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

[Iceman]

Selling books. That was interesting. Not fun, no, but interesting, yes. Somehow, Bobby was imagining that Northstar had been more along the lines of a male model since leaving the X-Men. "That's cool," he said with a nod as he dropped his hand. It didn't stay by his side, but went to slide around Paige. He didn't want to knock her hand off of his back, though, so he lifted his arm to lay around her shoulders. Which unintentionally attracted more attention to the gesture, but that was true with a lot of how Bobby acted about his relationships.

"I remember when it was calm here," he said thoughtfully, his gaze falling somewhere on the far wall as he slipped into memories momentarily. "Hasn't been for a while, though," he said, snapping his attention and his eyes back to Jean-Paul. The hand that lay on Paige's shoulder toyed with a strand of her hair--he still couldn't get over the fact that he was holding her again.

"So I just missed a meeting?" he asked, looking to Warren and then sideways to Paige. "Anything else I missed? Forge said something about me being in charge of the trainees. Any plans...?"

[Cannonball]

After Bobby and Paige had disappeared inside, Sam had stood in his bedroom wondering what, exactly, he should do. Should he just stay here and patiently wait for Paige to bring the felon up and introduce him? Or should he go downstairs and Make Polite Conversation - not something the plain-speaking Kentucky man was used to.

Darlin', you gotta let me know,
Should I stay or should I go...

He sat down on the bed.

Then he got up again and paced round the room.

Then he sat down.

If I go there will be trouble...
If I stay it will be double...

He got up again and considered his reflection in the mirror. Sure enough, he had an expression that looked like he'd not only sucked on an entire bag of lemons, but also as if someone had shoved an aforementioned zingy citrus fruit where the sun didn't shine.

You promised her you'd give her the benefit of the doubt.

Good point.

He attempted a smile to his reflection. He looked not unlike a lunatic.

Thus it was that Sam Guthrie made his way down the stairs, a forced, slightly maniacal grin on his face, towards his sister and...Bobby Drake.

[husk]

Paige saw Sam coming, and almost burst out laughing at the look on his face. It wasn't so much that he looked strange- just to someone who knew better. She gave Sam a look that told him he only had one chance to do this right, then winked.

"Sammy!" She called, waving over her head. Paige looked at Warren and Jean-Paul, pulling Bobby away. "Have to run, more people to see! Nice to meet you honey!" She waved and met Sam at the bottom of the stairs with Bobby, only a few feet away from Jean-Paul and Warren after all.

"Bobby, this is my brother. Sam Guthrie." She at least remembered not to call him Sammy Z, as she had a tendency to when she was playing the cute younger sister. "Sam, this is Bobby Drake... the one I told you about." Looking at Bobby with a smile, her tone softened a bit when she said the last part, indicating something far more personal than gossip-worthy.

"Sammy used to go to school here, Bobby." Paige shifted those brilliant blue eyes back to a set genetically similar to her own, and prayed neither of them would say anything stupid.

[Iceman]

Sammy? With his eyes Bobby followed the direction Paige was waving frantically at, feeling as if he'd just been tugged a couple of inches back down to earth at the reminder that he still had things to do. One would think that after fighting battles where his life was in danger, that meeting his girlfriend's brother would be cake, but to Bobby it wasn't. From what she'd said on the phone at one point, her brother was pretty protective of her.

He looked back to Warren, his eyes widening a fraction of an inch for a split second, sharing his worry with his friend. He then turned to Jean-Paul and smiled. "I'll see you guys around," he said as Paige tugged on his arm.

Bobby couldn't help but be a bit intimidated as he followed Paige over to the bottom of the stairs, though he wore a genuine smile. Sam was smiling, too, which would have been more of a good sign if it hadn't have something of a crazed look to it. Bobby tried his best to shove his worries aside, and he put out his free hand (the one Paige wasn't holding onto) to offer Sam a handshake. He was glad to be meeting Paige's much-loved brother, and he was determined to pass his approval. Paige was important to him, and the last thing he wanted to do was screw up.

"Hey! Awesome," he said with a warm smile, since Paige had already done the introducing for them. "It's great to finally be meeting some more of the Guthrie family."

