me of when I first got here and no one knew I could cook."

"I've been hearing about those cookies," Alison remarked idly, settling back herself, stretching out her legs by pure habit. "Mmm. I used to have to forage for myself a lot before I figured out your secret. Except for when I used to find the odd meal suddenly, miraculously there, just waiting for me to abscond with it."

"I had to keep my hand in somehow. And I knew it would get eaten." Lorna shifted Alison's legs so they weren't on her bad one. "Because this place is full of Verminicious Knids." Lorna leaned forward and plucked a book off the floor. "Oh, hey, Paradise Lost. Yay, Milton."

Alison let Lorna re-arrange her legs as she wished, which was usually how things went anyway, even as she smiled a bit at the cover of the book the green haired woman was now holding. "Ayup. Haven't read it yet though," she murmured, giving the book a contemplative look. "I'm busy with one of the books Nathan suggested, just now. It's interesting."

"I liked it when we read it. I think it was me and one scary guy who always sat in the corner and wore his Faire garb to class. Why are Rennies so scary?" Lorna flipped the book open and scanned over the poem.

Alison looked a bit blandly at Lorna, considering the query. "Dunno. Never found them particularly scary myself." Her lips quirked, and she went on. "Course, when you consider the crowd generally hanging around most of the places I used to go..."

Lorna shrugged, "Right, I forgot. You're from that federation of freaks, the music industry. Rennies scare normal people. Just for the record." She fluffed a pillow and flopped over, resting her head on the arm of the sofa. "What are we listening to?"

"I think they look kinda harmless, myself," Alison murmured, hiding her smile with the book. Lorna had the same air about her Alison herself had worn after her healing, when the gem encased in Cain's chest had shattered. She eyed the clock, making a mental note of what time it was. "We are listening to a classic composer named Marin Marais, who just happened to be appointed as the court composer by Louis IV. He composed mainly for the Viola Da Gamba" She waited a bit, then continued. "It's the small bass of the viol family."

Lorna lifted her head and eyed Alison, "You're such a music teacher. I just wanted to know what the piece was." She flopped back down again and thumbed open the Milton. "It's pretty. Is it on the school server?"

"Ungrateful wretch. That's what I get for trying to broaden your horizons." Making a face at her, Alison then leaned back. "Les Voix Humaines is the album you'll be looking for and yes, all of his works are on the school server. I'm contemplating tormenting Marie-Ange by suggesting she adapt those for her cello." Alison grinned at her book while saying this, quite cheerfully so.

"You're a bad mean woman, Alison." Lorna responded placidly, taking note of the album name. "Torturing your poor students. I would never do that to my students. All they have to do is read Kant." She shifted her legs again, taking up slightly more of the sofa.

An amused sound greeted that statement, Alison shifting automatically to give Lorna a touch more room. Sort of. Eventually Lorna would probably end up sprawling over while taking up more room, she guessed. She had that settling in for a nap air about her. Or maybe it was just something about the couch. "Your students are cherished and pampered, they are. Oh so much."

Lorna was definitely considering a nap since the combination of book, music, sun and (former) roomie was one that had often preceeded napping. "They are. I'm a brilliant source of light in their lives."

"Isn't that usually my line?" was the amused question, Alison allowing a sparkle of light to drift through the room, just because she could. The topaz mobile above the window glittered in response, sending stray sparkles of light across the rug on the floor. "You always steal my lines. I should log a protest at one point or something."

"I don't steal 'em. You just leave 'em lying around and I pick them up so they don't get stepped on. I'm doing a good deal. Saving unwary bare feet from a sharp witticism or two." Lorna nodded, "Cus I'm a hero. My boyfriend says so." She snuggled further into the pillow.

A raised eyebrow greeted that comment, Alison letting her book slowly fall in her lap as she shifted a bit to give Lorna that much more room, re-organizing her legs carefully so as to not jar her. "Oh? He does not, does he?"

"He did. Which is silly since we aren't but he said so." Lorna rolled onto her back so she could look at Alison. "He also says I'm pretty. I have a policy of not arguing with him about that."

"No. We're not." The response was measured but Alison left it at that before looking down at her book briefly. "That particular aspect of things," she added, meaning the statements of prettiness and other such things, "is indeed not something to argue about. How're things going other than that?"

