Post by Iceman on Aug 13, 2006 15:15:58 GMT -5
The door was pulled open, and William and Madeline Drake looked up and started in automatic surprise to being face-to-face with someone in the doorway they had been about to go through. They quickly became doubly shocked as they saw not only that the man had wings, but that he was carrying their son in his arms.
William Drake instinctively grew angry. "What are you doing with my son?" he demanded, his eyes boring into Warren in a defensive fatherly fashion. Maddie's reaction to the sight was to grip her husband's arm and cover her mouth with the hand that held tissues crumpled in it tightly.
Blinking, Warren's attention was drawn from the inside of the lab to the outside fairly quickly. "Huh? I'm taking him up to his room, our healer just cleared him - all he needs is rest." Hopefully that would set their minds at ease. Or, you know, stop them from having a conniption right there. Bobby had told Warren about his parents, and he couldn't help but feel a little hostile toward them - though he tried not to show it.
William was so immensely relieved to hear the positive news about Bobby that it softened his anger a bit. He still demanded answers, though. "Has he woken up? We'll stay with him until he does." He spoke in a tone that said loud and clear that no one, by any means of persuasion, was going to keep this father from watching over his son like a hawk. Mutantcy aside.
While it was nice to see that they'd finally decided to accept Bobby as part of the family again, Warren couldn't help but wonder if it would be welcome. And if anyone was going to do any hawklike watching, it was the one who had the eyesight for it. Still, he tried to keep his face, and his tone, neutral. "Not yet. I'm sorry Mr. Drake, I'm Warren. I'd shake your hand, but..." He motioned with his head at the boy in his arms. "Why don't you come with me upstairs."
Ducking his head back into the lab, he looked at Storm and Josh with an expression that clearly said 'Kill me now.' That or, 'I think I'm going to kill them.' It was hard to tell.
"I'll catch up with you later, give me a call if you need me. Nice to meet you, Josh." He finally walked forward, his arms feeling slightly sore from carrying the fully grown man in his arms for so long without any help from his wings, and pointed to the elevator with his head. "Could you...?"
William and Maddie followed Warren at an even farther distance than they had followed Candice, and William positioned himself between his wife and the winged man carrying Bobby. His eyes were on those wings until he glanced up and saw what Warren was requesting. William moved forward, but Maddie was closer and she reached out and pressed the button to open the elevator doors. Her eyes were on Bobby's expressionless face the whole time.
"Was he taken to a hospital?" she asked, her voice more quiet than William's but laced with it's own force, in some ways more grudging than her husband's had been.
"With all due respect, Mrs Drake, most hospitals aren't really equipped for mutants." There, he'd said it. And took a certain spiteful pleasure in reminding them of the fact that they'd so easily rejected their son over. It wasn't a nice feeling, to have parents who feared and hated what you were - and by extension, to some point at least, you. "He really is fine, he just overextended himself. Discovered several new powers." There was that little bit of spiteful pleasure again, though his face showed nothing out of the ordinary. Warren knew how to keep up appearances.
William managed to block out his reaction to Warren's words, his face quickly turning into a grim mask. His jaw clenched, and he stared hard at the wall before he dared to look back to Warren. Bobby's mother, however, could not be so discreet. She read more into Warren's statements, and would have whether he said them purposefully or not.
Her watery eyes narrowed at Warren, and she squared her jaw. It was as if she wanted to snap at him, but kept herself silent. 'Could we not discuss Bobby's problems?' she thought to herself bitingly. The second thing that came to mind immediately after was the connection between Bobby's injuries and Bobby's powers. It only supported her notion that Bobby's powers were bad for him.
"His powers caused this?" she asked flatly, with all the meaning behind the question wrapped up in the way she said the words.
The elevator dinged as they reached the second floor, where the dorms were. The winged man strode confidently to Bobby's room - and was struck with an extremely amusing idea. "He was amazing, Mrs Drake, but he's been learning lots of brand new things about himself lately. It can be hard, when you have to deal with those kind of revelations." He chose his words very carefully as he lay Bobby down on the bed.
You owe me a new set of arms, big guy. And now it was time to lay his amusing plan into action.
"Mr and Mrs Drake, I'll leave you alone with your son. If you need me, just ask around, I'll do anything I can to help." He leant over, supressing the broad smile that was threatening to break free, and kissed Bobby lightly on the cheek. Stroking his hair aside, a loving gesture that had been practiced on more women than they were ever going to guess, Angel murmured, "Get better, k?" He turned, nodded to each of Bobby's parents, and left the room. He couldn't keep the grin from his face.
Bobby's parents had already been distancing themselves from Warren--moreso Maddie than William--simply because he was a mutant and involved with Bobby's current condition. Maddie could barely keep quiet as Warren gushed about Bobby's powers, and her husband's knowing hand squeezing her shoulder kept her from arguing with the feathered man.
But when he kissed Bobby's cheek, Bobby's parents each felt their hearts freeze in their chests, and when Warren turned to them again they beheld him with a mixture of shock, suspicion, and the beginnings of outrage. What kept them from confronting him about the natural questions that his actions had risen in their minds was the embarrassment and awkwardness that finding that their suspicions were true would bring.
Madeline, again, showed her opinion of Angel much more clearly than William did. In her opinion, if she (and Bobby, as well) never saw Warren again, it would be too soon. If her son was gay...In her mind she blamed this man before her, as it was much easier than blaming her own son.
"Thank you," William said, more stiffly than ever. It was evident that Warren would be the last person he would call if Bobby did need help. The both of them stood in stony silence, waiting for Warren to leave.
