"I hate econ!" Kitty said despairingly as she ran through the wall into Thea's room a week later.
"So I take it you're not going to do well on your midterm tomorrow?" Thea said as she lay on her stomach on her bed, never taking her eyes off of her fantasy novel.
Kitty plopped herself next to Thea, and Thea tossed the book aside and turned her attention to Kitty.
"Can you please ask your boyfriend to make the test easy?" Kitty asked.
"He's not my boyfriend," Thea said quickly.
"Oh please! Like he wouldn't do anything you asked," Kitty said.
"He wouldn't," Thea said.
Kitty turned her head to look skeptically at her friend.
"Yesterday, he had the remote control and he was watching a car race on TV, and I asked if we could change it to basketball and he refused. I mean, c'mon, it was a bunch of cars going around a loop a lot of times. At least with basketball, there's more action," Thea supplied.
"Yeah, a bunch of tall guys running back and forth along a court a lot of times," Kitty countered.
Thea looked offended, but Kitty ignored it.
"Can we go back to the fact that I'm going to fail the test tomorrow?" Kitty said.
"Alright," Thea grumbled, still a bit peeved about Kitty's flippant comment about the sport Thea loved.
"I hate econ!" Kitty cried out again.
Thea cringed. "Saying that over and over again isn't going to get you a good grade."
"I know," Kitty replied miserably. "But asking Warren to make the test easier will," she added brightly.
Thea rolled her eyes. "We both know you don't really want that," she reasoned.
Kitty let out a frustrated sigh.
"Is Warren not explaining the material well?" Thea asked.
Kitty shook her head. "He's good, the stuff is just confusing," she said.
"Get your book and notes, maybe I can help," Thea said.
"You know econ?"
"I took macroeconomics while at Stanford. That's what you're learning, right?"
"Yeah."
"It's been a while, but I was okay at it then," Thea said.
"Meaning you got an A in the class," Kitty decoded.
"Just go get your stuff," Thea said, ignoring Kitty's comment.
After a few hours of studying things like supply and demand and opportunity costs, Thea and Kitty were sprawled on their backs on Thea's bed looking at the ceiling.
"So how are things with Bobby?" Thea asked, thoroughly exhausted from studying. She quickly remembered why she hadn't wanted to be an economics major. This stuff was hard and boring.
"It's getting easier. I'm getting over him," Kitty said.
"Yeah?"
"Uh huh. He's so happy with Rogue, er, Marie. And ever since she took the Cure, and they've been able to touch, he's been even happier. I…I'm not stupid and I'm not going to get in the way of that. I want a guy who wants me, not the guy who sees me as the little sister," Kitty reasoned.
"There are lots of good guys out there, Kit. I'm sure you'll find another one," Thea said.
"Warren's a good guy," Kitty segued not too subtly.
Thea laughed. "Okay."
"So what is going on with you two?" Kitty asked.
"We're friends," Thea replied.
Thea knew Warren's adamant nature was responsible for the creation of their friendship. But a friendship needed two people, so Thea was certainly doing something to maintain and develop that bond. She supposed steps like making clothes for him was an example. She hadn't meant to become close friends with Warren, but it was starting to happen anyway. She liked his company, and he made her laugh. She realized she looked forward to seeing him.
"That's it?"
"Yep."
"I don't believe you," Kitty said.
"I'm not surprised," Thea replied.
"Thea, I just don't want you to ignore something that's there because you're scared," Kitty said earnestly.
"Woah. Hold on. Nothing is there to ignore. And I'm not scared," Thea said.
"You're so full of shit," Kitty said passionately.
Thea laughed. Kitty rarely cursed, so when she did, it sounded awkward and amusing. Kitty glared at her, and Thea quieted.
"People have been talking about the two of you. They see something going on."
"No, they want to see something going on and so they do," Thea retorted.
"Poker night?" Kitty mentioned.
"What about poker night?" Thea asked.
"You guys were all flirty. And then Jubilee started taking up his attention, but he kept on sneaking glances at you," Kitty said.
Thea shrugged. "Whatever."
"I was sitting across from you. I saw the whole thing," Kitty insisted.
Thea couldn't help but feel a bit of pleasure from knowing that although Jubilee wanted his attention, Warren was still thinking about her. Unfortunately, she could not figure out if those feelings of pleasure were from the fact that Warren was thinking about her or because he was not thinking about Jubilee. Against her better judgment, she was leaning towards the former.
"Okay, Kit," Thea said.
