Post by Iceman on Jul 23, 2006 17:54:34 GMT -5
In the past few months, Bobby had seemed to have grown less and less cheerful, whereas he had seemed to have been recovering from everything for a short time. He was often seen with a troubled or even outright depressed look on his face. But one emotion that had scarcely been seen on him was anger.
But as he walked briskly across the open living room area that led to what had been Professor Xavier's office, long strides bringing him to the door, the dark look on his face made up for lost time. He looked extremely pissed off--his eyes held a steely, fierce look, and his jaw was perpetually clenched.
Stopping at the door, he knocked loudly. He didn't mean for it to be so loud, but in his current state, he was in no mood to realize such things as softness.
Storm looked up from her computer screen. Her mind was already reeling from thoughts of NovaTeX, Sentinels and Brotherhood plots, and she had a feeling things were going to get more complicated.
"Come in," she called, but stopped short at the look on Bobby's face when he opened the door.
As soon as he entered the room, he turned and shut the door firmly behind him. Only then did he turn around again and start for her desk. "Storm--" The first indication that this was serious.
"--I have something you really need to read." He held out a couple of computer pages, on which was typed the entire email correspondence he had discovered between Kitty and John.
Included in which was the statement from Kitty to John, "I meant that if we have a webmaster, which I think we might, or someone who generally goes through computer files, Storm and everyone will totally come kill you. I bet they can trace the signal or something, and that's putting your entire group at risk."
Before Storm even had the chance to read through it all, he started to defend himself. "I know I shouldn't have gone through Kitty's computer, and I'm fully prepared to face any punishment you see fit for it." He was also fully prepared to take the entire blame himself--He wasn't about to let on that anyone had helped him get the information.
"But--I can't believe she would still talk to him! After what he did!" Though at this point Storm was probably reading, Bobby was essentially ranting to himself. He grasped the back of a chair in front of Ororo's desk tightly enough to make his knuckles turn white. No, on second inspection, his entire hands were turning a clear-ish white. Frost began to form on the back of the chair as he continued to rave about it. "She even helped him out! What the hell was she thinking!?"
Bobby had Storm's full attention the minute he stepped into the room. She listened to his rant with a grave face and scanned the pages he gave her. But she had already read them.
She took a deep breath and looked her student in the eye as he threatened to turn her visitor's chair into a popsicle.
"Iceman, Kitty is a young person and not as strong as some of her peers. You know as well as I do" - she held his gaze - "how difficult Pyro's desertion has been on this school, and everyone has reacted differently. She's in denial, Bobby, and that is as understandable a reaction as aggression." He was the aggressive one lately. She almost added that she agreed with neither reaction, even though she understood them, but felt Bobby was worked up enough without her criticizing him.
"Kitty was right, I have been monitoring emails for the safety of students like her. I have already seen this. And she is wrong that we will use this information to attack the Brotherhood.
"I'm not even sure I should thank you for wanting to bring it to my attention, particularly as I do not know how you acquired it." She looked vaguely dangerous.
Bobby decided from the serious look on Storm's face that he would not interrupt her by arguing about Kitty's so-called 'denial'--Though he could think of a few better words for it.
When she did finish, he found himself faced with her double-edged statement. 'I do not know how you acquired it'. It wasn't outrightly asking him how he'd gotten a hold of it...But the purpose was pretty clearly there. His eyes moved from her steely gaze to her desk. Should he say anything? Or just let it pass--and hope she wouldn't ask him straight out? He didn't like the prospects of lying to Ororo.
"I read her emails, and I'm sorry. I just--I was looking for..." Suddenly an entirely different emotion broke through the anger on his face. It was embarrassment, and some pain that he couldn't hide. "I thought she might have been talking to Rogue. I just...I just wanted to know how she was doing."
Bobby's head fell slightly as he spoke. His hands slowly returned to their skin-and-bones form, though the frost remained and would until it melted.
Storm looked at him for a minute. When she spoke again it was more softly.
"It's all right, Bobby. But try to respect people's privacy, whoever they are talking to. I hope everyone in this mansion would do that." She wasn't entirely sure that Bobby had worked alone, but she respected that if not, he was trying to protect whoever had helped him.
"Maybe you should ask her how she is doing." Storm meant Rogue, not Kitty - she knew he would understand.
Bobby gave a forced smile, one which was completely devoid of any humor and didn't do anything to touch his downcast eyes. "I tried," he said, coming close to adding a defensive 'alright?' at the end. If he had been talking to anyone but Storm, he probably would have said it. His smile quickly faded. "Her cell's disconnected or something." Of course he assumed she had switched phones, possibly to avoid him.