Somehow, Warren managed to keep from bursting into laughter until he'd reached his own room, where he actually put a pillow over his face to muffle the sound in case they could hear it from so far away. "Oh, Iceboy." He wiped tears from his eyes, this time tears of mirth. "I so want to be there when you have to explain this one."
William Drake instinctively grew angry. "What are you doing with my son?" he demanded, his eyes boring into Warren in a defensive fatherly fashion. Maddie's reaction to the sight was to grip her husband's arm and cover her mouth with the hand that held tissues crumpled in it tightly.
Blinking, Warren's attention was drawn from the inside of the lab to the outside fairly quickly. "Huh? I'm taking him up to his room, our healer just cleared him - all he needs is rest." Hopefully that would set their minds at ease. Or, you know, stop them from having a conniption right there. Bobby had told Warren about his parents, and he couldn't help but feel a little hostile toward them - though he tried not to show it.
William was so immensely relieved to hear the positive news about Bobby that it softened his anger a bit. He still demanded answers, though. "Has he woken up? We'll stay with him until he does." He spoke in a tone that said loud and clear that no one, by any means of persuasion, was going to keep this father from watching over his son like a hawk. Mutantcy aside.
While it was nice to see that they'd finally decided to accept Bobby as part of the family again, Warren couldn't help but wonder if it would be welcome. And if anyone was going to do any hawklike watching, it was the one who had the eyesight for it. Still, he tried to keep his face, and his tone, neutral. "Not yet. I'm sorry Mr. Drake, I'm Warren. I'd shake your hand, but..." He motioned with his head at the boy in his arms. "Why don't you come with me upstairs."
Ducking his head back into the lab, he looked at Storm and Josh with an expression that clearly said 'Kill me now.' That or, 'I think I'm going to kill them.' It was hard to tell.
"I'll catch up with you later, give me a call if you need me. Nice to meet you, Josh." He finally walked forward, his arms feeling slightly sore from carrying the fully grown man in his arms for so long without any help from his wings, and pointed to the elevator with his head. "Could you...?"
William and Maddie followed Warren at an even farther distance than they had followed Candice, and William positioned himself between his wife and the winged man carrying Bobby. His eyes were on those wings until he glanced up and saw what Warren was requesting. William moved forward, but Maddie was closer and she reached out and pressed the button to open the elevator doors. Her eyes were on Bobby's expressionless face the whole time.
"Was he taken to a hospital?" she asked, her voice more quiet than William's but laced with it's own force, in some ways more grudging than her husband's had been.
"With all due respect, Mrs Drake, most hospitals aren't really equipped for mutants." There, he'd said it. And took a certain spiteful pleasure in reminding them of the fact that they'd so easily rejected their son over. It wasn't a nice feeling, to have parents who feared and hated what you were - and by extension, to some point at least, you. "He really is fine, he just overextended himself. Discovered several new powers." There was that little bit of spiteful pleasure again, though his face showed nothing out of the ordinary. Warren knew how to keep up appearances.
William managed to block out his reaction to Warren's words, his face quickly turning into a grim mask. His jaw clenched, and he stared hard at the wall before he dared to look back to Warren. Bobby's mother, however, could not be so discreet. She read more into Warren's statements, and would have whether he said them purposefully or not.
Her watery eyes narrowed at Warren, and she squared her jaw. It was as if she wanted to snap at him, but kept herself silent. 'Could we not discuss Bobby's problems?' she thought to herself bitingly. The second thing that came to mind immediately after was the connection between Bobby's injuries and Bobby's powers. It only supported her notion that Bobby's powers were bad for him.
"His powers caused this?" she asked flatly, with all the meaning behind the question wrapped up in the way she said the words.
The elevator dinged as they reached the second floor, where the dorms were. The winged man strode confidently to Bobby's room - and was struck with an extremely amusing idea. "He was amazing, Mrs Drake, but he's been learning lots of brand new things about himself lately. It can be hard, when you have to deal with those kind of revelations." He chose his words very carefully as he lay Bobby down on the bed.
You owe me a new set of arms, big guy. And now it was time to lay his amusing plan into action.
"Mr and Mrs Drake, I'll leave you alone with your son. If you need me, just ask around, I'll do anything I can to help." He leant over, supressing the broad smile that was threatening to break free, and kissed Bobby lightly on the cheek. Stroking his hair aside, a loving gesture that had been practiced on more women than they were ever going to guess, Angel murmured, "Get better, k?" He turned, nodded to each of Bobby's parents, and left the room. He couldn't keep the grin from his face.
Bobby's parents had already been distancing themselves from Warren--moreso Maddie than William--simply because he was a mutant and involved with Bobby's current condition. Maddie could barely keep quiet as Warren gushed about Bobby's powers, and her husband's knowing hand squeezing her shoulder kept her from arguing with the feathered man.
But when he kissed Bobby's cheek, Bobby's parents each felt their hearts freeze in their chests, and when Warren turned to them again they beheld him with a mixture of shock, suspicion, and the beginnings of outrage. What kept them from confronting him about the natural questions that his actions had risen in their minds was the embarrassment and awkwardness that finding that their suspicions were true would bring.
Madeline, again, showed her opinion of Angel much more clearly than William did. In her opinion, if she (and Bobby, as well) never saw Warren again, it would be too soon. If her son was gay...In her mind she blamed this man before her, as it was much easier than blaming her own son.
"Thank you," William said, more stiffly than ever. It was evident that Warren would be the last person he would call if Bobby did need help. The both of them stood in stony silence, waiting for Warren to leave.
Somehow, Warren managed to keep from bursting into laughter until he'd reached his own room, where he actually put a pillow over his face to muffle the sound in case they could hear it from so far away. "Oh, Iceboy." He wiped tears from his eyes, this time tears of mirth. "I so want to be there when you have to explain this one."
