She knew he was trying to be friends with her, but she didn't know if she wanted his friendship. Could she put everything else aside and simply be friends with Warren Worthington III? Was his friendship worth it? If she were to become friends with Warren, was she certain she would not have an ulterior motive, like revenge on the father? Too many questions with too few answers caused Thea to push all of it to the back of her mind and ignore him in the process.
But it wasn't as though she could ignore him completely. When she looked at Warren, she did not see his father. His presence, though disconcerting, was also refreshing. He was kind and patient and witty. He was arrogant, but not sickeningly so. He was confident, and Thea admired that. He was not afraid of her cold attitude, which surprised her. Also, somewhere deep down inside, she respected Warren immensely for rejecting the Cure.
Thea climbed up the stairs to access the roof over the middle part of the mansion. It was the only flat roof at the school, and was one of the many escape routes that could be taken if the school were to come under siege again. Thea liked the roof because no one went there, and the view of the sunset was fantastic. All the problems seemed smaller higher up.
She leaned against one of the castle-like pillars at the edge of the rooftop. The sun was just beginning to descend below the horizon. The sky was alive with bright pinks and oranges, and Thea smiled. A large bird flapped its wings gracefully across the bright sky. She wondered how it would be to fly during the sunset when the sun was no longer angrily glaring down at her world but instead getting ready to go glare down on the other side of the world. The bird looked carefree, following the air currents to dip and glide elegantly in the sky. Only when Thea saw the bird coming closer to the house did she realize it was actually Warren.
When he was flying, he looked…magnificent.
Warren flew closer to the mansion and landed carefully next to her.
"Hi," he said, smiling at her.
"Hi."
His wings were still extended and Thea finally saw up close what he looked like in his full glory.
"What?" he asked as he sat next to her.
She looked away, embarrassed that he always seemed to catch her staring. "Nothing."
"You were looking at me weird," Warren pressed on.
"It's nothing. Just that, I never saw your wings extended and not mutilated before."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
After a pregnant pause, Warren asked uneasily, "Thoughts?"
She turned to him and smiled softly. "I'm speechless," she said honestly.
Warren looked towards the sunset, and Thea was pleased to see the blush creeping into his cheeks.
"I thought you didn't like wings," he said.
Thea furrowed her eyebrows. "When did I say that?"
"You said those people who said they were beautiful are foolish."
She frowned. Warren seemed to warp things in his mind, which could be dangerous. "No, I said they were foolish if they didn't consider the more practical matters about having wings. That has nothing to do with them being beautiful," she clarified.
"Oh."
"Oh," she mocked.
"So you think they're beautiful?" he asked, hopeful.
She shrugged. "It doesn't matter what I think," she said.
"Why?"
She sighed dramatically and looked at him as though it should be obvious. "Because, at the end of the day, you're the one who has to square with your abilities. You should think your wings are beautiful because you think so, not because I do." Thea realized her slipup and blushed a bit. She hadn't meant to reveal that she thought his wings were beautiful.
Warren nodded, catching the slip. "Thanks," he said quietly.
"Sure."
They were silent for a while until Warren finally broke it like he always did. "People…they've always liked me or didn't like me for reasons beyond my control. First they liked me or didn't like me because of my father. Then they liked me or didn't like me because of my wings. My father said he loved me despite my wings – that did wonders for my self esteem," Warren said dryly. "Some girls were turned on by the idea of a guy with wings and I didn't do anything to change their minds, to make them care about me."
"That's why you don't like them?" Thea asked.
There was a long silence, until Warren finally said, "Pretty much."
Warren definitely had some sort of psychological complex involving his wings, and Thea had to admit that his story interested her. What was his past like? Was he a troublemaker when he was a kid? Was he a loner? Did his little speech there imply he never was in love? Wait…why did she care?
Quickly, she refocused her attention onto the current conversation.
"They aren't you," Thea said rather cryptically.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"Our abilities don't define us. We define our abilities. I know that sounds like just sappy crap, but it's true. And I know that for you, since your wings are so visible, you have it a lot harder than most people, but they're just one part of you," Thea explained. She found it ironic that she was giving him advice about dealing with his mutation when she herself was struggling with accepting hers.
"You do sound like a self-help book," he teased.
"Shut up," Thea snapped, though she was smiling.
The last bit of the sun crept down below the horizon.
"Thanks," Warren said, more seriously.
"Whatever."
There was silence for a while until this time, Thea broke it.
"It must be a bitch to sleep. Can you even sleep on your back?" she asked randomly. Whoa, since when did she start asking those "getting-to-know-you" questions? Perhaps she wanted to be friends with him after all?
Warren chuckled. "No, not really. It feels awkward. I wind up just sleeping on my stomach most of the time."
Thea snickered. "Like a baby," she teased.