"You're just scared to admit it," Kitty said.
"What's there to be scared about when there's nothing there?" Thea asked.
"Because there is something there. You ignoring it is the way you're gonna stay safe. I know you have trust issues…"
"Trust issues? That's what you call them?" Thea snapped angrily.
"Thea…"
"God, Kitty, I know I'm messed up, so I don't need you pointing it out to me," Thea said defensively.
"That's not what I meant and you know it," Kitty said. "I just don't want you to give up before you let anything happen because you're scared."
"I'm not giving up because there's nothing there to give up on," Thea said adamantly.
"Okay," Kitty said. Her tone indicated that she did not believe Thea for a moment.
Thea let out a frustrated sigh. She knew Kitty worried about her. "I'll be fine," Thea said dispassionately. "I'm always fine."
"I know," Kitty replied. "But I want you to be happy."
"God, can she be anymore smart?" Thea let out a frustrated sigh as she finished reading the essay.
"Who?"
"Jubilee. Another ridiculously good essay," Thea said admirably though a bit peeved with the younger girl's ability.
"You're her teacher. Shouldn't you be happy?" Warren asked.
"I am happy…about her work," Thea said. She stretched her arms and legs after staying too long in the same position on the chair.
Warren looked at her quizzically from his seat on her bed. "Jealous?"
Thea avoided the question. "I don't know why she's even in the class, she's already graduated," Thea said.
"Maybe she just likes the class," Warren supplied.
"But Professor X isn't teaching it anymore," Thea replied.
"Yeah, well, that says something about your teaching, right?" Warren said encouragingly.
Thea shrugged.
"Like you said, Jube's smart, she wouldn't be in the class if she didn't think it was worthwhile," Warren said, going back to grading his midterms.
Jube? Since when did Warren have a nickname for Jubilee? Did Jubilee have a nickname for Warren. Was it Warr? Thea internally cringed and pushed aside those thoughts. Warren could call anyone anything he wanted.
Thea moved on to the next essay.
"So how come you and Jubilee don't like each other?" Warren asked.
"She's everything I'm not. I'm everything she's not."
"Do you want to be like her?" Warren asked cautiously.
Thea hesitated. "Sometimes," she confessed.
"Why?"
"She doesn't let things keep her down. She's bright, cheerful," Thea said.
"You want to be those things?" Warren asked skeptically.
Thea sighed in irritation. It seemed Warren thought she enjoyed being the way she was. "Yeah, who wouldn't? It just that some of us can't go back."
"You used to be like Jubilee?" Warren asked. His attention was not longer on his midterms but rather completely on Thea.
He could be so nosy. "Sorta," she replied.
"Before you came here?" Warren asked carefully.
Thea froze, not liking the direction this conversation was heading. "I don't want to talk about it," she muttered.
She heard Warren exhaled loudly with frustration. "I just wish you'd tell me things," he said in a very serious but quiet tone.
Sure he said that, but he wouldn't like what she had to say even if she had the guts to tell him. There was a heavy silence for a while as the pair returned to grading papers.
Warren finally broke the somber mood. "You wouldn't be you if you were like Jubilee," he said.
And just like that the mood was broken.
"That's the idea," Thea said with a smirk.
"I like you the way you are," Warren conceded.
Surprisingly, that meant a lot to Thea when just a few moments ago he seemed thoroughly frustrated with her. "And we both know you're weird," she replied.
Warren laughed. "I'm serious. There are lots of Jubilee's out there, and most of them are probably that cheerful because they're hiding something and scared people won't like them otherwise. But you don't waste your time pretending to be cheerful. I'd put good money down that you're one of a kind. That's definitely special."
Thea felt herself blush at Warren's compliment. Why did he have to be so nice? If she was honest with herself, she would say that she did pretend though. She pretended to be tougher than she was, and though perhaps it wasn't as flamboyant a disguise as being cheerful, it was still a front.
"Unique isn't always good. AIDS is unique, but it's not good," Thea pointed out.
Warren chuckled. "Okay, you have a point there. But in your case, I think it's good."
"And just because I'm the way I am doesn't mean I'm special. It just means that I can't deal with things as well as Jubilee can. If I could, I'd probably be more like her and then…"
"Althea," Warren said abruptly.
Thea stopped her rambling and looked up to see Warren leaning in his chair so that he was a bit closer to her than before.
"You think too much. Just take the compliment, okay?" Warren said simply.
