I didn't dream I'd get this far- until a few nights ago, when I did in fact dream that, go figure- but here I am…I'm quite pleased with myself. What an adventure. I'm going to feel so lost for a few minutes without this story looming over me. I guess then I'll go back and start one of the stories I drudged up from one of my desk drawers a few day ago.
"This…sucks…." Jubilee gasped as she clutched her head where a floating robotic beach ball with stingers had tried to remove her brain through her skull. Or that's how it felt. "Why doesn't Jamie have to do this?"
"He's too- watch out!" Rogue ducked as a killer beach ball ground itself into the wall where her head had been seconds before, and then fell, broken, to the ground. She stood up and flicked her hair out of her face. "He's too young. And this is not a punishment. Not entirely." Up in the control room, Scott pressed a button, ending the session much to the present new mutants and X-Men's relief.
"Not bad, trainees. Meet up here in five minutes to review your session."
"I think the worst part of all of this is that Scott's in charge. At least Kurt and Hank make it fun." Bobby muttered just loud enough for the other mutants on the floor of the Danger Room to hear.
"Zat's ze point, Bobby. Vas your mission fun a few days ago?" Kurt teleported into the control room.
Bobby paused. "It was at first, but then…not really."
"At least we didn't get creamed then." Rahne muttered mid-transformation.
"And who, like, says 'trainees' anymore?" Kitty grumbled as the elevator doors opened in the silvery hall outside the entrance to the Danger Room. "Hurry up."
The mutants piled into the elevator and met Scott and Kurt in time to start learning what they could have done better from the X-Men themselves.
Laura was idly trimming roses in the back yard, her hair in a poorly done loose ponytail to keep it more or less out of her face. It was sunny and warm outside, and the pleasant weather reflected Laura's mood. Jean idled up, still slightly upset over her discussion with the Professor that morning, as evidenced by a small frown playing about her lips.
"How goes it on your end?" she asked Laura wryly, stopping to study the roses. They were quite healthy, and almost as good as if Ororo's weather powers had been used instead of more mundane methods of plant rearing. She reached out and touched a rosebud gently, seemingly intent on studying it. Laura glanced up at her from a crouch where she'd been mercilessly hacking and pulling all plants that weren't supposed to be growing in that bed.
"Which part? Logan's sending mixed messages, which isn't really anything new but he'll do something really neat and then jump all over me. Won't even let me out of his sight." True enough, Logan was sprawled in a lawn chair by the pool pretending to watch some of the students swim and reading a paper. "And the Professor knows everything but speaks of none of it. Stupid kids are trying to act like we're all friends now just because we all got beat up together."
Jean looked at something over her shoulder, distracted by something someone did in the pool, but turned back to Laura.
"Well, that's better than the looks I'm getting. Scott's still not speaking to me, by the way. Every time I try to ask him what's up he'll mutter something and go hide in the X-Jet."
"Oh, I bet he's just pissed because he didn't get to come along."
Jean laughed gently. "Yeah…that's probably exactly it. And then the Professor's acting very strangely around me. It's like he doubts me or something. I haven't had a Danger Room session in days…I don't know. At least the headaches are gone now. And nothing's randomly floating around any more."
Logan absently pulled the small table floating near him back to the ground and went back to eavesdropping- sorry, reading, and watching out for the safety of the resident mutants intently.
"And as for Logan, I'm sure it'll work out. Both of you are relatively new at this family thing, so you're going to flop now and then. Don't worry, it'll work out." She paused. "It's time for lunch."
Laura stood up, wiping the exposed claws on her right hand on the bottom of her shirt before resheathing them, and critiqued her handiwork. Deciding the roses looked fine, she turned to follow the exodus to the kitchen for food, but paused when Logan didn't move and gave her a very pointed expression.
"Save me a seat," she asked Jean, who nodded, glanced at Logan, and walked off gracefully.
"So," she meandered over to Logan in her dirty jeans and oversized t-shirt. "What do you want?" It wasn't really a question.
Logan calmly folded up his newspaper and pulled the small table back to the ground again so he could set the paper on it. "Mixed messages, huh?"
She was lost before they'd even started. Logan noticed.
"What sort of mixed messages do I send?" he leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees and studying his clone.
"Mixed messages, like…like when you don't think I'm looking while I'm doing something and you smile, but once I do, or do it wrong, you jump all over me. Or when I wreak havoc on someone who deserves it-" Bobby and the rosebush incident a few months before came to mind "-and you bust an artery yelling at me and then laugh when I leave."
He stood up and glanced around, heading towards the back door. Laura fell into step beside him.
"You laugh," she hissed accusingly, green eyes narrowed. Logan looked like he was about to smile as they turned down the hall that led to the kitchen.
"I was about to say that you deserve it, but after whatever that was just now that would be a lie. You have problems."
"Oh- I have problems! I am not the only problem-haver in this mansion. Look in a mirror! Or look at me and think of yourself. We are both very screwed up people!"
"Exactly," Logan said as they turned into the overcrowded kitchen. Laura blinked and paused long enough to get soundly slammed into by a half-exhausted Sam with a peanut butter sandwich, smearing it all over her and getting plant soil all over him. She decked him upside the head, which made him fall into Kitty, who was innocently picking the bacon out of her BLT, who in turn fell into someone else, and everyone started arguing or falling into the mess created…and life continued.