Disclaimer: Susana's mine, everyone else is Marvel's

Disclaimer: Susana's mine, everyone else is Marvel's. Anyone else noting the unfairness of this arrangement? Thanks to Amanda, who "helped with something!"- more than one something, actually. Yay for good lines excerpted from emails and IM's! :)


Notes:

sound
*thought*
} telepathic conversation {

Setting: Westchester, early the next morning (ok, not so early...about 7:00-bear with me and assume the X-people are sleeping in or something.)

Susana edged slowly away from the center of the bed, leaving Jono to catch up on his sleep. She had only a vague recollection of waking up at about one in the morning, when he came to bed after working with the professor. She slipped on a pair of jeans with her pajama top and stumbled downstairs for an infusion of the nectar of the gods. Sex was fantastic, food was wonderful, and love conquered all...but without a steady supply of coffee, what was the point of life?

When she arrived in the kitchen, she was dismayed to find that she was first up and thus obligated to actually start the coffeepot. With a resigned sigh, she dug around in the pantry until she found the bag of hazelnut-flavored coffee that she'd hidden there after the last grocery-shopping trip. She briefly considered making the whole pot with her specially bought grinds, then shook her head. *I'd never hear the end of the bitching about 'girly coffee'. Besides, it'd be a waste when you could fill most of the guys' mugs with motor oil and they wouldn't object...hell, they probably wouldn't even notice the difference.*

While the coffeemaker bubbled, she leaned against the bar and stared out the window at the woods around the mansion. When it pinged its readiness, she emptied the pot into an oversized mug, then tossed out and replaced the filter and grounds, and filled the reservoir with cool water. She flicked the switch to on, then picked up her mug and took a seat in the widowsill. She scowled briefly at the idea of the day's main activity- a training exercise in the woods- then shrugged. *It's gonna happen anyway...no sense lettin' it ruin a good cup of coffee. Wonder if he'll be gettin' his ass outta bed, or if I'll have to wake him.*

She curled her legs under her and squirmed away from the edge of the windowsill, savoring the view outside, her coffee, and the rare silence of the mansion. A slight shuffling from right outside the door broke her contemplative mood. She looked up at the new arrival and smiled. "Mornin', Logan. How's it goin'?"

"Good enough," he grunted. "Better if that's the good coffee in the pot. I smell that fancy junk you like." He glared at the mug in her hand suspiciously, then glanced over at the coffeepot, which was done brewing.

She laughed, held up the mug. "Don't worry...this is all the flavored I made. You're quite safe with the pot, it's full of real stuff." He made an inarticulate sound of appreciation and filled a mug, then sat down on one of the benches beside the table.

"Got all that stuff you bought yesterday into the room. Didn't even try to hook it all up, though. I woulda gotten pissed, shredded something. Didn't think you'd want that, since today's his birthday and that's his present."

"Got that right...I'm sure he and I can figure it out later. Provided he can be bothered to get outta bed today."

"Tired 'im out, did ya?" Logan gave her a knowing grin. "Don't lie, I heard ya. Hell of a distraction technique."

Susana's nose inched up slightly, and she twisted on the ledge until she could give him a superior glare that would have done Monet proud. "I am not solely responsible for his being tired, or distracted. He was out late working with the professor on controlling his powers more- hence, he's sleepy." She snickered, and her glare faltered, then gave out completely. "Besides, he's Jono. I love him to death, but you coulda had a full-size brass band in the hall, a skywriter outside, and a movable billboard saying 'This is your birthday present', and he'd still say he didn't believe you." She continued giggling between sips of coffee. Logan ignored her until he'd finished his coffee. He pushed himself off of the bench and rinsed his mug, then turned back to her.

"You ready for that training exercise today?"

"Uhmm...yeah, sure. What time are we starting?" She finished her coffee, then slid off of the ledge and stuck the empty mug in the dishwasher.

"We start...in about two hours. You might wanna go warm up for a while, since yer up already." He nodded towards the back lawn. "I'll be out there, if you want someone ta practice with."

