I'm alive! I seem to have gotten over my writer's block so chapters should be coming more regularly (hopefully) from here on out. Hugs to all you wonderful folks who have reviewed and followed! Thanks for keeping me motivated!
Disclaimer: X-men is the property of Marvel, which is owned by Disney. Cheyenne, however, is my intellectual property.
In his bed in the med bay, Toad woke up blearily. He smacked his lips at the uncomfortable dryness of his mouth and winced at the stinging reminder that his lower lip had a piercing forcibly removed from it. Sitting up in bed, he cast his eyes around for liquid refreshment, or the normal lab-coated persona that provided it but saw no sign of the blue-furred doctor. A bit of white caught his eye and he noticed that a slip of paper had been taped to the sidebar of his bed.
'Toad,
You slept through breakfast and I didn't want to leave anything out for fear it would spoil. I'm working on a project down the hall- hit the call button I've left you when you're ready to have breakfast. DO NOT TRY TO GET UP.
-Hank'
"Water doesn't spoil." The green-skinned mutant muttered irritably, casting his eyes about for the aforementioned call button. Spotting a red button in a square plastic frame affixed to the opposite sidebar of his bed, he pressed it.
Down the hallway, the device associated with Mort's call button emitted a shrill, obnoxious beep that startled Hank, who had been bent over his work in deep concentration. In his surprise, he inadvertently jumped backwards and knocked a device that resembled a stereo off of one of the many cluttered shelves in the workspace. A green light flickered on and the device began to add to the general cacophony of the call button operated by the thirsty amphibious mutant by producing a high whirring noise.
"Oh, dear." Hank murmured, backing up as the top of the device began to slowly slide open.
While a rather interesting series of events was being set in motion in the lower levels of the mansion, the mansion's current female residents were at the local mall.
"We try to find variation in the places we send them for summer vacation," Storm was saying as she browsed a clothes rack, "but as some of them share the same predicament as Hank, it is difficult."
"I can imagine." Myth responded sympathetically, her mind immediately turning to a green individual who had eventually become branded as a terrorist as a result of society's response to his outward appearance. 'We can hit the men's department of the store next door after we're done in here.' She thought, a little excited at the prospect of shopping for Mort. A small smile pulled at her lips at the thought of him, leaning his head back on the sofa with a game controller clutched in his hands, as she flipped through shirts on the other side of the rack. She paused, both in movement and in her train of thought, as she came upon a promising shirt. 'The back looks low enough.' She considered. 'And the front isn't equally low.' Checking out the sleeves, she noted that they would only come to just above her elbows. 'Perfect.' She thought, pleased as she pulled the black button-up top from the rack. "Hey Storm, what do you think of this?"
"Hmm.." Storm considered, coming to her side and measuring the back of the top with her fingers. "It looks about right to me, but just to be sure you had better try it on." She smiled. "It comes in multiple colors as well, so you will not have to have variety forced upon you." She nodded her head to the corner of the boutique occupied by Rogue, Kitty and Jubilee.
Kitty was proffering a beige mini-skirt and pink leggings at Rogue, who was steadily repulsing them. Upon hearing Myth's giggle, she stuck her tongue out at them, catching the gist of their conversation.
"I'm going to go try this on." Cheyenne stated, smiling, and made her way to the back of the store. Finding a changing stall, she deposited her purse on the tiny bench and closed the door. She slid off her t-shirt, tossing it on top of her purse.
She undid the few buttons done on the top and threaded her arms through the sleeves, pulling on the probable purchase. Nimbly she buttoned up the front and turned to catch her reflection in the stall's mirror. 'Good,' she mused, 'it just covers my bra.' She chewed her lip thoughtfully. 'But just to be sure everything fits ok, I should probably try it with my wings out. Probably best to take it off, let my wings out then put it back on. I don't want to accidentally rip anything.'
Cheyenne was half-way through the buttons on her potential new top when a beeping sound from the confines of her purse alerted her that she had a text message. Pushing aside her t-shirt, Cheyenne rifled through her purse until she came up with her cell phone and selected the new message alert.
Text Message from Dan Evans to Angela Rodriguez and Cheyenne Jackson: Hey, can I call you guys later? I need your advice.
'Hmm, what are you up to ?' Cheyenne mused, typing a reply.
Text Message from Cheyenne Jackson to Dan Evans and Angela Rodriguez: I'm out shopping with some people right now then we're getting lunch. Would around three your time be alright?
