The Young And The Clubless, Wednesday Night 9/7 - Bobby!

[Pixie]

The other JXers had gone off to some club. Meg had wanted to go quite desperately to go but quite unfortunately, this was not possible. Closed areas with many, many people did not bode well for the unseen wings of Megan Gwynn. In fact, it meant squashing, tearing, bending and all other sorts of badness. Really, it was awful. She never got to do anything fun if it meant going out. Not that she really had clothes for a club anyway... Unless it were a rave. She had a lot of shirts and skirts that had glowing things on them which was just cool but not very handy in night time tag.

So Meg had settled in her room. It wasn’t like she really had anything else to do. She’d already transcribed her notes from Theory onto her computer and filed away the paper notes... Well, one never knew when one might get a virus or someone decided to splash water on your poor lappy and short it out... She’d never forgiven her brother for that. Although it had gotten her a brand new lappy for her birthday so she couldn’t com—oh my God, he’d planned it! Meg really did love her brother a lot sometimes. It’d been his suggestion that she burn everything she wanted ‘just in case’... Hee.

Well anyway, she was holed up and trying to avoid being social. If she couldn’t go out and have fun... That’s what the internet was for! She was bouncing between 5 different instant messages and Fiesta, leveling up her cleric. She needed to get up to level 25 so she could get the resurrection ability and well, people always needed a good rezzing. Although the idiots who didn’t listen when people said ‘We can’t rez yet’ really did need to be shot.

“Oi!” she quite suddenly shouted at her lappy, “quit stealing my ratmen you warthog-faced buffoon!” Of course, the other players couldn’t hear her as there was no voice chat and she didn’t have a mic anyway but that was beside the point! Someone was stealing her experience points and she desperately needed them! Honestly, nerding out was the only way she could make herself happy. At least she got to beat things to death with a mace. Okay, she could do that in the Danger Room but not alone and she was not sure she wanted to bother any of the X-Men.

[Iceman]

Oh, JX Clubbing Night. Bobby remembered being that age, going to underage clubs and making eyes at pretty girls who were no more cool than he was but who seemed, thanks to the atmosphere, to be the coolest girls in the room. But clubbing had lost it's appeal to Bobby a good four years ago. He still went to bars every now and then, when he was in New York City, but that wasn't very often, and he had lost most of his interest in that whole scene.

He did know, however, of one girl whom he was sure had wanted to go on JX Club Night very much, but who hadn't been able to thanks to her mutation. Pixie. And so at about eight, Bobby made his way down the hall to Megan's room. He'd thrown on a light grey t-shirt and a pair of pajamas in a plaid of different shades of blue, content to stay in for the night and lounge around.

As he neared her doorway, he could hear yelling coming from inside, and he slowed as he came to the doorway, stopping and sticking his head in to see that Meg was shouting at her computer screen as she played some kind of game.

“Oi!” she quite suddenly shouted at her lappy, “quit stealing my ratmen you warthog-faced buffoon!”

Bobby stifled his laughter by pressing his lips tight together, a grin fighting to pull them apart as his shoulders shook silently. He leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms over his chest, looking as laid-back and amused as can be as he watched her. Hey, she'd quoted The Princess Bride. One of the many reasons why Meg was awesome.

But it was only a matter of time before she glanced over and caught sight of him, and when she did, Bobby fought his laughter to be able to nod to the computer and say, amusement brimming over in his voice, "No, don't let me interrupt. You're on a roll."

[Pixie]

Megan hadn’t quite yet noticed that someone was checking in on her. Or noticed that perhaps she was speaking a bit too loudly at things that could not reply... There was a squeak though. Her doorframe liked to squeak when someone was there. She turned to see who in the world was there. "No, don't let me interrupt. You're on a roll." Meg blushed quite brightly and looked away. She wasn’t quite sure a pajama clad Bobby was a good thing to have in her room.

Especially when she too was pajama clad (A white top with a big silver star on the front and deep green pants) and... And it just wasn’t appropriate. Rather casually she logged off her game and closed her laptop. Not saying a word. Totally silent. She stood, taking a deep breath, suppressing her complete embarrassment. There would be no further fuel for his teasing.

