Ambivalence: No Longer Just a Fun Word (anyone?)

[macmacmac]

Jean-Paul wasn't used to feeling ambivalent about things, so it was strange that he couldn't decide whether it was good to be back or not.

Of course, he had yet to actually step inside the doors or to talk to anyone. Those would both probably influence the decision a bit. But he couldn't remember the last time he had gone somewhere without knowing for sure that it was where he wanted to go--no, wait, he could. He'd felt the same way before he first came to the school.

Maybe the Mansion just gave off that vibe all the time, or maybe it was that Professor Xavier wasn't there anymore and Northstar didn't have a clue what he was doing. (Another lie. He had a vague idea. But "help out" didn't translate well into a plan of action.)

Whatever the reason, he had been standing outside for going on 15 minutes now, head tilted back to look at the sky or the building or whatever fell into view, hands jingling his car keys. Eventually, he knew, he was going to have to either go inside, or get back in his car and drive back to Quebec. And hopefully not the latter, because gasoline was on the expensive side.

Walking in and announcing that he was there to help, however, seemed a bit silly, too. Maybe he would try flying through one of the windows. Lots of shattering glass and the like. Very dramatic. He only needed a cape and tights and a better sense of humor.

So maybe he would just stand there and jingle his keys a bit more.

[angel]

Meetings, Warren reflected, were very boring things. He rarely had anything to add - mainly because of the fact that he didn't consider himself either old or experienced enough to actually contribute - so when Forge had pulled him aside to say that someone was waiting outside the front door, the mutant known as Angel jumped at the chance to leave early.

For once, he was actually wearing a shirt. He tended to do that when they had meetings, something about not distracting people that his life might be depending on later. Pulling open the door, Warren Worthington III took a good look at the stranger and took a moment to wonder whether they were getting another visit from the government or something.

Apparently, he'd been out here for around fifteen minutes, just jingling his keys and looking around. Why Candice or someone hadn't noticed was a mystery to Warren, but he just leaned halfway out the door, put on one of his smiles and tipped his head to one side just a little in curiosity.

"Hi. Is there something we can help you with?"

[macmacmac]

Jingle, jingle, jingle. He was stalling. This was ridiculous. That didn't mean he was going to stop, though: jingle, bird, jingle, door.

"Hi."

... Human being.

Jean-Paul lowered his chin just enough to be able to see the source -- blonde kid, and completely unfamiliar, which wasn't surprising considering how short a time and how long ago Jean-Paul had been there. And good-looking, but considering that the Mansion was a school and Jean-Paul wasn't a big fan of prison, that train of thought was stopping right there.

At least until he knew how old Blonde Kid was.

"Is there something we can help you with?"

By the end of the question, Jean-Paul had both remembered to smile and stopping fiddling with his keys. That was nice and direct; didn't leave much more room for stalling longer. It was either, Yes, I want a jumpsuit, do you have applications? or No, just passing through.

He didn't have a coin to flip. "I think so," he said, pulling one sleeve of his jacket smooth with his free hand. "I used to go to school here. I thought, perhaps -- Well. I have a lot of free time."

[angel]

Well, it wasn't much of a surprise that Warren didn't recognise the man in front of him - he had only been at the mansion for a year, after all, having completed his own schooling in a private and prestigious boarding school. Sometimes he wondered why Xavier had never found him, but then his parents probably wouldn't have allowed him to go to mutant school even if the old professor had. It was a shame to only know him by reputation, though, when so many of his students spoke so highly of him. That quite a few of them seemed to be returning now spoke well of the school. At least, it did in his eyes. That it had also produced the leader of the Brotherhood was a fact that the mutant known as Angel could easily overlook.

"Oh, right. Actually, I just came from a meeting with the X-Men, we should be able to catch someone...?" Stepping out from behind the door, Warren did a quick scan of the guy and nodded to himself. There was something a little bit familiar about his looks, but not in a way that he could place right at that moment.

Tall, dark and handsome?

Well, there was that. His smile grew a little, and the blond mutant extended his hand, his wings shifting just a little behind him before re-settling in place.

"I'm Warren, by the way. Warren Worthington." He didn't bother with the suffix - it felt a bit weird to be adding 'the third' to your name, even if it actually was a part of it.

