The following does not reflect the views or opinions of Marvel or the author known as 'Kinetically Charmed'.
Entry number fifty three:
I have no sanctuary. You'd think in a 32-room mansion I could find at least one 10 by 10, secluded space to hole myself up in and work on my stupid useless poetry assignment, but no. Apparently this is nothing more than a mere pipe dream. I tried the library, but Jubilee was in there, practicing her singing, because apparently the acoustics are, and I quote, "bitchen" in there.
And please, don't even ask me why she was practicing her singing.
I tried the kitchen, and basically gave that thought up immediately, since there are literally at least 5 people in there at any given time. Just wandering around, looking for food.
Obviously I tried my own room, which was disgustingly being "occupied" by Remy and Rogue, who didn't even bother to put a sock on the doorknob before going at it. And then I tried Remy's room, and discovered the reason the Gambogue hadn't taken up in there was because Alex had accidentally broken open a bottle of Axe body spray in the hallway, causing the entire boys wing to smell like the Jersey Shore.
You would think on a Friday evening, the morons around this place would actually have plans, but apparently everyone who lives here is a giant loser.
Myself included.
Anyway, as you can see, this is why I was forced to invite myself into Wisdom's room and set up camp on his bedroom floor. It was the perfect location; The guest rooms were far enough away from The Situation, and he was just lounging around on his bed, watching Jeopardy, so I wouldn't be remotely distracted.
Except for the fact that after 10 minutes of trying to read some stupid poem, that doesn't even rhyme, by some old dead dude, I was completely incapable of focusing on anything but the fact that I could feel Wisdom staring at me. With that stupid little half grin of his. And sure enough, when I glanced up at him, there it was.
I rolled my eyes and dropped my book onto my lap, "What?"
"Don't you think you'd be a little bit more comfortable up here?" He asked, turning his amused grin back to Jeopardy.
Here's the thing; Ever since my argument with Doug on Monday, things have been... increasingly slow between Wisdom and I. In the carnal sense. It's not as if I actually agree with Doug, at all, but the stupid jerk got in my head. I was reminded that Wisdom could literally leave, with very little notice, at any time, and so I found myself passively avoiding any sort of physical contact with him beyond harmless flirtation.
I want to make sure this whole, having fun thing, actually stays fun.
So I picked my book back up and flipped it open to a random page, turning back to it with a frown, "I'm not really sure that's the best decision."
"And why's that, Pryde? Worried that you won't be able to keep your hands to yourself?" He asked, with that self satisfied smile evident in his tone, "Come on, love. I won't bite. Even if you ask me to, I promise."
I pressed my lips together and decided that he was probably right; I would be far more comfortable up on the bed. Who knows, maybe subconsciously, my physical discomfort is the reason that I wasn't even remotely able to focus on the stupid book of poetry. That one is probably a long shot though.
I tossed the book up onto the bed and grabbed my notebook and pen, taking them along with me to sit down next to him on the vacant side of his bed, with my back propped up against the headboard.
"There, see? Isn't that better?" He asked as I cracked my book back open.
"Sure." I muttered, burying my nose in the book, positively determined to actually start working on my assignment, no matter how stupid it was. After a few minutes of forcing myself to read, I peered up over the top of the book at the TV screen, shooting a quick glance towards Wisdom who seemed content, in a bored sort of way.
"Why Jeopardy?" I asked suddenly, lowering the book to look over at him, "Seriously, are you like, 85 or something?"
"It's good for your brain." He turned to me and offered a smile, "And to be perfectly honest, I don't have much consistent down time in my line of work, which means that I'm generally incapable of keeping up with programs with an actual plot. Plus, it's my mum's favorite."
I pressed my lips together in a thin smile and looked over at him through the corner of my eye.
"She thinks Alex Trebek is a fox."
"I liked him better with the mustache." I said, closing the book and dropping it next to me.
"You've got a thing for the lady tickler, have you?" He asked, his eyes dancing with amusement as he laced his fingers together and propped his hands behind his head.
I smiled and pulled my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around my legs with a shrug, "Not particularly, I just feel like his face looks naked without that mustache." I lifted a finger to my chin and ran the back of it along my jaw thoughtfully, "I do like a little bit of scruff though. You know, that devil-may-care look."
