Thea never liked it when things that needed to get done happened at a snail's pace. However, she dealt with the slowness of restoring the school as best she could. The school, in all honesty, would never be restored. The headmaster was gone. Scott and Jean were gone. It would never be the same.
Thea, having only lived in the school for two years, was a relative new-comer. But that did not mean she did not silently grieve for the loss of the three people. Since she had already graduated high school by the time she had arrived, the only classes she did take were those that interested her. She had taken Scott's Automotives class because she hadn't known anything about cars before. She had taken Jean's Introduction to Medicine class because, though she had sworn off healing, she was fascinated by medicine. She had taken the Professor's Ethics class and they had shared a special bond over her struggles with her mutation. And though now she hid it well, she really missed them.
After two months, Ororo and Logan, though still grieving, were at least mentally present at the mansion now. Ororo had resumed her classes, and Logan became a bit of an enforcer like Thea was. Thea reduced her role as an authority figure around the mansion when she was confident things were back on track. She would still make meals, and everyone was quite happy about that.
The mood around the mansion had dampened. The older students, particularly Thea, Kitty, Marie, Bobby, Peter and Warren, were serving as people the younger ones could talk to if they had problems, kind of like makeshift mentors. Thea would spend a lot of time outside of the classroom talking to students who were struggling with questions they were having about the confusion and frustration they were feeling. She offered advice but no pity-fest.
Thea wasn't one to try to cheer people up, but luckily Kitty, Bobby, and Jubilee took up that front. They planned a lot of activities to keep the younger students busy outside of the classroom. These activities ranged from basketball games to movie nights to going to the local mall. Thea participated only because Kitty asked her to join the group.
With all this activity on behalf of the younger students, the makeshift mentors were in need of a break. Bobby came up with the idea of a relaxing night of poker.
"Are you ready?" Warren asked from Thea's doorway.
Thea looked up to see weird bindings across Warren's bare chest. "What is that?" she asked, pointing to the bindings.
"Oh," Warren said, turning around to show how the bindings pressed his wings to his back.
"Why are you strapping down your wings?" she asked. Wasn't it uncomfortable?
Warren looked uneasy. "It's getting cold here at night, so I can't prance around without any shirt on. The binding allows me to fit clothes over my wings," he explained. He raised a green long sleeve shirt Thea hadn't even noticed he was holding over his head and put it on. It went over his wings, and Thea could see the bottom of Warren's wings peak out from under the shirt.
Thea frowned. Warren seemed so trapped now. "Do you like doing that?" Thea asked.
Warren shrugged. "If it's between this and freezing my ass off, I choose this," he replied. "Now, are you done? Can we go down?"
Thea sighed, looking at her stack of homework papers she had graded. There was no excuse she could formulate. Warren was quite set on attending the poker night, and Thea was fine with that, telling him that she would read her fantasy novel. But Warren was also quite set on her being there. Previously she would not have entertained the idea of socializing with Bobby, Marie, Peter, and Kitty in a group setting, but Warren was incessant, and Thea found she had a hard time refusing his small requests.
"Yes, I'm ready," she said, slowly getting out of her chair and heading to the door where Warren was standing.
He looked so different with clothing hiding his wings and covering his chest. She had grown rather accustomed to seeing him bare-chested with his wings standing freely, and she admitted to herself that she enjoyed the sight. Perhaps during the daytime or when there was heating Warren would opt to not wear shirts. God, what was she thinking? Since when did she give a damn about what anyone wore or did not wear?
Warren and Thea went downstairs to see Kitty, Bobby, Marie, Peter, and Jubilee sitting around one of the large lounge tables. The group looked at them and everyone smiled but Jubilee.
"Hey guys," Warren greeted, taking an empty seat next to Jubilee on the sofa. Thea noticed that Jubilee smiled brightly at him. Did she like him or something?
Thea sat next to him, and Kitty was sitting across from her. Thea gave a meaningful stare asking why Jubilee was there, but Kitty had no answer for her.
"Hey, Warren. Thea, I'm glad you came," Bobby said warmly.
"Thanks," Thea said.
"So what kind of poker tonight?" Warren asked, looking at the group.
"Texas Hold'em," Peter replied.
"Cool!" Thea exclaimed. The group looked at her oddly, all but Kitty never seeing such emotion erupt from her.
"Ah take it you like the game?" Marie asked.
Thea smiled sheepishly. "Yes." She used to play in her freshman dorm at college.
"See, aren't you glad you came," Warren said as he nudged her side. She nudged back and saw that the others were looking oddly at the affection between them. She tried to not let it bother her.
"Shut up," she said to Warren.
Bobby stifled a laugh. "Everyone knows how to play, right?"
"I don't," Jubilee piped up.
"Oh, I'll teach you," Warren said helpfully. "Why don't we do a practice round so we can walk her through it?"
Everyone agreed.