“You... Saw nothing. Heard nothing.” She flitted over to him, poking Bobby very roughly in the chest. “Got it?” Meg perked up an eyebrow, repeating the poking, “What are you doing in my doorway anyway? I don’t recall inviting you.” Now she was just giving him a hard time, evident by the way she turned sharply on her heel, putting her back to him and crossing her arms in an overly dramatic snub.

“It’s not at all appropriate for a young lady such as myself to be receiving such old men visitors at this time of night.” Bring on the insults! Not much of one but still.

[Iceman]

Uh oh. She wasn't saying anything, and that couldn't be good. It put Bobby on edge. At least it wasn't as bad as the time he'd really pissed her off by faking that he was falling to his death during a game of Air Tag, because she'd gone all Crazy Ninja on him and attacked him. But still, he didn't like the silence.

And then all of a sudden she was in front of him, poking him in the chest so hard his hand lifted to cover the area she had prodded. He had a feeling it was coming again, and he somewhat teasingly tried to block her hand, failing in his half attempt. As she turned and stalked back into the room, his eyes followed her, straightening from the door frame and taking a few steps after her. "Aw, c'mon. You were playing video games. That in itself made you go up, like, fifty brownie points in my book."

“It’s not at all appropriate for a young lady such as myself to be receiving such old men visitors at this time of night.”

"Ouch!" he said, one hand pressing over his heart as though wounded as he made a pained face at her. "Looks like I'm not the only one who can turn to ice," he said as he grabbed her chair and turned it around to sit facing the back of the chair, his arms resting on the back. "But if we're going to play the age card, then isn't it past your bedtime, young lady?" he teased her, smiling as he taunted her.

"Nice pajamas, by the way. Real cute." He had a feeling he was going to get a pillow or something thrown at him for that one, but he risked it, grinning at her innocently.

[Pixie]

She still hadn’t (partially) forgiven him for that nasty trick. Feigning death was not a good prank unless it was a shocker... Laying in a bed and then jumping up like GRR. But falling and... Boys were stupid. That’s all it was. It cemented the fact that boys were stupid. Apparently the poking was not a deterrent. He only half-tried to stop her efforts and she was slightly put out. Didn’t she deserve at least a little more determination than that? "Aw, c'mon. You were playing video games. That in itself made you go up, like, fifty brownie points in my book."

Megan turned to stare at him incredulously. She was momentarily stuck in fish mouth mode, gaping... “Where in the heck have you bloody well been in the past year? I’ve played video games this whole time and you’re just now noticing?” She shook her head, “And anyway, it’s not at all appropriate for a young lady such as myself to be receiving such old men visitors at this time of night.”

Well clearly that was not going to work because he was now actually in her room and stealing her chair! "Looks like I'm not the only one who can turn to ice," her fingers curled into tight fists and her nose scrunched up. It was all she could do not to actually growl at him. But then, it was a little better than having a boy on her bed which would have likely made her pass out at the mere thought of it. "But if we're going to play the age card, then isn't it past your bedtime, young lady?"

“Actually,” Meg had turned sheepish, examining her toes, “I was thinking about going to bed... The sharp boars and bored boars were not spawning where they were supposed to… Been waiting for an hour. The rest of my party’d already left.” She pouted. Poor little cleric, all alone and waiting for boars to come and kill her.

"Nice pajamas, by the way. Real cute."

Megan sputtered and blushed. He had to bring up her pajamas. Now she was feeling all self conscious. Without really thinking, she flitted off to her closet and produced a very fluffy blue robe that matched her walls and carefully shrugged into it. A section of the back was missing to accommodate her wings so it was a matter of guiding the fluffiness around them then tying it firmly shut. There. Now she felt better. It was dreadfully warm but she felt better.

“To what do I owe the honor of a visit from Bobby ‘Snowcone’ Drake?” Well she wasn’t going to call him ‘Iceman’. That was an epithet of honor! Snowcone wasn’t. That was a tasty tr—oh God she’d just called him a tasty treat what the hell was wrong with her brain?