"We had a brilliant plan. And a little fight but a brilliant plan." Lorna sat up, leaning mostly on her left arm out of habit. "I think you'll agree that it's a brilliant plan. In fact I know you'll agree that it's a brilliant plan because you've already agreed that it's a brilliant plan. Isn't that brilliant?"

"I'm brilliant." The light flaring around her seemed to be the only argument Alison needed in that regard. "Anything else is situational and depends on... my involvement. I know that look. What do you want from me?"

Lorna batted her eyelashes. "Don't you want to guess what the brilliant plan is first? Come on. It'll be fun!" The last sentence only narrowly escaped being jammed together as all one word.

"No." Alison shook her head, utterly unnaffected by the batting of eyelashes. Or any other attempts at pleading. "Absolutely not. I know that look."

Lorna pouted briefly. "I need a phone call," she said finally. "One that you're totally going to love making."

"Phone calls have consequences," was the grave declaration. "And that's still not telling me what I may be potentially engaging myself to do. No."

"You're making this a lot less fun," Lorna informed her. She laid back down again and tucked her arms under her head. "I need a photographer who would appreciate the joys of half-naked men. I'm betting you know one."

There was a long pause at that. "Damn." It was one of those rare occasions where swearing just happened. "You're talking about the calendar thing." Alison blinked, pondering that for a long moment. "Aargh."

"Argh?" Lorna frowned, worried, sitting up again in alarm, "Why argh? You don't like it? I thought you'd think it was fun. Sun and boys and charity donations and good will towards hot mutants."

"I'm a jealous old hag," Alison muttered absently, before shaking her head to dispell the notion. "Moey would do it in a heartbeat and you know it. We still pay him a fee though - I'm not having him try to do this for free." Already, she was ticking items down a mental list, forging ahead. "Have you even asked any of your poor hapless victims if they want to do this? Or are they being roped into it?"

"I asked Alex." Lorna shrugged sheepishly. "We haven't asked anyone else yet but we figured they would be more likely to do this than the cross-dressing fashion show. I was planning on talking girlfriends into it first. Alex will probably go straight to the guys and once we have a decent base, machismo will do the rest. Can't be less tough than all the other guys, you know?" She still looked worried, like she thought Alison wouldn't approve.

"I think you have just a biiit more chances of this happenig than the trying to get them into dresses, yes." Alison snickered at that, poking Lorna lightly in one of those places she knew it wouldn't hurt. Well, it turned out to be her knee, but you took what you could get. "So, wanting to use the women's wiles to get this happening?" Damn it. She didn't particularly want to share Haroun.

"That's why God gave them to us." Lorna confirmed. "I mean, I know some of the guys are going to balk and not want to and I'm still thinking of alternates, like maybe we can convince Bobby to do a special guest shot or something. But hell, we've got hot boyfriends. Let the other girls see what they're missing. And then they can cry themselves to sleep every night because we've got 'em and they don't." She grinned, finally reassured that Alison was on her side.

"Oh, Haroun won't mind," Alison murmured, keeping the smile up even though she rather wished he would, right at that moment. Just a bit. Some. But there wasn't any use in lingering on that and well, he'd certainly enjoy it. And the attention. Horrible jealous old hag. "Bobby would do it in a heartbeat. I'll get send him an email about it. Get Piotr. In metal shape. You know how well that'll go across." She paused, then eyed Lorna. "Or not. Not everyone is out as a mutant here. Warren isn't for one. And have you decided what you want to do with it? Mass sales, for charity? What?"

"Red-X, we thought, unless you had a better idea." Lorna frowned, "We left out the minors so that parents don't attempt to kill us so no Jay but yes Sam, provided we can convince him to be farmboy sexy on camera. We hadn't counted on Piotr but I was hoping Warren would. I was thinking a sixteen month calendar."

"Naw, Red-X is good. And not Warren," Alison repeated. "He's not out as a mutant, remember? The whole deal with the wing straps and all that, whenever he steps outside? So, no Warren in the calendar. You can always ask him about funding it though." Alison deliberately skipped the subject of Sam, fully intent on not going there if she could help it. "You should bribe Jake with food for it. That'll be easy to do."