What Thea found interesting was that Jubilee hadn't been in the original group of people Warren said would be hanging out tonight. That was one of the reasons why Thea agreed to come. And if Jubilee didn't even know how to play poker, why was she there? The first answer Thea came up with was that Jubilee liked Warren - she already smiled cutely at him. This answer bothered Thea because if Jubilee liked Warren, and Warren returned her feelings, it would make Thea's relationship with Warren a bit awkward.
Wait, this was stupid. Thea was already assuming way too much with the scenario, and it was silly to waste thoughts on matters that she had no control over anyways.
Jubilee caught on to the rules and procedures of playing the game quickly, and soon enough they were ready to begin official play.
"Five dollar buy-in?" Bobby asked.
The group agreed.
Peter, it turned out, was a Texas Hold'em shark, winning the first four games easily by just out-betting the other players. Thea was getting very bad hands, so she was folding right after seeing the first three communal cards, also known as the 'flop'. On the fifth hand, she had the Ace of clubs and the King of hearts. This was the best hand she had gotten so far, so she decided to stay in the game the whole way. Unfortunately, none of the communal cards could help her, and she was stuck with just an Ace high as her hand. Peter had laid down a hefty two-dollar bid, and everyone was folding. The bid got to Thea, and she raised the bid to three dollars, seeing if she could beat Peter at his own game.
"Ah'd be careful, Pete, this is the first time she's bettin.' She's gotta have somethin' good," Marie warned.
"She could be bluffing," Bobby supplied.
Peter looked at Thea, trying to assess whether or not Thea was bluffing. Unfortunately, Thea had a great poker face. Peter was getting frustrated, and his face showed it. Peter sighed dramatically and said, "Fold."
A lovely pile of poker chips went Thea's way.
"What did you have?" Kitty asked Thea as she shuffled the cards.
"You're not supposed to tell, Kit. It's part of the mystery," Thea replied with an easy smile.
"It's true. I don't know what is going on in that mind," Peter said, looking at Thea with a bit of admiration.
"A constant barrage of dirty thoughts," Warren teased.
The group laughed.
Thea narrowed her eyes at him. "No, Warren, you're confusing me with you, again," she said, feigning a sympathetic look.
Warren was about to retort, but instead became quite red. The group laughed harder, and Thea realized that she was having a really nice time.
"I'm going to get some water, anyone want anything?" Thea asked, getting up from the couch.
"Coke," Kitty said.
"Filet mignon, medium," Warren said with a charming smile. Thea rolled her eyes and saw Jubilee laugh and nudge Warren very much like how Thea had nudged him earlier. Warren nudged Jubilee back, and Thea was irked by that.
No one else but Kitty wanted anything from the kitchen, and Thea returned soon enough from her beverage expedition.
They played for another two hours, and Thea was having fun despite the noticeable flirting Jubilee was doing with Warren. Well, perhaps it wasn't noticeable. Whenever Warren folded his poker hand, Jubilee asked him questions about what she should do, and Warren would whisper his advice in her ear. The rest of the group allowed this only because it was Jubilee's first time playing the game. But to get his attention, Jubilee would rub his knee or tug on his shirt, motions Thea interpreted as flirtatious. Why couldn't Jubilee just talk to him?
But perhaps Thea was overreaching. Thea, for many reasons, did not like very much physical contact. She was rarely affectionate, and the only physical contact she and Warren engaged in were nudges and that one time he nearly tickled her to death. So, perhaps among other people, this type of physical contact was normal. Regardless, Thea decided not to think about it since it was none of her business.
When they decided to stop playing, Peter had won nine dollars, Bobby had broken even, Thea had won five dollars, and the rest of the group lost various amounts of money.
"Thanks a lot for inviting me to play," Thea said, as she helped clean up.
"Sure," Peter said.
"We'll let you know when we're planning another hang out session," Bobby said.
Thea smiled. "That would be great," she said.
Thea suddenly felt saddened that she hadn't spent very much time with the other older students. When she had arrived, she had not mentally been in a position to get out there and make friends. Kitty was the only exception, and Thea became friends with her only because Kitty had stuck around. Now, two years later, she realized that these people were good people that she should befriend. Better late than never, she supposed.
"Ready to go back up?" Warren asked her. It had been the first thing he addressed to her since his filet mignon comment.
"Yeah," Thea replied.
"I'm glad you had a good time," Warren said as they climbed the stairs.
"Yeah, it was good that you dragged me out," Thea admitted.
Warren smiled.
"Did you have a good time?" Thea asked. She felt like it was weird to have to ask him this since she had been sitting next to him, but they hadn't really talked since his attention was on Jubilee.
Warren seemed to hesitate in his response. "Yeah," he said.
Thea decided against commenting on how Jubilee hogged Warren's attention because that would make it seem like she cared. And, of course, she didn't.
Warren shivered as he pulled a sweatshirt over his head and wings. It was pretty drafty in the mansion despite the central heating.