[Iceman]

As she started rambling on about whatever game she had been playing, Bobby simply listened from his seat, keeping his face carefully neutral with a pleasant smile. When she pouted, his eys glanced to her lips, noticing the slight tilt down that the corners took when she made this face, the way her eyebrows tilted. She was cute when she pouted.

It took him a few seconds to realize the thoughts in his brain and, more specifically, realize that he probably shouldn't be thinking them. His mouth had formed a tiny quirky smile as he'd seen her pout, and he looked down and away from her to clear his head. His comment on her pajamas was mostly a distraction to himself.

He twisted around to see if she was really flitting toward the door to leave, but when he saw that she was going to her closet, he untwisted to give her some privacy while she got into the robe. It just would have felt weird to watch her change, even if there was no nudity involved. When she came back around him, his eyes moved down, but he told himself he was only examining the robe, not what was underneath it.

“To what do I owe the honor of a visit from Bobby ‘Snowcone’ Drake?”

"Snowcone," he said with a bob of his head. "Nice. You know, I think I should change my codename. 'Snowcone'--now there's a name that'd drive fear into the hearts of every enemy the X-Men come up against." He flashed her a grin and shifted in his seat. "I was coming to see if you wanted to hang out. In fact, I'm kidnapping you, so don't even think about saying no. Here are your options: A) you, me, some cookie dough ice cream, and a movie of your picking. B ) You, me, chilling on the roof - cookie dough ice cream still optional - or C) we see how many of Scott's personal effects we can throw onto the roof before he notices." He gave Megan a grin as he tapped the back of the chair to an unheard rhythm and waited for her answer.

[Pixie]

"Snowcone," he said with a bob of his head. "Nice. You know, I think I should change my codename. 'Snowcone'--now there's a name that'd drive fear into the hearts of every enemy the X-Men come up against."

“I know, I know,” she sighed, half-snuggling into her robe to hide the bottom half of her face. “It’s not very original or funny. But think about it. If you put flavoring on your arms while in ice form and convinced enemies to lick you, they’d be stuck! Or they’d have to rip their tongues...” Megan made a face like she’d gotten a bad taste in her mouth. Only that included scrunching up her nose which made her squeak a quiet ‘ow’ and touch the left side. Stupid nose ring.

"I was coming to see if you wanted to hang out. In fact, I'm kidnapping you, so don't even think about saying no. Here are your options: A) you, me, some cookie dough ice cream, and a movie of your picking. B ) You, me, chilling on the roof - cookie dough ice cream still optional - or C) we see how many of Scott's personal effects we can throw onto the roof before he notices."

The idea and the act were quite nice... Perhaps too charitable. Enough to make her think maybe he pitied her or the JX had put him up to it. After all, what in the world could he possibly see in hanging out with her? He was older, freer and she was a boring, 19 year-old student who couldn’t do much save provide free ‘drugs’... Which was not a Bobby thing, that she knew for absolute certain.

Still, hanging out with Bobby was a wonderful prospect and not one she could pass up. It was quite lonely and he was so very good at cheering her up... “C is very tempting... But I would like to point out that Jean would not at all be happy if we went about tormenting Scott and she can fry our brains with a single thought.”

Tapping her chin, she pondered between the other two options... “We could take my lappy to the roof and watch a movie up there and eat ice cream. Only, we would have to sit very close together and hunch over and ice cream would likely get on my keyboard.” That was just her luck.

Lapsing into silence, she walked a circle around him until she was poised behind Bobby. Her arms draped over his shoulders, setting her in the perfect position to whisper in his ear, “I vote A. And I pick all three Lord of the Rings movies. In a row. Extended editions.” It was a challenge! A mighty challenge too, given almost a ‘scary’ effect by the decision to whisper. There was no way they could manage that. Not unless they fast forwarded most of it.

[Iceman]

Bobby could only laugh at her comment about the possible weapons if he used the codename Snowcone, making a teasingly unsure face at her ideas. But the conversation continued, and except for examining her nose with its new nose ring, he didn't think any more about the physical aspect of her. Bobby wasn't an extremely physical guy anyway--he only did typical twenty-five-year-old guy things like checking out girl's behinds and catcalling to make the friends he was with laugh.