Warren looked outraged for a moment before his stance calmed and he smiled. "Why are you so interested in my sleeping habits anyway?" he asked insinuatingly.
Thea's eyes narrowed and she looked away. "Don't get any ideas," she warned.
"I have lots of ideas," Warren countered charmingly.
"Really? Your bird brain can fit all of them?" Thea retorted.
Warren laughed and Thea smiled.
From that day forward, Warren and Thea began a tentative friendship. Thea was reluctant to initiate any kind of contact, but Warren soon learned that she never rejected his company. When he would interrupt her thoughts on the rooftop, she would look momentarily miffed and then talk with him, sometimes until the sky went black. When he would bang on her door with snacks and economics papers to grade, she would roll her eyes and open her door wider to let him in, and they would grade their classes' papers together.
Warren had never put so much effort into befriending someone, and now he knew why. Thea was quite self-absorbed - not because she was always talking about herself and not letting anyone else talk, but because she rarely shared her thoughts and emotions with him. A lot of the time he thought she was in another world, and he wondered how much attention she truly paid him. It was hard to continually try to be friends with her when she seemed so apathetic to the idea.
But sometimes he would catch her looking at him as they talked or graded papers, and her expression wasn't one of coldness or annoyance but rather warmth. She would always look away once she realized Warren had caught her looking, and Warren would never tell her that those looks were the only way he knew she liked his company despite how she acted.
About three weeks later, Thea questioned him on his continual presence in her life when he landed after flying around before the sunset. He took great pleasure in knowing she was watching and would sometimes show off with fancy dips and tumbles in the sky.
"Why the hell are you always around?" she asked in an annoyed voice once he landed on the rooftop.
"Well, Althea, I like your company," he replied easily.
She let out a small, derisive laugh. "My company is not coveted much," she said.
"By me it is," he said.
She looked at him seriously. "Why?" she asked softly, showing a bit of emotion.
Warren shrugged as he stared at the setting sun. "You want brutal honesty?" he asked.
"Always," she replied.
"You were the first person to ever criticize me," he said.
"That's an awful reason to want to be my friend," she stated.
"Would you just let me do the explaining?" Warren replied, feigning impatience.
Thea lifted up her hands in surrender and Warren continued.
"My father, he criticized me for having wings, criticized me for being different. Same with the other students at high school and college. My professors were either too scared to criticize me because of my difference or they criticized me more because I was different. All criticism was based on the wings. But you criticized my actions, my thoughtlessness," Warren explained.
"You do realize that in this place, hardly anyone would criticize you for having wings. And I'm sure other people would have criticized you for jumping out of a window. You could be friends with lots of other people by your reasoning," Thea said.
Warren shook his head. "Who else would call me an idiot while healing me?"
Thea laughed heartily. "You have a warped way of choosing your friends," she said.
"Nah. That was only what got me interested in being your friend," Warren said.
"Oh?"
"Yeah. I chose to befriend you because you seemed so against the idea," Warren said, smiling.
"You liked the challenge?" Thea asked.
"Pretty much," Warren confessed.
"How typically male," Thea grumbled.
"Hey! I take offense to that," Warren said, nudging her with his shoulder.
She nudged back. "I'm your friend now though. So, that means I'm not a challenge anymore," Thea reasoned.
"No, the challenge now is to get me to be your friend," Warren said.
"What? You…you are my friend," Thea admitted with a bit of difficulty.
Warren appraised her as she fidgeted uncomfortably next to him. "Really?" he asked doubtfully.
"Well, yeah."
"How?"
"What do you mean how? You just…you just are," she said, getting flustered.
Warren enjoyed making her uncomfortable because it happened so rarely. "I want to be your real friend, like Kitty is, not just the guy you put up with," he revealed.
"I gripe to Kitty about PMS and other girly stuff. You sure you want that?" Thea asked skeptically.
Warren laughed.
"And…I just don't put up with you," Thea said, sharing something that Warren actually did not know.
"Really?" he asked quietly.
"Yeah. You're…It's good when you're around," Thea admitted.
"So that whole thing about you being annoyed with my presence is all an act?" Warren asked.
"Oh, no. It's annoying…"
Warren laughed.
"But good…too," Thea added softly.
Warren smiled slowly.
"So, your challenge has been achieved," Thea said in an uncertain voice.
Warren got the feeling Thea thought that once he got her to be his friend, he would abandon her. It was as though Thea was just waiting for him to leave their fragile relationship. He shifted his body to face Thea's, which invaded her personal space a bit. She fidgeted but faced him in return.
"Maybe," Warren mumbled. "But I like your company."
Thea's eyes, Warren had quickly realized, were usually guarded. Occasionally he would make her laugh, and her eyes would sparkle for a bit. Occasionally he would watch as she fought with Jubilee, and her eyes would blaze. But this time, right then, her eyes were filled with surprise and uncertainty. Warren knew then that his next challenge would be getting more surprised looks out of her while reducing the ones of uncertainty.
