The
excitement on the plane was palpable; they had never gone on vacation as a
group before. At best, one or two people at a time tried to shake the life of a
thankless hero for three short days, which was a nice thought, but rarely did
it actually happen. It was strange to see everyone aboard in civilian clothes,
rarely was the team assembled without being suited up.
Xavier arranged for the students to participate in an educational exchange of
sorts, placed with other factions of the Mutant cause around the country for
two weeks while the teachers could enjoy some downtime far from the problems of
the world.
Jean,
Betsy, Storm, and Kitty laughed as they trotted down the stairs in strappy heels and sandals. When the trip had been revealed,
they agreed that it was necessary to wear wildly inappropriate attire the whole
time.
"So,
after we get our bags and check in-" Bobby asked as they went through
customs.
"Sleep,"
everyone shouted back.
The
girls were up early the next morning, unable to resist the sound of the surf
outside their windows. Xavier kept the surprises coming with a private beach
house for them. "C'mon guys! It's daylight!"
They
got no answer in return.
"Y
know, we could-"
"What
you got in mind," Jean's eyebrow arched with curiosity.
"A
little vivid imagery," she gestured to her own purple bikini for effect.
"We
want to see the beach today, not get held up in hotel rooms."
"Says
you," Betsy laughed.
"Then
by all means," Jean stepped aside just in time to dodge a smack from
Betsy.
"I
could slip through and unlock his door," Kitty snickered.
"We
don't need them to have fun," Jean grinned.
One
would think a private beach meant it was easy to pick a spot. Not so. The girls
stood there for an hour at least before Kitty took charge and tossed her bag
onto the sand, heading into the water with a body board. Jean used her power to
drag a few lounge chairs over from their original spot, along with an umbrella.
Storm took her leave to the water as well, while Jean stretched out with a
happy sigh. The redhead had been trying to ignore Betsy's thoughts for a good
hour when she finally gave up.
"Looking
back at the house every five minutes isn't going to make him come out, you
know."
"It's
not every five minutes."
"I'm
sorry...every seven and three-quarters," Jean smiled.
"Jean,
they're taking forever!"
"You're
a big girl, go wake him up. Or..." a particularly evil grin spread across
Jean's mouth.
"What."
"I
know a way to get them out," she smirked and sent subtle images of the
girls in their bikinis.
"What
are you doing?"
"You
know perfectly well what I'm doing," she laughed and threw an arm over the
back of the chair. A few minutes later, a large shadow crossed over Jean.
Betsy
looked over the top of her sunglasses at Warren,
"it's about time you showed up."
"It's vacation, we are allowed to sleep in. You should try it
sometime," Warren
grinned.
"We
were just going in, too bad," Jean gave a mock pout.
"In the water? Let me help," Logan
scooped Jean up and tromped down to the water, tossing her in.
As he turned his back to the water, Jean surfaced and curled
her index finger in a come-here gesture, yanking Logan in with little effort needed.
"Hey!"
"You
were so helpful, I only wanted to do the same for you," she laughed,
yelping when Logan
dove at her. It was clear a few botched grabs later that Jean was shielding
herself, which amused and infuriated him all at once.
"You
can't stay behind that shield forever," Logan smirked.
"You
wanna bet," she grinned.