Lorna laughed, "I figured Jake would volunteer even without the bribes of baked goods but I can definitely make him desserts. Can I just ask Warren if he wants to? I promise to take no for an answer. He might decide the cause is worth it."
"If Warren decides to come out, I don't think it'll be for a calendar. But ask away and be prepared for a no." She set the book on the back of the couch, resigned to not getting back to it just yet. "Sixteen, huh?"

"More mutant for your money," replied Lorna innocently. "The Men of X, men for all seasons."

"You know, we don't go to extraordinary lengths to hide what we do, but we don't advertise it either." Alison gave Lorna a rather wry look at that. And then reached out to pull out a thick letter from one of the books on the floor. "You know. I'd suggest a women's calendar but... look at what I got in the mail a few days ago." Alison grinned a bit at the letter, a touch bemused.

Lorna held out her hand for the letter, not about to sit up if she didn't have to, and glanced it over. She whistled and raised an eyebrow, "Nice of them to come calling." This was totally going to trump her calendar of course. But then, who could compete with a rock star that looked like Alison? "You going to do it?"

"I didn't take it seriously, really." It took a while for Alison to formulate the reply, but finally she gave the letter a considering look. "I'd need to talk to Haroun about it, for one thing. That's a pretty daring photograph - ok, not as daring as some stuff I did in photoshoot while touring, but you know what I mean. And I don't know if they're asking me just because I'm a mutant or because they really want me for the shoot."

Lorna nodded, "Yeah, I get that. I'd be mighty ticked if they'd asked only because of the the mutant thing too. Though I guess I'm kinda doing the same thing with the calendar but hey, Alex volunteered himself so it's not exactly the same." She grinned at the letter, "And I wasn't planning anything near that hot. Should definitely convince kids to drink their milk."

"I guess I could go in to see them..." She'd talk to Haroun first, see how he took to the notion. Those ads saw a lot of exposure after al. "Hrm. Calendar's Red X specific though," Alison smiled a bit. "Worthy cause and all. I don't even know that I'd tell people I was doing this, if I did..." She trailed off, eyeing Lorna.

"Strong bones are a good cause too. After all...why are you staring at me like that?" Lorna interupted herself, blinking at the look in Alison's eye. "What are you thinking?"

"You looked worried there for a moment." Alison smiled a touch then steered the discussion back to the calendar. "You know, so long as people don't mind being outed or the like, you might as well start making noise about a women's calendar too." It wasn't as if it was an issue for Alison, after all. But it might be for others. Or the entire school.

Or those who were, oh, still wanted for various reasons, either legally or not.

Lorna sat up, "That's not a bad idea. We've got plenty of hot chicks here, I can totally rope 16 of you babes into it. Well, you and 15 more. Twice the hotness, twice the cash for the charity. Betsy's back and she's got modeling experience and I'll bet she'll do it. Jean used to be like the face of the school so she'll probably do it..."

"Jean wasn't out as a mutant back then, though. I think. If she wants to go back into the whole activism thing, she may not want to." Leaning back, Alison gave Lorna a serious look. "You realize that some people, even if they want to, probably won't be able to? Just from the international issues or people liable to spring out of the woodworks to settle a score or whatever, for one?"

"I hadn't thought about it actually." Lorna frowned. "I guess that will be up to whoever to think about. I'll try to think about it before I ask though. Still, guys first. They're hotte
r."
"Just bring it up when you ask, maybe. Mention the exposure and the outing and maybe talk about it with Charles." Alison winced. "He's not out and it's not known for a fact that every single staff member is a mutant, at that..." She didn't think the calendar would not happen - just that some things might be taken under consideration, really.

Lorna sighed, "You're making this so much less fun. I liked it when it was all responsible and stuff." She frowned again, "Oh hell, I can't let Alex do this either. Well this sucks in new and interesting ways."

"The incident at the beach before he got here?" It was in his file, after all, though restricted. And she'd just very clearly entirely ruined Lorna's fun. Erk. Better now than after when it all goes boom, though. "I"m sorry? Maybe there's a way to do it anyway which doesn't involve badness?"