There was a knock on the door. When he went to open the door, he was surprised when he saw Thea had been the knocker.
"Hi," she said. This was the first time she ever approached his door.
"Hey," Warren said, trying not to sound off guard.
"Can I come in?" Thea asked.
"Oh! Yeah," Warren said, removing himself from the doorway to allow her to enter. He closed the door after her.
She looked around his room for a bit after setting down a paper bag she had been carrying. There was nothing terribly interesting about his room, and so her attention was directed at him once again.
"Take off your shirt," she commanded.
Warren's eyes bulged as his ears rung. What did she just say? Granted she had seen him plenty of time without a shirt on, but now she was asking for it? When did they enter the twilight zone?
"Huh?" Warren said weakly. Well that was a brilliant response.
"Take off your shirt," she said, slower this time.
Warren's mind was working so hard that he didn't even realize he was talking until he was done. "Look, I think you're beautiful, and I've thought about this before, but now is not the right time," he blurted out.
Thea's face paled as her mouth stood agape and her eyes wide with shock.
"Oh shit. I said that out loud," Warren said, covering his red face with his hands. How embarrassing! He was a twenty-three year old man! He should be able to control his mouth!
He dragged his hand down his face and looked at Thea. Her mind was quickly processing everything and she began laughing - hysterically. Warren smiled and laughed uneasily with her.
As she continued to laugh, Thea dug into her paper bag and pulled out some long sleeve shirts.
"I made you clothes," Thea explained, finally calming down. She showed him the front of a blue sweatshirt that looked normal and then turned the shirt around. Warren could see that the back was cut to fit his wings. Metallic snap buttons acted as the fastenings.
"Wow," Warren said, stepping closer to examine the clothing.
"It didn't seem like you liked having your wings bound, but that you thought it was necessary. So, I made it unnecessary," Thea said.
He needed to start giving her more credit. He had thought she was self-absorbed, but she picked up on his dislike for binding his wings easily and then did something for him.
He looked at the other clothes she had brought. Most were basic sweatshirts and long sleeve cotton shirts. There was one button down striped shirt for fancier occasion.
"Where did you get all these clothes?"
"When people leave here, they often leave behind things. I just found these in the closet," Thea explained. "If you like what I did, I can show you how to do it."
"Wow," he repeated. No one had ever taken the time to try to fit things around his wings. He always fitted his wings around things.
"So, you like it?" Thea asked uneasily.
Warren felt like a jerk. He never thanked her. "Yes! Thank you. No one's ever done something like this for me," he said admiringly.
He fingered the clothing gently.
"Am I going to have to take off your shirt for you?" Thea teased, obviously anxious to see how the clothes looked on him.
So the girl could flirt when she wanted to.
He set the shirt down on the bed and lifted up his arms, motioning her to take off the shirt he was currently wearing. Thea rolled her eyes and grabbed the hem of his sweatshirt, pulling it up carefully over his wings and off his head. She frowned when she saw his bindings, and Warren realized she didn't like them either. Her warm fingers brushed against his chest as she unfastened the straps pressing his wings against his back. Her touch was gentle but firm, as always.
Warren thought the fact that she easily took off his shirt was a good sign. Not that she was attracted to him or something like that, but that she was finally comfortable around him. Whether she knew it or not, it seemed like she was beginning to trust him.
She pulled the remodeled sweatshirt over his head. The collar was the only place that it was still attached as normal. She explained that the hole went around the area his back connected with his wings. The snaps held the material in place underneath that area and his wings covered the snaps.
"You're a genius," Warren praised as he examined himself in the mirror. He had to admit that he looked pretty good with clothes on while his wings jutted proudly from his back.
Thea smirked. "About time you realized that," she said.
Warren laughed. "This looks great. Thanks. Can we do this to my other clothes? Maybe after dinner?" he asked.
"Sure," Thea said, gathering up her now-empty paper bag. She laughed to herself. "You're so full of it," she teased.
"What?" Warren asked stopping his self-inspection to look at her.
"I tell you take your shirt off, and you think I want to jump you," Thea explained amusedly.
"Oh, that," Warren said. He had hoped she had forgotten. "Sorry," he said awkwardly.
Thea shrugged. "For future reference though, if I want to jump you, I'll just do it," Thea said bluntly, folding up her paper bag.
Warren practically choked.
Thea smiled sweetly. "See you after dinner," she said breezily as she walked out the door.
What a flirt.
Author's Note: Thank you, thank you for all the wonderful reviews. You guys really make my day! This chapter is a bit more character development for Thea – a bit of jealousy, denial and flirtatiousness finally seeping through. She's a stubborn cookie with a lot of baggage, so it'll take a while before anything romantic could possibly happen. So, the pace of unraveling her and developing her relationship with Warren will be gradual. Anything else would seem unrealistic to me and hopefully you all agree. Thanks again for the reviews, and please let me know what you think!