(ooc: Let us know, Mac and Kay, if you want us to make ourselves a thread or if you'd enjoy watching Bobby squirm)

[macmacmac]

Jean-Paul grinned at Bobby; anyone who could say seling books was cool with a straight face had to be sort of decent. But here he was, confused again, because Bobby and Paige were behaving -- well. He would never expect to get any of that sort of thing straight (ha, ha) just from observation. Eventually someone who knew what was going on in everyone's personal lives would tell him.

Hopefully.

And then Bobby and Paige were both off to meet -- it was not eavesdropping when they were talking normally -- Paige's brother. Appropriately older-looking and attractive brother, at that. Jean-Paul managed not to laugh, but only for the knowledge that no one else would understand why and he didn't need anyone thinking he was crazy.

He looked back at Warren instead, hoping the other man didn't also have people he was supposed to be scurrying about talking to. "Everyone seems friendly, then," he said. "I hope I am not keeping you from something --?"

((New thread, old thread, doesn't matter to me. I'll be watching Bobby squirm either way. Though I don't want to be responsible for holding all four of you up with my slowness (esp. during elections tomorrow) so if that matters... Yes.))

[angel]

It was difficult to keep a straight face when Warren saw just who Paige was dragging Bobby over to meet.

Well, Iceboy was either really brave or really stupid, managing to sound so cheery. It was probably reasonable to assume that Sam had been enlightened as to Bobby's... status by now, so regardless of how innocent he was, Warren sure wouldn't have been quite so... bubbly at first meeting the eldest brother who, incidentally, could probably launch into you and fly you though the building in a path of destruction that would really hurt.

Then again, Bobby wouldn't know his powers yet unless Paige had told him.

Yeah, brave or stupid.

"Everyone seems friendly, then," Jean-Paul's voice drew his attention, and Warren turn back to the dark-haired mutant still wearing his amused smile. "I hope I am not keeping you from something --?"

"No, no, it's all good." Warren's schedule for that afternoon went something along the lines of 'Watch TV, look pretty, maybe have some coffee.'

"You probably came on the wrong afternoon - everyone's going to be paying attention to Bobby getting back. If you'd like, we can find you a free room and you can talk to Storm or someone once things have calmed down...?"

[Cannonball]

"Hey! Awesome. It's great to finally be meeting some more of the Guthrie family."

Sam stared down at Bobby's hand for what seemed like an eternity. Then he looked up into Bobby's eyes, flickered his gaze briefly to Paige, and finally took Bobby's hand, perhaps a little harder than was absolutely necessary into his own.

"Bobby," he said, as politely as he could manage. It took a supreme effort of will on his part not to speak through clenched teeth. "Paige has told me...a lot about ya." The fact you were recently arrested for murder is the bit that REALLY sticks in my head, mind you.

After he released Bobby's hand, he shoved his own hands into the pockets of his jeans and attempted to make general conversation. It didn't take a telepath to pick out the unspoke words between sentences. "Guess ya weren't expecting to meet any of Paige's family so soon," he said, conversationally. I can tell that by the look of uncertainty on your face. Hey, I have the upper hand here! "She'll tell ya - I got this uncanny habit of turnin' up whenever she needs me the most." If you hurt her, I'll rip your legs off and beat you to death with the soggy end. " I ain't sure how long I'll be stayin' around...but a couple weeks, I guess." If, in that time, I deem you unsuitable for my sister, I will make my feelings very definitely known.

Sam smiled again.

"I'm sure y'all have got a lot to catch up on, what with you bein' away for a while an' all." I know what you did. I know what you did. I KNOW WHAT YOU DID!

Sam batted rather vaguely at his head.

"Paige," he said, to his sister. "When y'all are done talkin' to Bobby," And I mean TALKING, not SHAGGING "I wouldn't mind a couple minutes of ya time. Somethin' I need to talk to y'all about."

He took his hands out his pockets and shook Bobby's hand again. "Nice meetin' ya, Bobby. Y'all take care now, OK?"

Having done his Bit, the big Guthrie took a step back, making it clear that he was going to watch Bobby and Paige like a hawk whilst he was present.

He knew that feeling like this was irrational, but he couldn't help himself.

[Iceman]

"She'll tell ya - I got this uncanny habit of turnin' up whenever she needs me the most."

Bobby somehow managed to keep his smile on his face. Oh, God, she hadn't been exaggerating. She'd been...under-exaggerating. What was he supposed to say?!

