Warren, Meet Alison

[Iceman]

It was about forty minutes after Bobby had left Warren in the lobby that he came back out to find him. Bobby looked significantly more groomed than he had when he'd left Warren, with his hair meticulously done by a very flamboyant male hairdresser, and just a touch of the make-up needed so he didn't look washed out in the pictures, which Bobby hoped wasn't noticeable.

He wore a light gray sweater, the sleeves pushed up to fall just below his elbow, and dark, neatly-pressed jeans. Slung around his neck was a thick wool scarf that was a shade of gray that leaned towards the lavendar side.

Bobby searched the lobby with his eyes, quickly catching sight of Angel, whose wings caused him to stand out like a sore thumb. "War!" he called, moving closer to him. "Come here, there's someone you've got to meet."

Bobby was smiling at some secret he couldn't wait to let Warren in on as he grabbed his friends arm and tugged.

[angel]

"Yeah, yeah." He'd actually started up a conversation with the bored girl behind the desk, who it turned out thought that wings were very hot and had quite a nice face when she actually smiled. Giving her a small smile and a wave, Warren let Bobby drag him away. "What's so important that you had to interrupt my flirting time?" He took a good look at the scarf and snorted. "Are you wearing lavendar? That's... uh, that's really your colour." He couldn't stop himself. He burst out laughing.


Bobby couldn't help but laugh along with Warren, though he managed to point at him and suggest that he "Go lay an egg," between laughs. "You'll take that back when you see this..." he promised as he led Warren down the hallway. Stopping at a doorway, he paused dramatically and turned back to hiss, "You owe me big time," before opening the door.

A young woman stood across the waiting room, getting herself a bottle of water from a mini-fridge. She was medium height, with blonde hair that fell in large waves to her shoulder blades. Hearing the door, she turned, and the face she revealed was instantly recognizable. She was Alison Blaire, who had graced countless magazines and had a number of hit songs.

When she saw Bobby re-enter the room with the friend he'd talked about in tow, she set down her water and walked over to them, shining a friendly smile at Warren. "So this must be your friend. Warren. I'm Alison."


"Hi." He held out his hand to shake, giving Bobby a sideways look. Alison was a big music star - not exactly the kind of stuff that he was into, but there was no denying that she was hot. "It's nice to meet you, Alison. And yes, I am Warren." He considered throwing in a joke, but wasn't sure how well that would go down. She was likely to have hulking guards lurking about somewhere, looking out for her safety, and though he was confident that he could take off he'd still rather avoid the tussle. Shifting his wings slightly, he looked her over appreciatively. Not all airbrushing.


Alison ignored his hand and gave him a short hug before stepping back and exaggerratedly checking him over. "They sure do keep you guys in good shape," she said with a lift of one eyebrow. She took a step back and pretended to pout--and judging by the fact that her upcoming movie was already expected to take home more than one Oscar, she was very good at pretending. "It's like I told Bobby; All attractive guys are either taken or gay."

Turning to pick up her water bottle, she moved around the boys to the couch, adding casually, "And you're both," as though it were known fact. Inside, she was fighting to keep her laughter down.

Bobby had to turn to the side to hide his struggle to keep his smile hidden from Warren. He'd told Alison about Warren's antics around Bobby's parents, and they'd decided that Alison would help Bobby get revenge on Warren. She was doing extremely well; Bobby made a note to make sure to see her movie when it came out.

Alison sat on the couch and leaned back against the cushions. "So, were you a male dancer before or after you met Bobby?"


The warmth of her pressed against him was taken away far too quickly and replaced with the statement that he was both gay and taken. And apparently, a male dancer. Obviously, Bobby was trying to get him back for the thing with his parents, but as hot as this singer was - and probably loaded, not that it mattered to Warren - the winged mutant couldn't pass up an opportunity.

"Oh, after. Bobby taught me all his best moves." He gave her a sweet smile. "I'm glad to know he's so out and proud, I hope he told the interviewer about what we have. It's... really something special." It was hard to keep a straight face, very hard.

"As much as I'm sure that nothing will ever go wrong between Bobby and I," he shot the other boy a glance that said 'Never, in front of any chicks that you like, ever, will this end,' "You should know that I love people, not just a gender."