"I usually prefer my women without any facial hair, myself." He turned to me with a smirk before reaching out to run his thumb along my jawline, "But I think you could pull it off."
I snorted, "You're such a smart ass."
"I am." He said with a nod, his forefinger still crooked under my chin and his thumb still gently stroking my jaw. His eyes slid down towards my mouth, and that was it. I was a goner.
And judging from the sound he made when I pressed my lips against his, I'm pretty sure it's safe to say he was a goner too.
Bye bye self control. Who knew the Jeopardy song would be such great mood music?
He had his hand tangled in my hair at the back of my head and I was fumbling with the knot on his tie while simultaneously trying to undo his top buttons, when Professor Xavier's voice, as loud and clear as if he were sitting right next to us, requested everyone's presence for an emergency meeting in his office.
Wisdom pulled away from me, sucking in a sharp breath through his teeth, and dropping his head back onto the headboard, "Damn telepaths..."
I let out a few deep breaths and nodded silently in agreement.
Nothing like Xavier's voice in your head to ruin the mood.
"Well look at that," Wisdom said with a lopsided grin as he reached up to tuck my hair behind my ear, "She's speechless. If only I'd have known earlier how to shut you up. Come along, Pryde."
Obviously, if I'd been in a clearer state of mind, I might have put things together sooner. Like, Professor Xavier only ever calls meetings in his office when shit is real. But it wasn't until I walked into that over crowded room and saw Felicia and Magneto, standing tensely behind the Professor while they waited for everyone to arrive, that I realized that shit was real.
It was really real.
Tabby and Jubilee were the last to arrive, at which time, Storm quietly closed the door and turned to the Professor with a nod.
"Thank you all for getting here as quickly as possible-"
"What the hell is goin' on?" Remy interrupted, casting a quick glare towards Magneto before looking back at Felicia, "Is everything okay? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." She said, flipping her hair back over her shoulder with a resolute nod and a forced smile, "Um... Well, sort of."
"Sort of? What does that mean, sort of?" Remy frowned. "Did something else happen?"
"Perhaps if you would calm down and let the woman speak?" Magneto said with a terse smile, quirking an eyebrow at Remy.
"And what the (eff) is he doin' here anyway?!" Remy demanded, jabbing a finger towards the silver fox, turning back to Black Cat with a scowl, "You went to him?!"
"Jesus, Remy. Calm down." Rogue hissed.
"Is this just some like, crazy love quartet shit happening? Because I was totally in the middle of something..." Tabby sighed with a bored eye roll, ignoring the glare she'd earned from Logan.
"The report on the fire was just finalized." Felicia's brow puckered and she looked down at the floor and shook her head, "They're saying it was arson."
Everyone was silent. Even Remy. Which is saying a lot, because normally when Remy is right about anything, he hoots and hollers and rubs it in all the doubters faces. But not this time.
"And I felt that, in light of this new development, I should share some information which might be pertinent." Magneto lifted his chin as he spoke in that domineering Alpha Dog tone of his, letting his eyes settle on Rogue for probably a bit too long before saying, "Pyro has defected."
"He's broken?" Jamie's small voice spoke up from the back of the room and Ray rolled his eyes at him,
"No stupid, he switched sides."
"So he's on our side now." Jamie said, trying to clarify, like the poor little simple dear that he is.
"No." Remy squared his jaw and stared daggers at Professor Xavier, "He's working for Him."
"Him who?" I heard Illyana whisper to nobody in particular with an incredibly confused look on her face.
Jubilee snapped the gum in her mouth and rolled her eyes as if it was totally obvious, "The Toe Chopper."
"I think it's incredibly sexist that everyone is just assuming this mystery attacker is a man." Rogue interjected, crossing her arms with a frown, "I'm just saying that women are perfectly capable of being sociopathic, homicidal maniacs too."
"Sure, one week a month." Ray muttered with a smirk, because he's an idiot, and Remy held a hand up with his eyes practically boring into Rogue's.
"I saw him, remember?" He reminded her, with a frightening level of conviction in his tone.
She pressed her lips together and gave her head a shake, "Yes, but we don't know-"
"I know this is him." Remy interrupted sharply.
Professor Xavier heaved a sigh and gave his head a shake, "Of course, we have no proof-"
"Proof?!" Remy balked and Logan shot him a sharp glare and gave him a grunt to put him back in his place.