[macmacmac]

Well, look at that. Blonde Kid had really big wings. Jean-Paul didn't even try to stop his eyebrows from raising -- but he smiled, too. Wings were good. The cheesy pick-up lines were limitless. Not that Jean-Paul used pick-up lines, but he could think them and feel clever. And maybe --

He really needed to stop that. Hetero until proven homo, jailbait until proven legal, and it was really just the hormones talking. He needed to get laid, so he would stop getting excited over every good-looking man he met.

"Jean-Paul Martin," he said, stepping forward and reaching out to give Warren's hand a firm shake. "Pleasure." The name sounded very familiar, but Jean-Paul didn't know where he'd heard it. Surely, if he'd met a man with wings, he'd remember it. With all of the recent mutant-related news, though, maybe he'd read it somewhere.

He ran a hand through his hair. Catching up with an X-Man would be good, except for the part where he felt like he was applying for a job and didn't have any previous experience. "I would certainly appreciate your help," he said. "It's been a long time. I would probably get lost."

[angel]

Mmmm, accent.

Well, Warren could appreciate a good view and an accent that was easy on the ears, couldn't he? He certainly did that with Paige - although as soon as Bobby returned, he'd probably have to stop being quite so obvious about it. Iceboy wasn't exactly experienced with women, he'd probably interpret it all wrong. He hadn't exactly taken the one little kiss she'd shared with Gambit well.

"The pleasure's all mine." The handshake was returned in kind, with another one of Warren's smiles. Of course, once Jean-Paul got settled into the mansion, those rumours Bobby had started (and had used to successfully net Paige, from what he'd told Warren - a damn shame, that one) would no doubt resurface and the poor guy would probably think he was being hit on. Which may not have been entirely untrue, but flirting was, to Warren, just a part of normal conversation.

"I would certainly appreciate your help," Jean-Paul said. "It's been a long time. I would probably get lost."

"I'm sure you wouldn't. I've only lived here a year, but from what I'm told the mansion hasn't changed much." Only the occupants.

Hesitating for just a moment, in case this was going to end up being just another in the long line of bad incidents, Warren shrugged and waved Jean-Paul inside. Surely they'd be able to take care of it if he wasn't who he claimed, and one of the older X-Men was bound to know him. Storm, or even someone like Sam or Remy.

"So how long ago were you here? There's been a couple of ex-students return lately, actually." As curious as he was, Warren was doing his best not to start with the 'What's your power?' line of questioning just yet. It was hard, because he didn't always want to be the one to ask, but not many people bothered asking him - a sixteen foot wingspan wasn't exactly inconspicuous.

[macmacmac]

"The pleasure's all mine."

Jean-Paul wouldn't say, exactly, that his gaydar was going off, because he didn't really have one and doubted their existences in general. But if they were in a club instead of a school, he would -- possibly get arrested.

Business. Battles. No flirting.

"I'm sure you wouldn't. I've only lived here a year, but from what I'm told the mansion hasn't changed much."

He hummed in his throat, leaning his head back again to look at the mansion. It certainly didn't look different, on the outside, but it really had been a long time, and his memory was known to fail from time to time.

"So how long ago were you here? There's been a couple of ex-students return lately, actually."

"Mm, a while. I left seven years ago," Jean-Paul said after a hasty bit of calculation, and damn but he was getting old. He was thirty, even, if one rounded up to tens. Forget supressing mutations; somebody needed to cure aging before his hair started going -- no, forget that. Before his middle started going soft. Yes.

"Have you been around long?" he asked. Not longer than seven years, obviously, but maybe Jean-Paul could glean some clue to his age without outright asking.

[angel]

"What, on the mutant scene?" Warren ran one hand through his hair as he thought. Seven years since leaving the school would make Jean-Paul what? Twenty-four, twenty-five?

"My history is, ah, a little complicated?" Not exactly the kind of thing that he'd just come right out and say to a complete stranger, either. Of course, if Jean-Paul had recognised him name, he'd probably be able to guess at some of it.