"Talking to her on the phone's not enough, anyway," he continued, sounding frustrated. This was clearly something he'd thought about. On the phone, she could easily hang up. "You know where she is." He said, fixing a gaze on Ororo that was not accusing or angry, only...Like that of someone looking in from the outside. Forlorn.
His anger was by no means forgotten--it still churned inside him. In fact, bringing out his sadness on top of it might prove to be the final straw that would break the camel's back.
Ororo stood up at Bobby's last words. She came around her desk to stand next to him; she put one hand to his arm firmly, but her face was loving.
"Bobby," she said, and paused, trying to figure out what to say out of so many options. "Yes, I do. But your relationship -" she shook her head, helpless, for once. "I don't know what to say." She rubbed his arm gently, wishing she could do more. The pain of love was no stranger to her, but she knew it was not her place to get involved.
After a moment she exhaled deeply and straightened up. "As for Kitty, you are more than right to be angry, and so am I. I haven't talked to her yet, but I will." A cool edge crept into her voice, showing that his reminder had not gone ignored.
Bobby, surprisingly, didn't speak after she broke off whatever she was going to say about his relationship with Rogue. This was because was clenching his jaw very tightly. His emotions were running on overtime, and the statement had fanned the fire. Finally, ignoring whatever she'd said after that, he responded, and his voice had never sounded so bitter. "We don't have a relationship."
"We have nothing, because the night she left we got into another fight." He let out a sigh. "I just want to smooth that over, at least so we aren't on such bad terms. I can't--get on with my life. Knowing that I drove her off."
Ororo was worried now; she had a feeling she wasn't making things any better. She wanted to give sage advice but Bobby was so worked up at this point that she didn't think he would listen to anything...
"Bobby, if she wants to talk to you she will contact you. Try to get on with your life, give it time. I don't know what else to tell you." She was frustrated but trying not to show it. He had been so bothered that it could only be good for him to let some of his anger out, but this was not the time for her to be playing therapist.
Bobby sighed and nodded, pointedly not meeting her gaze. He shrugged barely, then took a few steps for the door. This was doing nothing. "I just figured she ought to be talked to," he said, though he was unsure if she would be. "Kitty," he clarified.
He adopted a formal sounding tone, which was so uncharacteristic of Bobby Drake that it was easy to see through. "Well, thank you for your time. I won't keep you any longer." With that, he opened the office door, stepped out, and shut it behind him quietly. That had not gone as planned.
But as he walked briskly across the open living room area that led to what had been Professor Xavier's office, long strides bringing him to the door, the dark look on his face made up for lost time. He looked extremely pissed off--his eyes held a steely, fierce look, and his jaw was perpetually clenched.
Stopping at the door, he knocked loudly. He didn't mean for it to be so loud, but in his current state, he was in no mood to realize such things as softness.
Storm looked up from her computer screen. Her mind was already reeling from thoughts of NovaTeX, Sentinels and Brotherhood plots, and she had a feeling things were going to get more complicated.
"Come in," she called, but stopped short at the look on Bobby's face when he opened the door.
As soon as he entered the room, he turned and shut the door firmly behind him. Only then did he turn around again and start for her desk. "Storm--" The first indication that this was serious.
"--I have something you really need to read." He held out a couple of computer pages, on which was typed the entire email correspondence he had discovered between Kitty and John.
Included in which was the statement from Kitty to John, "I meant that if we have a webmaster, which I think we might, or someone who generally goes through computer files, Storm and everyone will totally come kill you. I bet they can trace the signal or something, and that's putting your entire group at risk."
Before Storm even had the chance to read through it all, he started to defend himself. "I know I shouldn't have gone through Kitty's computer, and I'm fully prepared to face any punishment you see fit for it." He was also fully prepared to take the entire blame himself--He wasn't about to let on that anyone had helped him get the information.
"But--I can't believe she would still talk to him! After what he did!" Though at this point Storm was probably reading, Bobby was essentially ranting to himself. He grasped the back of a chair in front of Ororo's desk tightly enough to make his knuckles turn white. No, on second inspection, his entire hands were turning a clear-ish white. Frost began to form on the back of the chair as he continued to rave about it. "She even helped him out! What the hell was she thinking!?"
Bobby had Storm's full attention the minute he stepped into the room. She listened to his rant with a grave face and scanned the pages he gave her. But she had already read them.
She took a deep breath and looked her student in the eye as he threatened to turn her visitor's chair into a popsicle.