Text Message from Angela Rodriguez to Cheyenne Jackson and Dan Evans: Works 4 me, I'm having lunch with my abuela. What's up Muffins?
Text Message from Dan Evans to Angela Rodriguez and Cheyenne Jackson: I want to ask a girl out and I want y'alls opinion on whether the way I have in mind is over the top
Text Message from Angela Rodriguez to Dan Evans and Cheyenne Jackson: If this girl is Magdalena Martin, I WILL hit you with a brick!
"Amen to that." Cheyenne agreed aloud. Dan was a sweet, easy-going guy and by some cruel trick of fate had ended up dating Magdalena Martin in their high school days, a girl who shared none of his personality traits. The literary-minded Cheyenne had taken to calling the fair-haired and complexioned girl the White Witch to her friends and they had similarly taken up the nickname, although occasionally they had felt the need to make a single letter alteration to the second half. The relationship had ended badly and Dan hadn't been out on a date since.
Text Message from Dan Evans to Angela Rodriguez and Cheyenne Jackson: I'd hit myself over the head with a brick if I even considered dating the White Witch again. Trust me, she's no Magdalena. I'll talk to y'all at 3. Happy shopping and lunching.
" 'Atta boy!" Myth praised, pulling off the top and placing her phone on top of her purse. Carefully she extended her wings, making sure that they didn't show over the top of the stall. She sighed in relief as the tension she'd been starting to feel in her back abated.
There was a soft, smooth swishing noise as, in her relaxation, her talons slid free.
"Oh." She commented, glancing at her elbows and feet. "Oops." Sighing, she concentrated on retracting her talons alone. No sooner had she succeeded than her cell phone beeped, startling her and causing her talons to pop free once more.
"Dagnabit!" Cheyenne fumbled for her phone, irritated.
Text Message from Angela Rodriguez to Cheyenne Jackson and Dan Evans: Good boy! Cheyenne-get over your fear of people seeing your shoulders and buy some tank tops! Ttyl!
'It's not a fear.' Cheyenne thought grouchily, concentrating once more on retracting her talons while keeping her wings extended. 'I'm just not comfortable showing that much skin.'
'It was an honest mistake.' Cheyenne told herself, carefully placing her tray containing her lunch on a suitable table in the mall's picnic court. 'So quit blushing!' She scolded herself, slinging her purse over the back of a chair and depositing three shopping bags on the floor.
Only one bag contained clothing that she'd purchased for herself. She had ended up buying five of the shirt that she had tried on, in different colors, and a black pencil skirt shorter than what she normally wore that Jubilee had talked her into buying.
The other two bags contained the purchases she had made on Mort's behalf, with the rest of the group's, though primarily Jubilee's, input. When they had gone to check-out, the salesclerk, a pleasant gentleman close to retirement age, had commented on her and Rogue's accents. They had exchanged pleasantries and as they made their departure, he commented that her husband was a very lucky man.
The group hadn't gotten thirty feet from the counter when snickers and giggles had broken out all around.
"Cheyenne!" Jubilee had mock-scolded. "How could you not invite us to the wedding!"
"Really, Mrs. Toad!" Kitty had played along, teasingly. "The nerve!"
Amused by this occurrence, the group of ladies had made their way up to the mall's picnic court to have lunch, with a blushing Cheyenne in tow.
The blush on her face, which she was still fighting down, was less a result of the salesclerk's honest mistake than what her immediate mental reaction to it had been: 'I wouldn't mind waking up to him every morning.' Taking a deep breath, Cheyenne rearranged her napkin as she attempted to rearrange her thoughts which were circulating around the realization that she not only liked the green mutant in the cordial way of a person that she'd helped rescue from a bad situation but she liked him in the way that meant she wanted him to continue hitting on her and only her.
"Crowded in here today." Rogue commented, slinging her own purse over the back of a chair and placing her tray on a table.
"Yes, it is." Cheyenne agreed automatically, drawn out of a series of thoughts that ran along the lines of : 'He has nice biceps. Rebound? He likes Tolkien. He hits on me. I like him hitting on me! I bet he has nice abs too.. Huh?!' She studied Rogue's face as the Mississippi native settled down across from her. "Does it being crowded make you uncomfortable?"