"Thanks, but getting my ass handed to me on a platter is not my idea of a good morning activity. I think I'll do some yoga, run a bit. I'll see ya in two hours."

~1 hour and 45 minutes later, in Susana and Jono's room~

"Hey there, sexy...you gotta get yer ass out of bed. We've got that training thing in fifteen minutes." Susana looked down at Jono, who had curled up in a ball and had his head securely buried under a pillow, and laughed softly. *Poor guy. I'd let ya sleep...but I doubt you'd really appreciate Logan's payback...or Scott's lectures about duty.* She propped a knee on the edge of the bed and ran her hand down his spine. He extricated an arm from the blankets and halfheartedly pushed at her hand.

}G'way. Whatever it is, it's not worth getting up for.{ He pulled the sheet closer around him and edged away from the side of the bed Susana was leaning on. She stared at his back and shook her head slowly, then sank down onto the bed.

"Training session...may not be worth getting up for, but is the extra sleep you'd get really going to be worth sitting through a lecture from Scott? A Danger Room session with Logan?" She pulled the pillow away from him, then grabbed a handful of sheet and yanked. At the same time, he loosened his grasp on the hem of the sheet, so that Susana's tugging caused her to tumble from the bed onto the floor, arms and legs tangling in the sheet as she fell. Jono rolled over and propped himself up on an elbow.

}You ok down there?{ Her only response was a furious glare as she untangled her legs from the sheet and climbed back onto the bed.

"You need to get dressed. We've got 15 minutes 'till starting time, and I don't intend to be late." She laid back against the pillows and closed her eyes to wait, and thus missed the nature of Jono's movements. He straightened his arm, then stretched the other and shifted his weight so he was braced over her. Her eyes snapped open as he relaxed his arms slowly. A mischievous glint popped into her eyes as she wrapped her arms around him and rubbed figure eights up and down his back. Alarm bells rang faintly in the back of Jono's thoughts, but his defiantly one-track mind paid them no heed, because Susana had just wrapped a leg around him and the nerve impulses rhumba-ing through his brain were all carrying the same message- "we're gonna get some, we're gonna get some!"

You would think he'd learn.

Susana bent her free leg at the knee, and used the leverage her position gave her to flip Jono- and, as an unfortunate side effect, herself as well- over the edge of the bed and onto the floor. She extricated herself and stood, then pulled the still dazed Jono to his feet. "Clothes would be good now. You've got ten minutes. I'll see you downstairs." And she bolted out the door, leaving Jono to stumble into appropriate clothes for the outdoors training session.

~~~half an hour later~~~~

Jono leaned against an oversized boulder in the woods behind the mansion. }see anything, gel?{ She shook her head and waved a hand at him in a silencing gesture. }Sure you don't want me to be lookout for a while?{

}Yes, I'm quite positive. I'm the quote-unquote gatherer in this little setup...I have better peripheral vision. Now shut up. Jean'll find us.{

Jono pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. *this is the logic she uses- "I'm the gatherer." God save me.* He was brought back to reality by a tug at his hand. Susana was scurrying around the boulder to determine where their next hiding spot should be. *Well, if she's the gatherer, then I suppose that makes me...* He aimed a relatively weak blast across the clearing, felling a small tree and halting Jubilee and Angelo's approach, *the hunter. Or at least the sometime protector type.* He followed her across the clearing and to the base of a small statue.

Once they arrived, she dug in a pocket on the belt she wore with her uniform and pulled out a small key. She stuck it into an inobtrusive keyhole built into the base, twisted it, and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She unfolded it and grinned, then held it out to Jono. }'S a map. Says if we follow it, we each get a new CD...for making it through this. Heh. Charming.{ "Well, shall we go?" He turned to go, and staggered slightly as she latched onto his back. She pressed a quick kiss to his ear, then shifted. "What? I want a piggyback ride. Seems a shame to waste this whole teamwork spirit now." He shrugged, shifted his grasp on her legs, and headed towards the mansion.