"But it was only after the cure was announced that I headed up this way, and I've sort of ended up helping out. It's a bit weird being back in a school, but this one is a lot better than where I went. I kinda wish I'd had the chance to go here." Of course, he'd graduated four years ago, so he really didn't need to be taking English lessons or anything like that. His fancy private school hadn't had anything like the Danger Room, but that didn't really stop him from training himself. There was only so much you could learn about flying, after all.

"I hope you like kids, 'cause there's a lot of them here." So many cute young things that he had to remind himself were very much jailbait. The hazards of living in a school.

[Iceman]

(X-Posted (how appropriate! lol) to 'It's Good To Be Home')

Bobby's jaw dropped when Forge offered him live-action Halo. "You...you can do that?!" he asked incredulously.

His shock increased when Forge off-handedly mentioned that Bobby had been given charge of the trainees. As Forge walked off, Bobby turned to Paige with a dumbfounded expression. "Did I hear him right? I'm...what?"

"No way..." He made a mental note to asked Forge to run that by him again at some point.

Bobby agreed whole-heartedly that they should find Warren, and he opened the door for Paige. He wondered briefly if he should mess with Warren a little as well, but he didn't have more than a second to scrounge for ideas. Because he caught sight of Warren right then, standing and talking with some guy he'd never seen before but reminded Bobby immediately of that doctor guy from Grey's Anatomy.

What had Kitty called him? McDreamy?

Knowing Warren had just received Forge's message over the X-Comm moments before, Bobby let out a catcall that would have raised the dead had Lorna's mind not found a perfectly good foster home. He was tempted to yell out 'hey there, big boy' but didn't know if the guy Warren was talking to was a potential recruit, and didn't want to alienate the pointy-eared guy before Warren got him signed up.

[husk]

Paige smiled. "He announced it at the meeting just today. Babe, they always knew you'd come back." Which surprised her- because she had no idea. Maybe Forge had heard from Cameron or something.

Laughing as Bobby let out a yell, she crossed her arms and grinned at Warren. Something about seeing Bobby and Warren in the same space- now that she knew both of them a lot better(and thank god it wasn't anything more than that), reminded her of how it used to feel at home.

Maybe this place wasn't so bad after all.

[angel]

He wasn't wearing his communicator, so it took a moment to realise just who was catcalling him.

"Bobby!!" Jean-Paul was completely forgotten for a moment, as Warren turned and practically jumped across the room to the returning X-Man. If they'd been outside, he would have tackled his friend - as it was, he just ended up kinda slamming into him and pulling him in for a bone crushing hug.

Of course, if Bobby returned it, it was Warren who was more likely to have his bones crushed, but that was just the way of it. At least they had Foley around.

"Cam didn't tell me you'd be back today!" With an amused smile, he planted a kiss on Bobby's cheek.

"Damn, it's good to see you. Guess I can't call you a prison bitch anymore, huh? Although, you know... Hotel bitch just didn't have the same ring anyway."

[Iceman]

Bobby laughed as Warren pounced on him. He put his arms around his friend and didn't even remember to take it a little bit easy, completely forgetting the fact that Warren's bones were hollow in his excitement.

Prison Bitch. Hotel Bitch. Heh. Heh heh. "Is that what they're calling me? I know a couple of guys from the cellblock who would love those petnames. In fact, I got their numbers for you. When I told them you had wings, they almost..." Bobby trailed off quickly as he looked over Warren's shoulder at the stranger.

Looking back to Warren, he chuckled. "We'll save that story for another time," he said, letting Warren go finally. "But let's just say they wanted to know if there were any pictures of you in that care package," he said, in an emphasized whisper.

Boy, had he missed the gay act.

[macmacmac]

Jean-Paul had opened his mouth about a quarter of the way to reply when he heard a catcall and found himself suddenly without anyone to talk to -- which was fine, really, as he doubted he would be left alone for very long and could find his own way if he needed -- since his host was practically leaping over to give another boy a hug.

... And a kiss.

Well, then.

He slid his hands into his pockets and tried not to eavesdrop, but it really couldn't be avoided easily. It wasn't ask if they were whispering. Apparently Bobby (Jean-Paul stored the name) had been in prison, or there was some gigantic inside joke that Jean-Paul didn't get and was not going to ask about.

He raised both eyebrows at the blonde girl (pretty, pity) in greeting, then reduced it to a single raised eyebrow when Bobby looked at him over Warren's shoulder and attempted not to feel lost.