Bobby couldn't believe it. Warren had actually found a way to twist it around. He stood, momentarily dumb-founded, glancing at Warren when he didn't think he was looking. Luckily, Alison could think on her feet.

"That's exactly how I feel!" she said sweetly, smiling at Warren. After a pause, she added with a casual yet coy air, "Though I tend to lean more toward other girls."

Bobby's attention was immediately brought back to the conversation at hand. He slowly turned his head to look at Alison, wishing to God it was true, letting himself have a tiny bit of hope that it might be.

But Alison had already begun to lose it, just seeing the expressions on their faces. She covered her mouth with her fingers as she shook her head and laughed a laugh which was nearly as musical as her voice. "I give up," she surrendered, grinning. "It's too much."


Nodding, Warren's smile was broad. Wonder how many people have told you they'd like to watch. "I do love girls. As you can tell, though, I'm really not picky." He reached out one hand blindly, grasping Bobby's shirt in a fist and pulling the other boy over to pin him to his side. "Maybe we could go on a double date sometime."

When she gave up, though, he let go of Bobby with a laugh. "That is a shame. It could have been beautiful." He thought about elaborating but decided that the mental image would probably be best kept to himself. "It is lovely to meet you, though. And, you know, if you ever are interested, I know some lovely girls who would be delighted to go out with you." He gave her one of his most mischeivous smiles.


"I'm sure you do," Alison replied dryly, knowing that there was much truth in what he'd said. It was one of the unnerving things about being famous; people you'd never know in your life could be obsessed with you and know everything there was to know about you. "But I don't actually swing that way, as much as the tabloids probably say I do." It was clear that she didn't give much thought to what was written about her.

"Well, it's nice to know you two are still in one piece," she said, much more conversationally than most might. "I've been following any and all news about mutants, for my part..." She assumed that they knew of the movie, which had caused quite a stir because it was the first movie to outrightly involve a mutant character.

For one second, she considered what they'd say if she told them that she was a mutant. But she didn't seriously consider it; she'd never told anyone, and it had worked just fine for her up to now.


"Oh, yeah, we're fine. One of the good parts about being on a team and all that." Reaching out to muss up Bobby's hair, Warren grinned and turned to him. "Oh, I'm sorry, that didn't cost you another hour in the makeup chair, did it?" He fully expected to be tackled right there in front of Alison, ending up in a heap on the ground. In the same train of thought, he wondered if his gravity-defying jeans would be able to stay on if that happened.

"So... How is that part coming along?" He'd heard about the movie - and he wondered how a non-mutant could really understand exactly what it was they went through. And how she was going to pull off being a schoolteacher, cause from his recollection they weren't all young and hot.


Bobby ducked away from Warren as soon as he could, covering his hair with his hands. "You'd better hope it doesn't," he said with a wounded look. He'd barely been able to hold still the first time.

Alison shared Bobby's pain, and she made a sympathetic face. "Hey, you haven't got it half as bad--I've got hours ahead of me in makeup and hair." Her eyes on Warren as he asked her about the movie. "It's going pretty well...If I weren't a part of it, I'd still reccomend it. I hope it does some good for the mutant community--"

Just then, the door opened, and Sherry leaned in. "Bobby? We're ready for you now."

Feeling strangely like he was at the doctor's, Bobby stood. He said good-bye to Alison and ruffled Warren's hair as he passed him, and he and Sherry left the two of them.

Alison watched the door close, folding her hands in her lap and crossing her legs. "You'll have to let me know after you see it, if you think it's true-to-life."


"Mmm." She'd sat down, he looked about for a tall stool and dragged it over so that he could do the same. Normal chairs didn't exactly work for someone with his physique.

"Yeah, I'm sure Bobby can pass on the message." It didn't seem likely that the two of them would ever see or speak to each other again - she was, after all, a big star, and he was just a mutie freak. It was a bit weird sitting there with her, and he wondered if he should return to Christie in the reception. "I suppose you've got, you know, important things to do. I should stop bothering you." It was nice of Bobby to introduce them, but now that he was gone Warren was a bit unsure of what to say. Especially in light of way they'd started out.