“We could take my lappy to the roof and watch a movie up there and eat ice cream. Only, we would have to sit very close together and hunch over and ice cream would likely get on my keyboard.”

Bobby thought about this for a moment, trying not to smile as he considered making a comment about how he wasn't going to complain about snuggling up to a girl in the dark under the stars...but he decided not to, and instead left out his reaction to that part entirely. "Well, in that case, we could forego the ice cream and make some popcorn," he offered with a smile, hoping that his ignorance of the sitting-close-together wouldn't speak for itself.

The next thing she did might have made Bobby's thoughts go to a very bad place if it had been anyone but Meg. Walking around him, leaning against his back, arms over his shoulders, and whispering in her ear...the last time a woman had done that to him, it had led to naughty things. But she hadn't exactly been whispering about Lord of the Rings, and this was Meg, anyway. They were friends, and she was JX to his X. He was sort of like a teacher to her, or a boss maybe. Sure, she was cute, but he knew nothing would ever come of it because he would never try anything on her. So far, things had never come close to changing on that front.

"Oh my gosh...I don't think that's possible. We'd have to win some kind of Guinness record for that. But I don't have anything better to do," he said. Then a thought came to him, making him grin, and fast as lightning, his hands grabbed hers, pulling her arms tighter around his neck as he sprung up from the chair. She was now getting a piggy-back ride whether she wanted one or not, and Bobby spun around in wild circles a few times before stopping and loosening his grip in case she wanted to jump off of him and hit him or something like that. "I'm sorry, it was just too perfect," he apologized, twisting his head to see her out of the corner of his eye and grinning unabashedly at her.

[Pixie]

"Well, in that case, we could forego the ice cream and make some popcorn."

If he could ignore the idea, so could she... And anyway, that’s what the television downstairs was for though the roof was always nice the time of year... Still, she made a face at the idea of leaving the ice cream behind, “I’d much prefer ice cream, thank you. Oh! Or we could have both!” That was a very good idea if she said so herself... And she did. While ice cream was necessary to her strange diet, both ice cream and popcorn made a nice balance of salty and sweet. And buttery and crunchy and awesome.

Bobby didn’t seem to be bothered with how close she was and that was good. She did love cuddling and hugging people so much. His natural coolness made her feel comfortable too. Especially in summer but as it was fall now, or becoming fall, that was an unnecessary point. "Oh my gosh...I don't think that's possible. We'd have to win some kind of Guinness record for that. But I don't have anything better to do." Darn. Lord of the Rings was out then. She didn’t have the urge for a Guinness World Record.

“Well how abou—EEK!” Megan was cut off from other suggestions as she was suddenly being pulled up. Her chair went crashing to the ground as she used her wings to keep herself from going with it – a couple of effort filled flits pushing her into the air. Megan settled against Bobby’s back, legs going around his waist, giggling madly as he spun. Instead of jumping down when he stopped, she merely clung tighter. Piggy back rides were one of her most favorite things in the whole wide world that didn’t involve sugar.

"I'm sorry, it was just too perfect."

Still giggling, she pressed her forehead to his hair, grinning like the Cheshire Cat, “Two things. Movie switch to Howl’s Moving Castle. Secondly? Do it again!” The tip of her tongue stuck out between her teeth as her laughter continued. Perhaps it was too much but that was just damned fun.

[Iceman]

Bobby didn't need to be told twice. Grinning, he hooked his hands under her knees and resumed spinning around, this time his spins leading him to the door. He stopped spinning and ran through the doorway and into the hall, then spun again a few times before turning and racing down the hallway. He did a few figure eights before turning back and racing for her room. He grabbed the laptop and cord, then went over to her collection of movies. "Where is it, where is it?" he cried, as though there was something coming after them and they only had a few moments to grab Howl's Moving Castle before all was lost.

Finding it, he left her room and ran through the second story hallways toward his own room. There were three floor-to-ceiling windows on the wall opposite the door, and all of them were wide open, making the room quite chilly with nothing to keep out the night air. Just the way Bobby liked it. He ran full speed ahead at the center window, holding tight onto the laptop. Leaping from the ledge, he fell a few feet before landing with his bare (and iced up) feet on his trusty ice slide.