"Eh," Rogue replied, "it doesn't bother me as much when I know I'm covered, but it does bother me. Though Ah think it's more me being defensive than anything else."
"I can understand that." Cheyenne nodded. "But," she added trying to strike a lighter tone, "we must make these sacrifices for fashion!"
Rogue snorted. "I'd rather let fashion die in a corner and go for a ride on mah bike. Although," She admitted, "I did end up getting some nice things today. Don't tell Kitty or Jubes though- then they'll try to drag me shopping every weekend."
"Shopping every weekend?" Kitty inquired, catching the tail-end of that statement as she approached the table. "Have we finally gotten you to see the joys of retail, Rogue?"
Cheyenne chuckled as Rogue grimaced in exaggerated distaste, while Kitty stashed her purchases under a chair. "Not a chance, Kitty. I'm still shocked that you managed to cajole me into buying things."
"Well, Jubilee did help." Kitty admitted gracefully with overdone poise, raising a hand to rest over her heart. "Seriously though, Rogue, I'm glad you came with us today."
"This belt is going to look spectacular with my outfit for the fourth next week!" Jubilee crowed, holding up her shopping bag with a pleased look on her face as Storm pulled into the garage at the mansion.
"You already know what you're going to wear?" Cheyenne asked in surprise.
"You're surprised? I thought we'd already established Jubes' passion for fashion." Rogue commented dryly from the passenger seat.
"Well, she is the main event, so to speak." Storm reasoned as she put the car in park.
Tabitha sighed. "It just won't be the same without Jean telekinetically throwing up those colored powder balls for Scott to blast, though."
"Hey!" Jubilee whacked her friend on the shoulder with the back of her hand. "Our routine will be fabulous!"
"Oh, it totally will!" Tabby agreed, raising a hand to defend against further smacks. "Just tradition, ya know?"
"I get what you're saying." Rogue commented as she climbed out of the vehicle, shopping bags slung over her arm.
"It's tough to see things change." Kitty pointed out from the third row of seats as Jubilee and Tabby slid out of the vehicle.
"So, Jean's a telepath like the Professor and Scott blasts things?" Myth inquired, trying to follow the line of conversation as she had yet to meet the honeymooning mutants as she patiently waited for Tabby to lower the seat back so she could escape the third row.
"Yep!" Kitty verified cheerfully, opting to phase through the third row rather than have Jubilee lower the seat back to let her out on her side.
"From his eyes." Tabby elaborated. "We call him Cyclops."
"Wait," Cheyenne queried in confusion as Tabby flipped the lever and lowered the seat for her, "You said eyes, so why Cyclops?"
"Scott can not control his powers." Storm explained patiently as the Texan climbed out of the vehicle with her shopping bags slung over her arms. "The visor that he generally wears for control is a single piece, hence Cyclops."
"Oh, I see."
Rogue chuckled. "Ya know, it never really occurred to me that with that nickname the general conclusion would be that Scott only has one eye."
Jubilee pulled a face at this, envisioning Scott Summers with only one huge eye in the middle of his forehead.
As the group left the garage, Cheyenne paused as the other girls made for the upper levels of the mansion to deposit their purchases. 'Should I drop off Mort's stuff first?' She considered.
"Are you going to drop off Toad's clothing?" Storm inquired from beside her, remaining behind as Kitty, Rogue and Tabitha headed up the stairs.
"Yes, I think I should." Cheyenne confirmed.
"I'll go with you." Storm said as the two began to make their way to the elevator. "I want to check on Hank. He's started working on a project, and when he gets involved he forgets to eat."
"They have to be in the kitchen." Kitty proclaimed, leading the mansion's slightly worried female population forward. "Piotr wouldn't leave without leaving me a note if they'd gone somewhere."
"I hear them in there." Cheyenne announced, relief in her voice as her elevated hearing picked up on the hushed sound of familiar voices from up ahead.
"What on earth are they up to?" Rogue queried interestedly as the group moved at a quick pace towards the kitchen.
Storm and Myth's visit to the lower level of the mansion had found an empty med lab, empty laboratory space, an empty danger room and silence to their knocks on the men's changing room. They had gone upstairs to find Rogue, Jubilee and Tabby standing at the top of the stairs in perplexed discussion. After exchanging information, and discovering that both the upper and lower levels of the mansion were empty the women had gotten rather concerned. Selecting the kitchen as the most likely grouping point for the bunch of males, they had set off with Cheyenne and Rogue still having shopping bags slung over their arms.