" I ain't sure how long I'll be stayin' around...but a couple weeks, I guess."

'Well, thats good news,' Bobby thought to himself, nodding as though Sam was just giving this information as conversation.

"I'm sure y'all have got a lot to catch up on, what with you bein' away for a while an' all."

Oh. Ohhh. So maybe Sam Guthrie didn't always treat his sisters' boyfriends like this. Maybe Bobby got the special treatment because he'd recently been released from prison. Bobby had to admit it made sense, though he hoped Paige had convinced Sam that Bobby wasn't guilty.

When it was all over (which would hopefully be the hardest part of the next few weeks), Bobby shook Sam's hand a second time. "By the way," he said as their hands dropped, "I was hoping to get a bunch of people together to go out today or tomorrow. You should come." Was that him talking? How was he keeping himself in this awkward, tense situation any longer than he had to be? And without flubbing what he said or his voice cracking or anything?!

'You should come...and see that I have nothing to hide,' Bobby finished in his mind. Except maybe he'd keep his hands to himself. And kissing her was probably a big ole deep-fried no-no. He made a mental note to ask Paige what was appropriate conduct in her brother's eyes before Sam got a chance to see them again.

"It was nice meeting you, too," he said respectfully, still feeling like he'd arrived at Judgement Day and God very much resembled one of the guys from The Boondock Saints.

When Sam said that he needed to talk to Paige when she and Bobby were through, and he stepped back, Bobby turned to Paige slightly. "Nah, I can just...I can go find Kitty or Ororo, you can call me when you want..." He tapped his phone in his pocket and suddenly realized that he was faced with quite a dilemma: how could he say good-bye to Paige without making Sam blow his top?

He waited for Paige's answer, and for her to initiate the hug or (unlikely) kiss that she knew would keep her brother restrained.

[husk]

"You sure?" She didn't quite want to leg go of him yet, but knew they'd find their time one way or another. "You know it might be the perfect time to hit up Storm for a move to the big-boy rooms too." She poked him in the side, smirking, and completely missing that she'd just hinted in front of her brother that she'd rather screw in an adult room in the mansion than the dorms.

Standing on her toes to give him a quick kiss on the lips, she let her hand trail his side as she half-stepped over to her brother. "But don't be too long!" She called.

Passing Warren on her way back to Sam, she gave him a wide-eyed, exasperated expression, then flickered a look from Jean-Paul back to Warren.

Within earshot, she said saucily "Do you hear a fire alarm? I swear I heard a fire alarm." Fanning herself with a wink, she continued on to Sam.

"All yours Sammy." She slipped her arm into his.

[angel]

Apparently Bobby was smarter than Warren had previously given him credit for, because he was hoofing it out of there pretty quickly now. Not until he'd asked Sam out for lunch - which really just seemed like an extra opportunity to mess up and make things worse in the winged mutant's mind, but fair enough - and gotten that comment from Paige about the 'big boy rooms', which really left Warren smiling in amusement and trying his best not to introduce his face to his palm.

But then, Paige knew her older brother far better than anyone there - maybe he really wouldn't care about the innuendo. Well, maybe there were some big brothers in the world that would have been ok with it.

You know, a small percentage.

The exhasperated look that Paige shot over his way made Warren raise an eyebrow. Was that for him or for Sam? He did his best to look innocent, but almost burst out laughing at her fire alarm comment.

"You know, I don't think so. Maybe, though - you know my eyesight is better than my hearing. You look... hot, Paige. But then, it is a little hot in here." Enough hotness that it was hard to decide where to look.

He resisted making a comment about Bobby's imminent departure raising the hotness-factor in the hall considerably, but his lips quirked into a smile at the thought.

"I'll see you later on." Warren directed the comment to both of the Guthries, unable to resist a grin.

[Iceman]

Okay. Okay…Paige hadn’t exactly outrightly said anything too bad. She could have said ‘our move to the big-boy rooms’. Or something much worse, which would have erased all doubt from Bobby’s mind that Sam was going to spend the afternoon dreaming of ways he could murder Bobby without leaving any fingerprints.

Bobby managed to return Paige’s kiss, their lips touching for only a split second. He smiled at her as they parted; for a moment, her closeness overcame his nervousness about her brother being right there. “I’ll find you later,” he promised as he let go of her hand.