The slide took him up, up, at the sharpest tilt he could manage without losing his balance, and over the roof, where he stepped off the slide, spun around once, and then let Pixie down. He turned to her, grinning from ear to ear, slightly out of breath. "So was that the best piggy-back ride you've ever had, or what?"

[Pixie]

Megan shrieked as he spun around but it was a happy shriek and purposely placed not to be in his ear as that would have been very mean. She could scream very loudly and at a very high pitch. She was seriously surprised when he spun her right out the door and down the hall. They didn’t have a movie or really anything. He was just going nuts with the piggyback ride. But she honestly didn’t care. It was fun! “Onward, mighty steed!”

They were right back in her room and Bobby was scooping up her laptop and such, still carrying her. He was multitalented. "Where is it, where is it?" It was like they were trying to find a bomb! Well, likely he couldn’t continue carrying all this for too long. She grabbed the DVD case and another just in case, “Got it! Let’s move!” The more she thought about it, the more this could technically be training. One person was incapacitated at least from the waist down; the other had to carry... An endurance thing sort of and speed.

They were suddenly out in the hall again and dashing towards Bobby’s roo—wait what? Why were they heading towards his room? She would have asked why it was so bloody cold but she kind of knew the answer to that... The more pressing question was why was he leaping out of the window?! She was ready to let go and fly but in a matter of moments they were raising upward. Megan glanced down and blinked at the ice slide below. He really needed to stop scaring her like that.

Quite soon they were up on the roof, laptop and movie having. She stood very still once she was set down, making sure she wasn’t dizzy as Hell because she certainly felt like it but her head wasn’t wobbly or anything else... A tentative step away from Bobby confirmed that she was not actually dizzy. "So was that the best piggy-back ride you've ever had, or what?" Megan pressed her lips together to keep from grinning, snorting a bit of laughter at how out of breath he was.

“You forgot snacks,” now she laughed properly, carefully crossing along the tiles to the highest edge where she could perch safely. “That was definitely the best piggyback ride in the history of mankind. But next time warn a girl when you’re going to jump out of a window, eh?”

[Iceman]

Bobby threw his head back and laughed heartily at her response as he followed her up to the highest point of the roof. He lowered himself to sit beside her and set the laptop down in front of them both. Before taking his hand off of it, he turned to look at her, saying, "You have all your files backed up somewhere, right?"

But a moment later, he cracked, smiling and saying, "I'm just kiddin'," as he let go of the laptop and it stayed perfectly in place. He opened it and turned it on, and as it was booting up, he looked out over the grounds surrounding the school. "Somebody should definently paint this picture," he said decisively. "I mean, look at it. It's beautiful. I'd do it, but my only art expertise is little stick figures that look like Cyclops." Easily distracted as always, he turned to her, saying, "Have you seen those? They're on basically every table of every sub-basement room I've ever had to attend a meeting in. I'm thinking about selling them to pay for college where the X-Fund falls short." He grinned and gestured for her to put in her password, while he reached across her to pick up the movie she'd said they should watch.

"Howl's Moving Castle is a cartoon," he said, surprised and with a neutral tone. "You would be into cartoons," he teased her as he turned it over and began to read the story on the back. "His home has legs? That's his home?! That thing's hideous!" As he cracked it open, he shook his head. "You watch some crazy stuff."

"You know what, they need to make a movie about us. The X-Men. With Bobby Drake as the main character, played by...Ashton Kutcher, definently." He peered at her. "Makeup could do wonders, though of course it'd never look as cool as the real thing, but...I bet they could get someone who could almost pull off being you." Bobby laid back on the roof as he continued to muse about the movie of their lives and mission. When he spoke again, however, he was a bit more serious. "The whole Weapon X thing would make a good movie..."

Bobby rarely talked about Weapon X, and he wasn't sure how much Megan knew about it as he glanced over at her. It was the darkest part of his life, by far, and not something that he cared to think about. But it was a part of his life, so it came up every now and again.