"There you all are!" Kitty proclaimed happily as they moved through the doorway to see all of the mansion's males gathered around, chips, sodas, and in Logan's case, beer scattered around them.
The guys turned at this, revealing an unfamiliar face in their midst.
" 'Ro!" The unfamiliar man, who had warm brown eyes and rather shaggy brown hair, called out happily, beaming.
"Forge!" Storm cried, rushing forward to hug the man.
Cheyenne finished putting away the last of her new clothes, fitting the hanger head over the bar in her closet and pushed an errant strand of dark brown hair that had escaped from her ponytail behind her ear. Glancing at her bedside clock, she was surprised to find that it was just about time for dinner.
'I suppose it makes sense though,' she thought, 'I spent a long time downstairs before I came up to call Ange and Dan.' She shook her head in remembrance. "It sounds like something out of Star Trek." She told her empty room.
Forge, who was apparently a technopath and inventor, had been working on a teleportation device when he had an accident.
"In hindsight," he had mused while recounting the story again for the girls' benefit, " I really shouldn't have had that orange soda sitting there."
"Oh, I love orange soda!" Tabby had interjected, grinning slightly manically.
"Me too!" Forge had replied enthusiastically, grinning back at her just as manically.
"Oh lord, think of the children." Bobby had muttered, earning snickers from those seated around him and an elbow to the ribs from Jubilee, who loyally attempted to swallow her giggle, and failed.
The device had activated and worked, though not as Forge had intended as it had trapped him in limbo, able to see the goings on at the mansion but unable to interact or be seen. He'd been literally trapped in time for years, coming out looking the same as he'd come in. "And I'd be there still if Hank hadn't knocked over that shelf in my lab!" He'd concluded happily, beaming at the mutant who was clearly his best friend.
After that they had all spent some time either getting to know or catching up with the technopath. It had been nice, Cheyenne mused, all of them sitting together talking and sharing snacks. Although if she was being completely honest with herself, the experience had been particularly pleasant for her since Mort had immediately made space for her next to him. She paused with a hand in her disheveled hair, recalling the way his face had lit up with laughter at the face she'd made when Forge had called her "the Texan with the pterodactyl wings". Coming to herself with a start, and realizing that she'd been standing for about half a minute dreamily pondering the dimple that appeared in Toad's left cheek when he smiled.
"Oh, dagnabit!" She sighed gustily, flopping onto her bed stomach first and giving her wings a half flap before letting them drape over her outstretched arms. He'd seemed pleased with what she'd bought him. The bandanas for his hair had been a good call, when he'd seen the one with the Union Jack plastered on it he'd grinned so widely he'd winced from his sore lip. She wasn't sure whether she was more relieved or disappointed that she'd had to go upstairs to take the call from Dan before he got to the bag with the boxers in it. She'd been, despite that she knew it would probably embarrass her and make her flush fire engine red, looking forward to what he'd say when he saw them.
' I really need to call Angela for some girl talk.' She thought , absently kicking her feet. 'Maybe she'll have some ideas on whether or not I'm rebounding or…' She rose with another sigh, hopping to her feet and pulling out her messy ponytail. Sliding the hair tie over her wrist, she padded to the bathroom and picked up her hairbrush from where she'd left it next to the sink. Brushing out her hair, she then proceeded to pull it back into another ponytail. She frowned at her reflection, noting the bumps as her hair refused to cooperate. 'Oh, why bother,' she thought, pulling out the ponytail once more, and opting to just leave her hair down, tucking the front strands behind her ears.
Mort paused distracted from the conversation he'd been participating in with Rogue, Remy and Logan concerning motorcycles when Cheyenne walked through the door. Her hair was down. It looked thick, and invitingly soft flowing over her shoulders and on her back and wings. His fingers positively itched to bury themselves in the mass of dark brown hair as he caught her eye and patted the chair next to him, grinning as she smiled and walked towards him.
"Everything okay back at home?" Kitty inquired, as Myth settled herself next to Toad and flashed a quick return smile to the Professor at the head of the table.
"Yeah, my friend wanted some feminine advice on a plan for asking a girl out."
"Ohhhh," Kitty replied, "and what's the plan?"
"Well, she routinely gets a cherry tart once a week so he's going to write 'Go out with me?' in whipped cream." She paused, doling out some pasta onto her plate as Mort passed her the bowl. "And give it to her for free of course."