With relief flooding his body, Bobby turned to Warren and Jean-Paul and moved a few steps toward them. He stopped at Warren’s shoulder for a moment, giving his friend a look that was clearly the aftershock of a situation that Bobby had yet to decide whether he’d done good or bad in.

“I should find Ororo,” he said, turning his mind to other matters. “I’ll, uh…I’ll see you guys later. If you see Kitty or Hannah…Well, don’t tell Hannah I’m back, but let me know on the comm where she is, okay?”

Bobby turned his head slightly, giving a backwards glance halfway over his shoulder. He chuckled at himself and shook his head. “See yah…” he said as he moved past them and started off down the hall in search of Ororo.

[Cannonball]

After Bobby had said his 'goodbyes' to Paige and those nearby had made an assortment of snide comments, Sam felt a little more relaxed. He'd even managed to shake Bobby's hand a second time, which was - had the kid but know it - his way of saying 'I'll give you a chance'.

He grinned ruefully down at his kid sister. "Guys, if ya will excuse me, there's a little thing I gotta discuss with my sister in private. I'll not keep her from ya for too long, I promise."

Glancing down at Paige, he gave her another grin. "It'll not take long," he promised. "There's just somethin' I want ya to know, is all. Meant to tell ya at lunch, but ya know. Got distracted." He ran a hand through his hair.

"The gazebo," he said. "That's a good place to talk. C'mon, sis."

Having so said, Sam led his sister away and out towards the structure in the gardens.

Exit Sam and Paige

[forge]

Forge munched a sandwich-type construct he'd built in the kitchen after his reunion with Bobby. The thing (sandwich) was very golem-like in nature, created from an assortment of trimmings and foodstuffs that the ever-stocked fridge had produced without complaint. Not only was it a Frankensandwich, but it was also, at least in the humble Cheyenne's opinion, something to be respected and admired... not to mention consumed without hesitation.

Thus it was that the rest of his journey to the front of the house was particularly slow, the nature of his new cybernetic limb (which he still displayed proudly with his fancy cargo-pants with one short leg) demanding a degree of attention so early in his proficiency with it... and the Frankensandwich taking up so much of his precious concentration. He hobbled along like a misbegotten Quasimodo figure, eating a monstrosity of lunch, and limpling lamely on a shiny metallic leg.

He was just wiping the crumbs from his face when he found the gentlemen he was looking for: Angel, in all his golden-boy glory (though not as golden as Elixer,) and the new guy. He'd been observing them on camera of course, and saw the coming and going of the Guthrie family (he still needed to meet Sam, though his datafile suggested some impressive mutant ability) and Bobby – who seemed to positively squirm under the eye of Paige's brother. It was very much romantic comedy moment, and Forge had personally found it more amusing than TV. In fact, he often just watched the school rather than TV, for it was quite the entertaining setting. It often came with good special effects too.

He felt a bit under-attractive approaching the two incredibly handsome men, though he had never truly underappreciated his own good looks. He also never over-appreciated the odds that anyone would find his sheer degree of geekery attractive.

“Heya Angel,” He said, walking a bit more normally on the leg now that he was free of the attention-grabbing culinary genius. “What's the word on the street?”

[angel]

"Oh, hey Forge." Warren turned when he heard his name, smiling broadly at the Native American in thanks for getting him out of the meeting first. Obviously, he'd looked bored. It wasn't much of a surprise, really, meetings always made him think of his father and work.

"You know I spend most of my time in the sky." The winged mutant got a bit antsy if he was cooped up too long, and really didn't do well in anything less than a stretch limousine if he had to travel in vehicles. Planes were only slightly better, as long as he had standing room, but he'd have much preferred to be out flying under his own power.

"This is Jean-Paul Martin. Jean-Paul, Forge. Or Bandero Tandaka. Our resident technology... guru." He'd almost said 'geek' - which Forge probably wouldn't have minded, but felt less than respectful when said in front of people who didn't know him. Warren shrugged just a little.

"I'm afraid I don't know Jean-Paul's other name." If he had one. Not everyone did, it wasn't always easy to come up with something that made it clear what your powers were and didn't sound either way too long or completely unrelated.

Not everyone looked like they'd stepped out of medieval art.

[macmacmac]

((ooc - yeah, so I went on a canoeing trip and also pretty much fail. was expecting the hotel to have internet, though. anyway. er.))