"You're staring," Warren teased as he caught Thea once again looking at him.
Thea reverted her eyes to the Ethics papers she was grading on her bed. "Shut up," she said.
Warren chuckled from Thea's desk chair. "I already know you think I'm cute. So, really, it's okay, stare away," he said, reclining as bit so she would have an easier view of his bare chest.
Thea scowled. "Arrogant…ostrich," she muttered.
"Ostriches can't fly," he retorted.
"God, you're infuriating," Thea said annoyedly.
"I know," he admitted. "Would it make you feel any better if I said I thought you were cute?" He wondered how she would react at his flirtatious comment. He already knew Thea wasn't one to flirt, but maybe she would give it a shot.
She stiffened on her bed and looked at him warily. "How is that supposed to make me feel better?" she asked.
Warren shrugged. He had hoped for a more fun response. "Just, you know, level the playing field," he said.
"What game are we playing?" she asked carefully as she resumed grading the papers.
Why was she always this difficult? Every time Warren tried to do some harmless flirting, she shot him down. It was like she never heard of friends flirting. Perhaps she just didn't want him to get the wrong idea, which was stupid because it was blatantly obvious that she wasn't interested in anything remotely romantic. And to be honest, Warren did not want to get involved with her in that way. She had too many problems, too many secrets, and not enough trust for his liking.
That did not mean he did not find her attractive, because he did. She was intelligent and though she was usually bitingly sarcastic, she had a soft heart that she tried to hide. He liked the fact that she was blunt but always honest. And, okay, her physical features were very pleasant to look at. The whole combination of brown slightly-slanted eyes, small nose, full lips, and round face was quite pretty. She was about five-foot-five, with strangely small hands and feet. She was strong, hell, she had to be to pull apart fighting teenage boys, and it showed. Her arms and calves and thighs were a bit large but well toned. Her slightly rounded stomach led up to…okay, so Warren was male and, yes, he had checked out Thea's breasts. They weren't small, but they weren't huge, they were just…there…and they were…nice.
Thea had thankfully never looked up while Warren was checking her out.
"Flirting, Althea, I'm trying to flirt with you," Warren said slowly as though he was teaching a lesson to a first grader.
She frowned. "I don't do flirting, Warren," she said.
Way to state the obvious. "I've noticed. But you know, it's perfectly okay to do. People can just…flirt."
"People? Oh, but Warren, you're part bird," Thea cooed in a mock girly flirting voice.
Warren opened his mouth to retort but did not have anything to say. She had used his words against him. He slumped back in the chair. "And you think I'm infuriating," he mumbled, looking critically at Thea.
Thea smiled a little too sweetly. "I was just…flirting," she replied, her voice dripping with innocence.
Warren cringed and could feel the blush in his cheeks and neck. Just great. Try to throw Thea off and she just turns it around on you. Then an idea popped into his head.
"Are you ticklish?" he asked.
Thea's innocent smile faded into a scowl. "Why do you ask?"
She was, Warren realized. He got out of the chair and advanced towards the bed.
"Don't make me go X-man on you," Thea threatened.
Warren stopped, trying to figure out what on earth she had just said. Then he laughed, hard. He collapsed onto her bed in a fit of laughs.
"I'm serious," Thea said, in her threatening voice.
"Uh huh," Warren replied disbelievingly.
"I've had X-men training. I could kick your ass," Thea said adamantly.
"I'm sure you can. I just think you won't," Warren said.
"Oh really?" Thea asked.
"Yep!"
Warren launched his body over Thea's and began tickling her mercilessly. She squealed, actually squealed, and tried to squirm away from him, but his body pinned her to the bed. She used her hands to push him away quite strongly, but gravity was working against her, and Warren fell back towards her after she pushed. She placed her hands on his chest once again, but Warren's tickling distracted her from pushing him away, and instead her hands dragged down his bare chest. Big mistake.
Warren had intended the tickling to be harmless fun, a way to get back at Thea for being the smartass that she was, but the feelings her hands generated were not harmless. Soon Warren realized how good she looked writhing around under him, and his mind was no longer focused on tickling. An image of a naked, sweating and moaning Thea writhing under him popped into his mind, and Warren was horrified as well as terribly excited.
She pushed him one final time, and he fell off the bed and onto the floor, having lost his concentration to his hormones.
She sat up on the bed, disheveled and quite peeved. She looked damn sexy. Oh shit. "You're going to pay for that," she warned.
But he had known that already.
Author's Note: The reviews were so nice, my goodness! You guys are very generous with praise and I appreciate that so much. This chapter has more scenes of Warren's POV than Thea's, which I thought was important to show what his motivations are for wanting to hang out with Thea since she's quite a difficult person. Anyway, please review, I love reading them. Thanks!