"Awwww!" Kitty giggled. "That's so sweet!"
"Is he going to buy it in advance or get the bakery to do it?" Rogue inquired, interest piqued from the discussion on motor oil slowly giving way, as Logan and Remy also began to take an interest in the conversation.
"His family owns the bakery." Cheyenne explained. "It's how he met her, though she went to high school with us. She's a nice girl; she was a viola."
"Well, I'm glad she was able to recover from being a stringed instrument." Remy put in impishly.
Myth stuck her tongue out briefly at Gambit while Rogue lightly slapped him upside the head with a gloved hand.
"You were in the orchestra?" Toad asked, extrapolating from the clear unspoken 'she's one of us' tone in her voice.
"Yes," Cheyenne confirmed, making contact with penetrating topaz eyes, "I was the pianist."
"You know," Jubilee mused aloud, "we should really get you together with Angel. You two are cut from the same cloth."
"Angel, huh?" Cheyenne remarked innocently, while Toad stiffened next to her, mechanically chewing the piece of food in his mouth and swallowing. "Does she play the piano?"
There was a pregnant pause. Then the table erupted in laughter.
"Oh…my.." Tabby stuttered between giggles, finally bursting into an uncontrolled bout of laughter.
"Angel is a he." Professor Xavier, informed her in a highly amused tone of voice.
"Ohhhh!" Cheyenne replied in realization.
"He's got wings." Kitty explained. "They're feathery and white, hence Angel."
"And," Tabby added mischievously, "he looks the part too."
Next to Cheyenne, Mort clenched his fingers around his glass, only pulling back in time from shattering the cup with his grip to take a sip of his drink.
"Yes, yes he does." Rogue agreed.
"Ah, but we all know dat you prefer Le Diable Blanc, right chere?" Remy put in, waggling his eyebrows at her.
Rogue's response and the subsequent banter that followed between the two was lost on Cheyenne with Bobby's next comment.
"I can't wait to tell him this next time I see him. Warren Worthington the Third, Mr. Perfect Prince Charming…" here he broke into chuckles. " 'Does she play the piano?' "
Cheyenne paused, then let out a surprised bark of laughter. "I hope you weren't planning to set us up, Jubilee." Toad shifted in his seat and focused his golden eyes on her face, taking in the shocked cast to her features.
Jubilee raised an eyebrow. "And why not?"
"Worthington as in Worthington Industries, right?"
"Yes." Storm confirmed, the attention of the upper half of the table once again having been garnered.
"Then he's my cousin, and I'm not really that big into incest." She explained.
Toad who had been pondering the possible onset of the blonde winged mutant with cold loathing, relaxed at this and now leaned back in his chair. Content, he watched the Texan explain that her mother had been a Worthington, but upon her decision to marry Cheyenne's father, a small-town mechanic, that the Worthington's had disowned her and had ceased all contact.
Myth let out a small laugh. "I can't believe it. I have a cousin and we both have wings. It's crazy!"
"If you'd like," Professor Xavier offered, "I'm due to have a call from him sometime soon about a situation he was monitoring for us, and I could give him your phone number."
"I'd like that very much." Cheyenne responded gratefully, filled with nervous excitement at the thought of meeting a family member like herself. "Thank you!"
Lying in bed that night, Cheyenne found herself unable to sleep. Thoughts ran through her brain without seeming to stop, alternating between the joy and slight apprehension of a family member who was also a mutant - her father had been very excited for her when she'd told him- and the mishmash of feelings brought on by her new 'neighbor'. This development she hadn't shared with her father. Toad was now ensconced in the room next to her, courtesy of Nightcrawler who had, with his customary good-natured charm, transported Toad to his new quarters and offered to do so until he could get around easily enough on his own. Toad had gratefully accepted, ready to be out of the Med bay.
'He seemed pleased that I'm next door.' She thought, smiling and shaking her head as she recalled saying goodnight to him, how pleased he'd seemed at her concern that he could manage alright with his foot.
"Feel free ta stop by anytime to check on me love." He'd grinned at her impishly, dimple appearing in his left cheek. "Day or night."
"Dagnabit." She muttered, finding herself contemplating his dimple once again. 'I REALLY need to call Ange in the morning.' She thought, nestling into her pillow. Focusing on her breathing, she relaxed and slowly drifted off to sleep.