The mansion was just crawling with them, wasn't it? "Them" being attractive men. Perhaps something about the mutant gene went hand-in-hand with good looks, and Jean-Paul just hadn't noticed so much when he had gone to school here because everyone had been more along the lines of awkward teenager.

Now, though. Good Lord. And to think, Jean-Paul had almost decided to go back to Montreal.

He grinned through Angel's introductions, then held out a hand for his -- well, he'd lost count, but some number of shake. "Northstar," he said, without even so much of a twitch. He hadn't had any say in the name, originally, and it really had more to do with his nationality than his abilities, but he'd gotten over it. Even if it wasn't as French as he might have liked. "Nice to meet you."

He wanted, of course, to ask about the leg, because it was interesting, really, and perhaps connected to whatever it was Forge could do. But even the most rudimentary of manners would have prevented it.

"I was hoping to help," he said -- a bit awkwardly, but smiling as if he knew exactly what he was doing. "If there's any use for me."

[forge]

Forge returned the handshake with a bright smile. “Good to meet you, Northstar – and we could always use more help. If you're talking about teaching, you'd need to talk to Storm or Candice Taylor – the Admin lady.”

He sized the other man up, something of a twinkle in his eye.

“but if you're talking about the X-Men... well, we're sort of between leaders right now. Currently we're a group of people that are bunched up to tackle foes like Magneto, really independent of organization... and we can definitely use all the help we can get. I actually came out here to talk to Angel about moving the X-men's base of operations. We need to get out of the school, we're attracting to much violence toward it. I'm really thinking of just moving a mile or so down the road, but if it paints a target for the bad guys to attack that's not the school – then that's the point.”

Tucking his thumbs into his pockets, he looked between the men.

“We've actually got quite an impressive roster right now... but apparently so does the Brotherhood. As in Baltimore, we sometimes are the only thing that can stand against the collections of evil mutants that have been sprouting up.”

He ran a hand through his hair, and chuckled somewhat bashfully. “I, uhh, appear to rambling. I'm sorry.”

[angel]

Though quite a bit of his mind was concentrating more on what exactly 'Northstar' represented, Warren did notice when Forge's little ramble mentioned him, and he nodded. Well, it had to happen sometime, and he probably was the most well funded member of the X-Men. Then again, maybe he was being a little too suspicious, and Forge just wanted to know the name of a good interior decorator. He'd certainly be able to help with that - his mother seemed to hire a new one at least once a year, whenever she bored of the apartment's current colour scheme.

Shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans, and stretching out his back - which meant that his wings flexed back behind him and his jeans were pushed almost alarmingly low - Warren found himself grinning as Bandero finally trailed off.

"I'll make a few calls then, shall I?" He hadn't exactly kept his apartment hunting a secret - with a quick call to his real estate agent, he could change that focus to a house in Westchester and hopefully have some idea of whether there was anything nearby for sale by the next day.

"Jean-Paul, it was fantastic to meet you. Forge can help you out with the X-Men stuff a lot better than I can, but if you need anything else I'll be happy to help." Directing another one of his smiles at the new arrival, Warren turned it on Forge and nodded.

"I'll go get my comm and make a couple of calls - if you need me, just call, I'll be around."

[Aaaand, exit Angel ]

[forge]

Forge bid his goodbye to Angel, glad that the kid took his meaning. Forge himself had a fair amount of money, having liquidated all of his corporate assets before joining the X-Men. One shouldn't be surprised at how much money his mutant power had made him in his life... but more funding was a very good thing. Particularly with how very expensive making an underground lair could be. At least one such as they had beneath this mansion.

“So Northstar, I'd love to show you around a bit, but at the moment I'm somewhat short on time. Did you ever meet Storm? She's the headmistress, and she can hook you up with room and board. After your settled in, say tomorrow morning, give me a call on the school's extension network – I should be in the menu.”

Giving the man another broad smile, he turned to head out. “Good to meet you, Northstar.”

Then he turned, and walked with a faint limp back to the elevator. His mind was searching the database for any references or pictures of the guy, and when he pulled up his file, his smile grew broader. The X-Men were getting some impressive talent in their ranks now.

There would be no more Baltimores.

(ooc - exit Forge! Time to go geek it up some more!)