"How? I wanted to showcase our boys. Since they wouldn't let me put them in skirts for a nice $1000 a head dinner and fashion show, it was my next best option." She flopped back and swore. "Alex was excited too."

Alison considered the possibilities. "You know. You could slim it down on the mansion staff and residents and bring in outside people instead. Some that are mutants, some that aren't. Even it out. No reason why non-mutants can't be in it too, after all, and it makes a stronger statement for it. Besides. It's kind of like why I didn't want to do the Got Milk ad if they only wanted me for the publicity splash of featuring a publically known mutant..."

"It's not what I was hoping for." Lorna sighed. "And where am I going to find hot non-mutants who will pose in a mutant friendly calendar. We're not exactly universally loved."

A wide grin greeted that and Alison waggled her fingers. "We're not universally hunted down in the streets, either. And I just so happen to know a few people in the entertainment industry who like to back up a good cause. I think Red X might be just right up their alley."

"Well that's something I guess." Lorna smiled, fluffing her pillow. "You can make phone calls then? If you get Matt Damon here, Terry will have a meltdown. Which might be really fun to see."

A snicker greeted that, Alison rolling her eyes. "We'll see who volunteers. I'll make the calls. Moey could probably bring a few people in on his own merit that would surprise you, at that. Also, this would be a good chance for someone looking to make a name to throw their lot in, mmm." She pondered that, glancing out the window briefly. "And you let me know who decided to opt in mansion side, mm?"

"Of course." Lorna would be asking everyone on her list anyway. "I just hope this isn't a mistake. I'll let everyone know that this isn't without a risk too." She gave Alison a sly look. "The ad will help us test the waters though."

"Well, if it is I'm sure someone will scream in horror and predict the end of the mansion as we know it," Alison murmured lightly, lips quirking slightly in amusement. "And yes, it will. Should be interesting. Probably want to see about contacting a poll company on it while you're at it."

"Oh, you mean Wednesdays." Lorna retorted dryly about the end of the mansion predictions. "I think I'll just count the media camped outside the gates instead. Much better barometer. Though the genius contingent could probably give me more accurate numbers."

"Poll companies do that sort of thing for a living and reach across the country and in others. We don't need to be insular on everything here," Alison remarked quietly. "And Red X would get some credibility via the use of a legal entity as well." She shrugged, just a bit. "Though it depends on what the kids plan to do with Red X anyway, at that. Or HeliX. They might not care." "Whatever you think. You're obviously better at this whole promotion thing. I was just thinking about the amusement factor with the side benefit of charity." Lorna yawned and let her eyes close. "Isn't it what the Red Cross plans on doing though? Do you think we should fund HeliX instead? It's not quite the same impact in the worldview."

"Hrm. Why not make it a package deal. Promotes stuff for either, agendas could mesh well. If they're interested." Alison leaned back, looking out the window. "Actually, two calendars might not be a bad idea. One from Red X, with the volunteers in the middle of the action, and the other for HeliX. Humans and mutants in the same calendar, working for the same goal..."

"Two calendars? You're just making this all sorts of work." Lorna smiled without opening her eyes. "I do like that plan though. Wider audiences, more visibility, twice as much goodwill and cash generated. Make it so, Number One."

"Uh huh." Alison grinned as she noticed that, reaching out to pick up the control to the sound system, lowering the volume just a touch. It was all Lorna's idea, after all. Alison would do the calls then pass along the information and contacts to her. Besides - keeping Lorna busy was one way to keep her out of trouble.

Lorna smiled again as she heard Alison turn down the music and felt her shift just that extra little bit to make it comfortable for Lorna to lie down. She poked Alison's leg and slitted her eyes at her. "Missed you, brat queen," she murmured.

She was feeling rather lazy herself, taking her time before answering as Lorna slowly feel asleep.

"I was here all along, silly."

Current Mood: chipper

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

x-tarot.livejournal.com

There SO needs to be a thread on what scenes/poses/backgrounds the guys are in. Cause.

From:

x-beast.livejournal.com

Hank wishes to point out that, really, the faces can be artistically concealed by shadows, etc, to cater to secret identities. *g* That's not what anyone's buying the calendar to look at, after all.

He's still willing to pose, too, as he's as out as it is possible for mutant to be.