"We have no proof," Xavier continued with a pointed look towards Gambit, "But it is safe to assume that Remy's accusations are correct. That this person... whomever he is, could possibly be seeking out people close to him."
"Yes! Did you hear that?!" Remy burst out suddenly, jabbing a finger towards Scott, "I was right, bitch! I was right!"
"But why?" Storm frowned, ignoring Remy's outburst with expert patience, and Xavier shook his head, throwing his hands up with a helpless shrug.
"I have no idea."
"So what you're saying is that we're all in danger?" Amara knit her brow, glancing around the room for some moral support, "Why don't we get bodyguards too, then? How come it's just her?" She jerked a resentful thumb towards me and I frowned in response.
"No one is in any more danger than they were before." Xavier said quickly, before Amara could get a rise out of anyone, "However, we will begin to take some more advanced precautions. Communicators must be worn at all times, and all activities outside of this mansion are to be done in groups. You will check in here, so that we know where you are at all times. That, coupled up with our new security measures around the mansion grounds, will keep us all perfectly safe."
"You're stayin' here now, you know that right?" Remy said, his eyes boring into Felicia's with a no nonsense stare.
"Um..." Felicia glanced towards Magneto and cleared her throat, "I've asked Magneto if I could stay with his team for a while."
"You've gotta be (effing)-"
"Gumbo." Logan barked and Remy flipped an outraged hand towards her,
"You can't seriously be thinkin' of letting her stay there?!"
"It should go without saying that Miss Hardy is a grown woman. And while the offer for protection is naturally still on the table, I am in no position to force her to stay here against her will." Xavier informed Remy with a frown, before adding. "I'm sure she will be perfectly safe with Erik and his team."
"Okay just..." Scott spoke up for the first time, running a hand through his hair with his brow puckered, "I have to ask, Professor. What are we going to do? We have to catch this guy, what if he tries to attack the house again? We can't just... stop."
"Scott's right." Bobby nodded determinedly, "This is our house. This is our rules."
Scott seemed somewhat taken aback by Bobby's sudden passion, and apparent lack of grammar capabilities. "Thank you, Bobby..."
"We can't stop. And we won't stop." Bobby continued seriously, looking around the room as if he were about to launch into an incredibly deep speech. "We run things, things don't run we! Don't take nothin' from nobody!"
Tabby's snort laugh was pretty much the only thing that clued Scott into the fact that Bobby was clearly just being a dick. Although, one can't really blame him. Scott set himself up for it.
"Alright." Professor Xavier held up a hand before Bobby could continue quoting Miley Cyrus and pressed his other hand to his forehead with a sigh, "I would love to come up with an efficient strategy, but at the moment we haven't got a lot to go on. So unless anyone has any ideas..." He paused and looked around the room before letting out another defeated sigh, "We'll come up with something. As for now, the heightened security measures will have to do. You're all dismissed."
"Will have to do..." Remy snorted derisively before spinning around and stalking out of the room.
"I didn't hear you spewin' out ideas." Rogue snapped after him, hurrying to keep up with him, likely so she could continue bitching.
I glanced up at Wisdom for the first time and saw his brow drawn and his lips pursed together, the wheels in his head clearly spinning over time. But when he noticed me watching him, he plastered on a fake smile and took my hand in his, leading me out of the office. He was quiet the entire walk back to my room, and he didn't say anything until we were inside with the door shut behind us.
"I don't want you to worry."
"I won't." I lied pathetically. Because of course I was going to worry. OF COURSE I WAS.
He took a step towards me, looking down at me without bothering to hide that intense brow furrow from before, and he cupped my jaw gently.
"This is what I was hired for."
I'm pretty smart guys. I can read between the lines, and I certainly knew it was coming, even without him saying anything.
This was it. This was as far as this... relationship or whatever this thing was between us, was allowed to go. No further, no more. This is what he was hired for. And now he has to do his job.
"I know." I replied firmly.
He gave me a nod, "Trust me?"
"Of course."
"Good." He said before leaning down to press a chaste kiss against my forehead. He pulled back and stepped away, giving me a tight, slightly insincere smile, "Because I have a plan."
He gave me a pointed look and told me to stay put, and then he was gone. Just walked right out the door without filling me in on any sort of plan, leaving me standing there, alone in my room, hoping that no psycho giant furry men were going to plow their way through my window.
Again.