[Pixie]

"You have all your files backed up somewhere, right?" Her eyes went scarily wide and she sort of squeaked in a minor panic. She knew perfectly well that he wouldn’t do anything and that it was all backed up but she couldn’t help the automatic reaction to the threatening of her lifeline to the outside world. On there, no one cared that she was pink... "I'm just kiddin'." Meg scrunched up her nose a little and muttered, “Better be, frat boy.” She wasn’t entirely sure where the ‘frat boy’ comment had come from but it seemed appropriate.

She watched her screen quite intently as her dear laptop booted up. "Somebody should definently paint this picture," he said decisively. "I mean, look at it. It's beautiful. I'd do it, but my only art expertise is little stick figures that look like Cyclops." Meg looked up at the scenery, smiling faintly. He was right. Perhaps they needed to get Piotr on the roof. He was an artist if she remembered correctly. Meg kind of wondered if he ever wanted to paint her wings but then realized that such a thought was highly egotistical and she was anything but. "Have you seen those? They're on basically every table of every sub-basement room I've ever had to attend a meeting in. I'm thinking about selling them to pay for college where the X-Fund falls short."

She glanced over to Bobby, blindly putting in her password and perfectly at that, “I think I’ve seen one or two but I don’t think they’d actually make you any money. You should try making a web comic.” That probably wouldn’t get him any money either but it would be kind of funny to see how people reacted to his funny little stories. The start up sound had long since passed and the wallpaper was there for all to see. It was... kind of embarrassing now that she thought of it.

Megan sighed a little as he went on ragging about the movie. “It’s an anime,” she softly corrected. It wasn’t that big of a deal. “We could always watch,” she looked at the second movie she’d grabbed, quite blindly, “... Beauty and the Beast? I could have sworn I grabbed Ghost Ship.” She flipped the case over a couple of times then simply set it aside veeeery carefully, then snatched Howl’s Moving Castle back to pop the disc into the drive and start the movie (which was also technically Disney even though it was Miyazaki first). So interested in starting the movie was she that she honestly didn’t hear him talking until he got to ‘Ashton Kutcher’. Now she was paying enough attention to give a very emphatic, “YUCK.”

It was then that she realized he was talking about making a movie about their lives. "The whole Weapon X thing would make a good movie..." Well that killed any amusement she had about the idea. Megan made a slight face, growing rather uncomfortable. She didn’t know any details about Weapon X. She had never asked. It didn’t seem like the thing people should talk about. Kind of like one of those things that society pre-well no. It was exactly one of those things people pretended didn’t exist or happen and she was kind of happy to keep it that way. Not that she wasn’t sympathetic. It just made her physically ill thinking about it.

Breathing deeply, she did her best to keep herself from feeling too ill, “Well I couldn’t be in that movie then anyway. I wasn’t part of that, if you remember. Now if you wanted to make up a storyline, then we could think about actresses for me. Maybe we could get that Irish thing what played Luna Lovegood... Evanna Lynch.” The movie was playing. The intro was introing. It was very pretty to look at, beyond pretty even - It was art.

[Iceman]

Bobby’s eyebrows raised a fraction of an inch as he saw the wallpaper on her computer. His eyes went first to the collar around the girl’s neck, then followed the chain to see that it was attached to a safety pin…that was in that guy’s cheek?! “That’d be kinky if it wasn’t, you know, kinda gross,” he said, unable to block the tiny smirk that tugged at his lips as he glanced at the object of his teasing. Then the movie began to start, and Bobby settled in to pay attention.

By the time the movie was over, he was sprawled out on the roof parallel to the computer, his head beside Meg’s leg, with an arm under his head. As the movie ended, he sat up, rolling his head around on his neck and stretching his arms. “I’m not tired,” he announced, looking at Meg. “Are you tired?”

“We should get some grub,” he said as he shifted onto his butt and then carefully stood. “I think there’s still some ice cream in the freezer.” He’d been stealing someone’s - and he had a feeling it was Piotr’s - ice cream for the last week, truly meaning to get his own every time he went out but of course forgetting every single time.

When the computer was off, he gathered it and the DVDs in his arms and then, moving to the edge of the roof, flashed Pixie a grin. “Last one to the kitchen’s a rotten egg,” he said as he stepped off the side of the roof and began to lower out of sight.