Thea opened her mouth to say something, but didn't know what to say. She closed it and nodded, going back to grading her essays. However, she had a hard time concentrating because she felt really happy. Warren's compliment made her happy. It also made her feel stupid because being happy over what he said meant that what he said mattered to her, and it shouldn't have mattered.
"Done!" Warren said happily as he finished grading the last midterm.
"How did Kitty do?" Thea asked.
"She got a B," he said.
"Good, she was worried she was going to fail."
"Did you help her study?" Warren asked.
"Yeah, a bit," Thea said. "That's okay, right? You never talked about what you're teaching and what you put on the test, so I thought it would be okay."
"Yeah, it's fine," Warren said. "You're quite the Renaissance woman. You know econ, ethics, cooking, fighting, poker, fashion design for mutants…" Warren listed.
Thea laughed. "And you haven't seen my video gaming skills," she added.
"Video games? I would never have guessed."
"It's good for the aggression."
Warren laughed.
Thea finished grading the last of the essays about ten minutes later.
"So what was the topic this time?" Warren asked once she was done.
"The ethics of mutant experimentation," Thea said.
Warren frowned. "Wow. Touchy subject," he commented.
"Yeah."
"What do you think?" Warren asked curiously.
Thea hesitated. She didn't know what Warren's beliefs were. His father used Jimmy, a mutant, to successfully create the Cure, so did that mean Warren supported mutant experimentation? Then again, Warren rejected the Cure. But he could have done that while still supporting the means by which the Cure was achieved.
"I hate it," Thea said bluntly, figuring honesty was the best route.
"How come?" Warren asked.
Thea shifted uneasily. "Do you know Logan's story?" she asked.
"Sort of," Warren said. "The adamantium is from experimentation, right?"
"Exactly. He has no memory of his life before the experimentation began. He's haunted by nightmares. What they did to him…it's inexcusable. Many mutants have been exploited under experimentation, and personally I don't think it's worth the supposed benefits," Thea said.
"Like the Cure?" Warren asked.
Thea cringed. "Yeah. I'm glad Jimmy didn't suffer under your father. Your father seemed to go to great lengths to make him comfortable," she conceded.
"Yeah, Dad can be a lot of things, but he's not a monster," Warren said.
Not a monster? Thea almost burst out laughing at the statement, but caught herself quickly. If only he knew. But was it her place to tell Warren what his father had done to her? Did she even want to tell him?
If she were to tell him, he would react in either one of two ways. He would call her a liar and turn away from him. Or he would be terribly upset and turn away from his father. Either way, Warren would lose someone. And at this point, Thea had a feeling Warren would turn away from her. She wouldn't blame him for it – they had only known each other for three months and Dr. Worthington knew Warren for his entire lifetime. But Thea did not want it to ever get to that point where Warren would have to choose. The way to avoid that situation was to never tell Warren anything. Perhaps it was a bit deceitful, but at least Warren would come out unaffected.
"Althea?" Warren called out, trying to get her attention.
Thea snapped out of her thoughts. "Sorry," she said.
"It's alright," Warren said.
"So what do you think about mutant experimentation?" Thea asked.
Warren thought about it for a while. "I think it's alright if measures are taken to ensure the person's comfort and safety. There's all this talk that mutants might hold the cure for cancer or other diseases, and if that's the case, there's a debate to be had about what the responsibilities of that person is to society. But when people suffer, like Logan, that's when I think it's just…shit…I don't even have a word to describe it. How could someone do that to someone else?" Warren asked in disbelief.
Thea shrugged. "They thought the ends justified the means."
"That's just bullshit," Warren muttered in disgust.
Thea smiled at seeing Warren riled up over the topic. "You're a good guy," she praised.
Warren blushed a bit. "Well isn't this the night of compliments," he said.
Author's Note: Thanks SO much for the reviews! I'm glad people like Thea's characterization. I was really amused when one of you guys said she wasn't a Mary Sue. So I was looking up what exactly a "Mary-Sue" was on Wikipedia and DUDE, it's everything! I personally really like stories of triumph over hardship, but apparently that's Mary-Sueish. And giving a girl character a guy name is Mary-Sueish too. I love guy names for girls! Go figure. My philosophy is write what you wanna write, and if people wanna put you in a box for it, oh well. I got no control over that. I don't read too much fanfiction anymore actually because I write and like to read original fiction on fictionpress, so I can't recommend any other Warren fanfic since I don't really know any. Anyway, enough ramble. Thanks for the support! Please review and let me know what you think!