Alison didn't seem to feel the least bit uncomfortable. "Why don't you come to the premiere? You and Bobby. It's in a few weeks. I could get you guys good seats," she tempted with a smile. "Think of it as a 'Thank you for saving the country's asses from terrorists' gift basket."


He grinned cheekily. "Would Bobby have to be my date?"


Alison returned his grin. "No. You'd be my special guests. In fact, the date I had set up cancelled, so would you mind keeping me company? I hate walking the carpet alone." Her offer could be seen as flirting, and perhaps a part of it was. But Alison had always been straight-forward and simple with what she said, and she didn't like to attend events alone.


"Sure." His response was as straight forward as her offer. He pulled out his cell phone and scrolled down to his own info card, handing it to her. "You'll have to tell me what colour you're wearing so I can be a proper accessory." It was said with a smile, not bitterness - that was what Bobby had called him earlier, after all. He supposed that having a mutant date would be good for her, especially with the theme of the film being integration. "I could even fly you down for quite an entrance." That thought made his smile widen. Not only because of the prospect of hugging her to his chest instead of Bobby. If one thing could be said about Warren Worthington III, it was that he certainly did like attention.


Alison paused in the middle of typing his cell number into her Sidekick. She looked at Warren apprehensively, but with a hint of a smile that almost seemed shy. "Fly me...?" She was clearly entranced by the idea, whether he had been joking or not. "I don't know...Is that--safe?"


"'Course it is. Unless we get sucked into a jet engine or something..." He paused, grinning at her, "But I won't take you that high." He opened his wings slightly, though not to their full span. "I've had my full wings since I was fourteen, it didn't take long to figure out how to use them." The pure white feathers really did make him look like an angel, especially with his light blonde hair. There was only so much that a mutation like his could entail - he wasn't like Bobby, learning new powers all the time. But he'd learnt to use his mutation to his advantage, whenever it was possible.


Alison had never been one to put heavy emphasis on looks, but the portrait of perfect beauty that Warren painted right then struck even her. "They're gorgeous," she said truthfully, looking down them.

"Do you mind if I--?" She held out a hand, pausing a length away from the wing closest to her. She was curious as to what they felt like, but didn't want to touch them without his okay. Though she couldn't really see it as asking to be able to feel him up--after all, they were wings.


Breaking into another grin, Warren nodded. "Sure. Just be careful." He didn't have feeling in the actual feathers, but he could feel movement and vibration where the shafts joined to his skin. The little fluffy ones near his neck seemed more sensitive - even ticklish, at times - but he'd tell her that if she got too close. He smiled up at her again, wondering just how many people got to be this close the first time they met.


Alison slowly and carefully reached out and touched the smooth, white feathers. She ran her hand down the sleek wing, her eyes studying individual feathers and then admiring it as a whole. She let her hand fall to rest on her hip. "White," she said decidedly. "I'll wear white."

Then, hesitantly, not wanting to be a burden, she asked, "Would you really want to fly me around?"


"White sounds good." He smiled, his wing twitching ever so slightly in the aftermath of the delicate touch. Then, he waved away her question. "I fly Bobby around all the time - flew him here, in fact, he seems to think I'm his carrier pigeon some days. I can guarantee that you'll be a much nicer parcel to be carrying around." Oh, it was a good thing he had a charming smile rather than a lecherous one.

[Alison Blaire]

The Dazzler's eyes began to sparkle. "What are you doing today?" she asked excitedly. She might have wanted to ask herself what she was doing, but her forgotten hair appointment and meeting with her personal trainer paled in comparison to a chance to actually fly. Well, sort of actually fly. Be flown.

[angel]

"Hmmm?" It was afternoon, cooling down and looking like rain, and he was a little surprised. Apparently, she was in the mood for flying today though. They were inside, maybe she hadn't realised. "Oh, I just have to hang around for Bobby, but he can call me when he's done, I guess." She still had his cell phone, although Warren was waiting for her to finish getting his details - and hopefully plug in hers - before he asked for it back.

