Half a Year of Living Dangerously

XXX

"This is completely unreasonable!" Wisdom shrilled. "This kid wants a merger with Xavier's, an' I doubt th' ol' cueball's gonna thank us fer puttin' it into his head that we're in any way happy about that!"

"Remy ain' de one what said it'd be perfec'ly all-right."

"You shut up, LeBeau, an' quit referrin' ter yerself in th' third person or I'll smash yer fat 'ead into th' wall." Wisdom growled, his blue eyes sharpening and narrowing like those of a wildcat about to pounce. "I on'y want yer talkin' if yer've gott'an 'elpful idea, orright?"

"Dat's jest fine wit' Remy." The Cajun shrugged, jamming his hands into his pockets. "I be 'ungry. We shoul' go out f'r a steak."

"Th' last thing I need right now's a man-date." Pete muttered, stuffing his hands into his hair. "Wot I need is ter talk with someone wot I can trust."

"Den call Chase. Dat'll calm de bot' of us down." Remy grinned snidely.

"I don't need a damn head-shrinker!" Pete replied briskly. "Jus' some company." The other man moved toward him, but the Cockney warded him off with a handful of suddenly-blazing hotknives. "An' not yer company, either. Why don'tchyer go buy yerself some dinner an' some cheap female company? Or cheap male company if 'at's th' way yer swing."

"Look, Wisdom, it ain' like de Profess'r expects us t' accept dis deal right off de bat, non? We coul' jest relay it t' 'im, non? No use in obsessin' over de whole damn mess when we jus' be de middlemen?"

"Guess yer right, an' I should lay off th' stressin'." Wisdom shrugged. "Howabout that steak, eh? Yer payin'."

Gambit chuckled slyly. "Guess dat man-date don' soun' so bad now, does it? Yo' payin' fo'e de drinks, oui?"

"Fine, fine, y' damn Nazi." Wisdom shrugged into his rumpled overcoat and retrieved a crushed box of American Spirits from his pocket, lit it with a hot-knife, and sucked the smoke into his system. "Yeah. I'm ready. Let's get outta 'ere."

XXX

Chase sat facing the television with a blank stare in her crystalline blue-on-black eyes. She mushed the food on her plate around with her fork, and paused every once in a while to take a sip of her cranberry cocktail. Beside her, Cable sat studying her. All around them were chuckles and comments accompanying the film playing on the wide-screen plasma television.

She watched the figures of light and colour move and interact on the screen, not really focusing on them, losing herself in the intermittent rhythm of the dialogue and pictures. Suddenly, she felt the psi-bond flare to life. ^Something's bothering you.^

^No shit, Nate.^

^Talk to me.^

^No, I'm trying to watch the movie.^ his dry chuckle startled her.

^What a load.^ he replied. ^Come on. You miss Worthington?^

^Sure. Who's gonna keep me warm tonight?^

^Don't joke, it's bad for your psychological health if you bury your true feelings. And it'd hurt MY feelings if I thought you weren't being honest with me. Like now.^

^Mind your own business, Nate.^

^You ARE my business.^

^Fine. Yeah, I miss Warren.^

^I'm sure Hank'll let you sleep with me.^

^Nah. The clinic creeps me out, you know that.^

^Sure. Whatever. You're not the one in the flonqing wheelchair.^ this drew a staccato laugh from her, and he smiled, knowing he was making progress. ^So?^

^Jesus Christ, Nate. The guy loves me. What am I supposed to do?^

^You have feelings for him, too, don't you?^

^Yeah, sure I do. I really care about him, but I don't want anything. . .God, I don't want. . .it'd be amazing if. . .^

^Take your time.^

^Oh, stow it! You know what I mean!^

^You don't feel "that way" about him?^

^Exactly.^

^You told him, didn't you? No good shrink wouldn't.^

^I did, of course I did. But I also let him know that I DO love him, and then I. . .^

^Oh, stab your eyes. What did you do??^

^I may or may not have missed his cheek when I kissed him goodbye.^

^Oh, shit.^ he rolled his eyes, and stood up, scooped her off the couch, and headed, with her tucked beneath his arm, into the kitchen. Much to his relief, Hank didn't notice. "All right, what on EARTH possessed you to do such a silly thing? Pardon the pun."

"Well, I just wanted him to know that. . ."

"You jinxed his trip. I thought you told me you wanted him to find a relationship in London. Now he's going to be all mixed up as to what you want for him. Do you want him? Do you not? It's ridiculous, you can't expect him to make up his mind!"

"I'm sure I made it clear that nothing could ever happen between us."

"Then why the hell would you KISS him, Chase? God!" Cable thrumped his fist on the table in frustration. "Women ARE evil."

"It's not like that. . ."

"It's EXACTLY like that, Chase. Maybe. . .maybe you really DO want to have a relationship with Worthington. You've gotta do more sweeps on your subconscious."

"I don't think so." Her face scrunched into the pouty look she got when she became serious. "I'm not physically attracted to Warren. At least I haven't been for a long time, but like I said, I'd have to be pretty cold not to feel SOMETHING for him, at least now that I have the Phoenix to dictate my emotions."

"What? Whoa, wait, back up. You never told me you were attracted to Warren."

Chase rolled her eyes. "This is ridiculous. EVERYONE must have known that I had a severe crush on him. You know, back when I was. . .alone." she referred to her pre-Phoenix days as when she was "alone."

"I didn't, and you sure as hell never told me!"

"Well don't get all uptight about it, I got over myself so long ago I barely even remember the times I used to blush like a schoolgirl whenever he'd look at me."

"Chase, you WERE a schoolgirl."

"You missed my point entirely, you dweeb." She punched his shoulder. "But I mean, that was when I couldn't feel, really, anyhow. I couldn't experience my emotions, but now that the Phoenix possesses me, I manage to pick them apart."

"Maybe you should talk to the Professor or something."

"Why? I'm perfectly fine!"

"No, I don't think you are. I wasn't the only one affected by that big blast you used on Stryfe last week. Maybe She's taken over another piece of your brain."

"The Phoenix isn't going to take me over. She promised we'd be a symbiotic pair. I'd host her, and she'd allow me to feel."

"Still. I've learned the hard way that 'I'm fine' never really means 'I'm fine.'"

"If it means that much to you, I'll do it."

"Thanks." He patted her shoulder softly. "So do you want me to sneak you a scotch and coke or do you wanna go back and watch that overpriced chick-flick?"

"Show me the alcohol." She grinned wickedly and delved into the refrigerator for a 2-liter coke, while he scrambled in one of the highest overhead cupboards and drew out a green-tinted bottle of whiskey. He filled a tumbler about a quarter of the way, and handed it to her to fill with coke. She did so, swirled it, then held it up thoughtfully. "What do you want to toast to?"

"To a year of living dangerously."

"You know, I would," she said quietly, "but I don't think we really lived the ENTIRE YEAR dangerously."

"Well, then, to HALF a year of living dangerously."

"Amen," she grinned, and nudged her glass against his bottle. "Bottoms up, Nate!"

XXX