It didn't work.

[husk]

Watching the reunion of two of the hottest boys Paige had ever seen, she crossed her arms and smirked, unable to keep it from growing into a grin. Then she noticed the guy standing behind Warren.

Warren Warren, you selfish brat. Going to have to detract some princess points for not introducing me to *this* one.

Stepping forward, she offered a hand out. "Hey. They might be a while. My name's Paige, Guthrie even. Who might you be?"

[macmacmac]

Jean-Paul took the girl's offered hand and shook it, not quite as firmly as he had Warren's earlier because she was a lady, but at least he didn't kiss it. It had been tempting, for about half a second, especially upon hearing her accent. He couldn't keep all the states straight, but whichever one she was from, he liked.

"Pleasure," he said -- his default response, because enchante made him feel ridiculous among English-speakers. "Jean-Paul Martin. Are you a student?" Do you have a brother?

But with his luck, he was probably already looking at his only prospects. Damn.

[angel]

"Oh! Sorry." Unwrapping himself from Bobby - which, on reflection, was probably totally going to make Jean-Paul run away thinking he was totally gay, Warren turned did his best to explain.

"Bobby Drake - Jean-Paul Martin. Jean-Paul used to go here, a few years back. Bobby's been... away." Obviously, the story was going to get out sometime, but now didn't really feel like the time to start speaking about how he'd been accused of murder and was apparently back without ever having had a trial.

"Paige is a trainee, Bobby's an X-Man, I'm a .... Warren, and Jean-Paul is here because he's got spare time. There. Is everyone clear?"

He directed one of his most charming smiles around the group as he stepped out from in between Bobby and Paige. No doubt they'd be wanting time together - which, really, you couldn't blame either of them for - but hopefully they'd manage to keep their pants on for at least ten minutes.

Ok, so maybe five.

[Iceman]

"Well, I don't know if things were any more calm when you were here before, but we can rid you of your spare time, thats for sure," Bobby joked.

"Hey," he said, stepping to the side and offering Jean-Paul his hand. The man looked kind of familiar...But there was no way they'd known each other. Bobby had been there forever, but he hadn't been there in Jean-Paul's time.

[husk]

Paige had opened her mouth to answer, but Warren cut in before she had the chance. She watched her equally-blonde friend act like the mansion maitre'd, and closed her lips, fixing the newcomer with an amused half smirk, shrugging a little.

Her hand settled to Bobby's back and she looked around. Where was everyone? Likely scattered after the meeting.

Jesus, Warren was practically vibrating. Could he be- ohhhhh.

She chuckled, clearing her throat to stop an outright laugh.

[macmacmac]

At least nobody seemed lacking for energy around here. That had to be beneficial when it came time to fight someone. Jean-Paul smiled at Paige, nodded to Bobby and quietly half-laughed at Warren as they were introduced -- "a Warren" indeed, then shook Bobby's hand. It was a good thing he'd done the whole business track; his hand-shaking muscles were all fully developed.

"They were probably much calmer," he said. Canadians tended to be more laid-back than Americans, by stereotype at least, and besides: "I have been selling books. It is not exactly exciting."

No explosions. Well, not anymore. And very few handsome strangers, especially with wings or fresh out of prison.

[angel]

The sound of a throat being cleared drew his attention to Paige, who had put her hand on Bobby's lower back already. Warren looked over at her with a hint of an amused smile and a slightly raised eyebrow. Protective much? Well, at least she wasn't grabbing his ass.

Still, it was understandable that she'd want to hold onto him after being seperated for so long. The last couple of weeks hadn't exactly been easy... He, for one, was very glad that Bobby was back.

Of course, if Iceboy didn't behave himself and treat Paige right...

He didn't particularly want to let that thought form all the way, because it was really rather distracting when he was trying to be polite and pay attention to Jean-Paul. He was still feeling a bit rude from running off to pay attention to Bobby, so Warren just stuck his hands into the pockets of his rather low cut jeans and turned his blue eyes back to Jean-Paul.

Hopefully, someone would have seen Bobby's return and told the rest of the X-Men, which would kill two birds with one stone. In a manner of speaking.