"Iceman, Kitty is a young person and not as strong as some of her peers. You know as well as I do" - she held his gaze - "how difficult Pyro's desertion has been on this school, and everyone has reacted differently. She's in denial, Bobby, and that is as understandable a reaction as aggression." He was the aggressive one lately. She almost added that she agreed with neither reaction, even though she understood them, but felt Bobby was worked up enough without her criticizing him.
"Kitty was right, I have been monitoring emails for the safety of students like her. I have already seen this. And she is wrong that we will use this information to attack the Brotherhood.
"I'm not even sure I should thank you for wanting to bring it to my attention, particularly as I do not know how you acquired it." She looked vaguely dangerous.
Bobby decided from the serious look on Storm's face that he would not interrupt her by arguing about Kitty's so-called 'denial'--Though he could think of a few better words for it.
When she did finish, he found himself faced with her double-edged statement. 'I do not know how you acquired it'. It wasn't outrightly asking him how he'd gotten a hold of it...But the purpose was pretty clearly there. His eyes moved from her steely gaze to her desk. Should he say anything? Or just let it pass--and hope she wouldn't ask him straight out? He didn't like the prospects of lying to Ororo.
"I read her emails, and I'm sorry. I just--I was looking for..." Suddenly an entirely different emotion broke through the anger on his face. It was embarrassment, and some pain that he couldn't hide. "I thought she might have been talking to Rogue. I just...I just wanted to know how she was doing."
Bobby's head fell slightly as he spoke. His hands slowly returned to their skin-and-bones form, though the frost remained and would until it melted.
Storm looked at him for a minute. When she spoke again it was more softly.
"It's all right, Bobby. But try to respect people's privacy, whoever they are talking to. I hope everyone in this mansion would do that." She wasn't entirely sure that Bobby had worked alone, but she respected that if not, he was trying to protect whoever had helped him.
"Maybe you should ask her how she is doing." Storm meant Rogue, not Kitty - she knew he would understand.
Bobby gave a forced smile, one which was completely devoid of any humor and didn't do anything to touch his downcast eyes. "I tried," he said, coming close to adding a defensive 'alright?' at the end. If he had been talking to anyone but Storm, he probably would have said it. His smile quickly faded. "Her cell's disconnected or something." Of course he assumed she had switched phones, possibly to avoid him.
"Talking to her on the phone's not enough, anyway," he continued, sounding frustrated. This was clearly something he'd thought about. On the phone, she could easily hang up. "You know where she is." He said, fixing a gaze on Ororo that was not accusing or angry, only...Like that of someone looking in from the outside. Forlorn.
His anger was by no means forgotten--it still churned inside him. In fact, bringing out his sadness on top of it might prove to be the final straw that would break the camel's back.
Ororo stood up at Bobby's last words. She came around her desk to stand next to him; she put one hand to his arm firmly, but her face was loving.
"Bobby," she said, and paused, trying to figure out what to say out of so many options. "Yes, I do. But your relationship -" she shook her head, helpless, for once. "I don't know what to say." She rubbed his arm gently, wishing she could do more. The pain of love was no stranger to her, but she knew it was not her place to get involved.
After a moment she exhaled deeply and straightened up. "As for Kitty, you are more than right to be angry, and so am I. I haven't talked to her yet, but I will." A cool edge crept into her voice, showing that his reminder had not gone ignored.
Bobby, surprisingly, didn't speak after she broke off whatever she was going to say about his relationship with Rogue. This was because was clenching his jaw very tightly. His emotions were running on overtime, and the statement had fanned the fire. Finally, ignoring whatever she'd said after that, he responded, and his voice had never sounded so bitter. "We don't have a relationship."
"We have nothing, because the night she left we got into another fight." He let out a sigh. "I just want to smooth that over, at least so we aren't on such bad terms. I can't--get on with my life. Knowing that I drove her off."
Ororo was worried now; she had a feeling she wasn't making things any better. She wanted to give sage advice but Bobby was so worked up at this point that she didn't think he would listen to anything...
"Bobby, if she wants to talk to you she will contact you. Try to get on with your life, give it time. I don't know what else to tell you." She was frustrated but trying not to show it. He had been so bothered that it could only be good for him to let some of his anger out, but this was not the time for her to be playing therapist.
Bobby sighed and nodded, pointedly not meeting her gaze. He shrugged barely, then took a few steps for the door. This was doing nothing. "I just figured she ought to be talked to," he said, though he was unsure if she would be. "Kitty," he clarified.
He adopted a formal sounding tone, which was so uncharacteristic of Bobby Drake that it was easy to see through. "Well, thank you for your time. I won't keep you any longer." With that, he opened the office door, stepped out, and shut it behind him quietly. That had not gone as planned.