"You sure you want to go out in this weather though? I mean... It doesn't bother me, but rain doesn't exactly make for the nicest flight." Nor did it do much for him - drowned rat was not a good look for a guy who was much more bird than rodent. Unfortunately, it seemed that the bird he took after wasn't one of those aquatic ones - while his feathers fared well enough to stay in the air, it still didn't exactly look good.

[Alison Blaire]

Ali looked out the window at the cloudy sky, her lips pursing in a wishful look. "That's probably true..." She could imagine the cold air, and the rain pelting her face, soaking her clothes...She didn't consider herself high-maintenance, nobody did, but she still didn't like her clothes being soaked.

She remembered she held both her and his phones in her hands, and she quickly finished putting in his number, then programmed her own into his. "Well, then, call me when you have a free day, or I'll call you...And if we don't get together before then, the premiere is two Fridays from now."

She held out his phone, forcing herself to focus on any details he might need to it, which was difficult as they'd become commonplace to her. "I could have a limo pick you up at...Wherever you live..." She trailed off for a few reasons, one being that she remembered seeing something about him on the news, and he was just about as wealthy as she was. Another reason being that wherever he lived was probably some kind of top-secret base or something.

"Or we could meet somewhere and take a limo from there. We should get dinner," she suggested, with all the eager tone of a child, "You can invite as many people as you want, just let me know so I can get seats for them all."

Her eagerness that he and Bobby attend, and that he invite so many people, was rooted in the fact that she enjoyed the company of the two X-Men. But she also knew that the publicity would be magnificent. She could already picture the photos, and the look on Roman Nekobah's face when his skanky decoy date looked tres passe next to the Angel she'd be arriving with.

[angel]

"I will call you." The smile that Warren gave was totally sincere - it was rare that he didn't call when he said he was. Taking the phone, the Angel couldn't help but grin at the bit of confusion the situation inspired.

"I live in Westchester." He omitted the part about living in a school, although it wasn't like they were exactly low key. "Actually, I've been looking at places in the city, but I'll keep in touch. And I'll let the others know, it should be fun." The limo didn't exactly sound great, but he'd deal with that hurdle when he reached it.

Running a hand through his hair - fluffing it up slightly in the process, Warren gave her another smile. "So you'll call me or I'll call you or something... We'll go out next week sometime. I'll show you the city from an entirely different angle." He wondered how much longer Bobby would be - and wondered vaguely whether a pop star counted for extra in his phone book. Not that he counted points, but it'd still be funny to throw that around sometime.

[Alison Blaire]

Alison smiled and nodded. "That would be awesome..." she trailed off as the door opened and Bobby, Sherry, and a mousy-but-fashionable man with a large camera entered the room.

Sherry was the first to speak. "Alright, Ms. Blaire, we'll be ready for you in just a moment--" She turned to address all three of the guests-- "It's kind of a tradition here that we frame pictures of our guests. Is there any way we could get a shot of the three of you together?"

Alison gave a half-smile and shrugged casually. "It's fine with me," she said, looking to the two men for their opinions. She stood and moved between Warren and Bobby, putting an arm around each shoulder.

[angel]

"Not a guest, but alright." Warren stooped down a little to allow Alison to get her arm around his shoulder, and he grinned wider as he felt her hand brush the more sensitive feathers closer to his neck. Sure, she had Bobby on the other side, which would make for an interesting picture he was sure - but Warren couldn't help but feel a little inward gloat at the fact that he had a date with a movie star. Possibly more than one. Whether she chose to interpret them as such was entirely moot, of course, when it came to his bragging rights, and the fact that it was probably all for publicity didn't bother him at all. Warren knew about keeping up appearances.

"I'll call you." It was his way of saying good-bye as she was dragged away for her own photoshoot, and he waited until she was gone to turn his attention to Bobby. "So, how many rolls did they use to try to get a decent shot?"

[Iceman]

"Oh my God," Bobby said of the photo shoot experience, shaking his head. He'd changed back into his clothes after five wardrobe changes, which had called for his hair to be re-done each time. "You're going to piss yourself when you see it. There was this one...They had me laying in some, like...forest scene. Laying. I didn't understand it at all."

Bobby was moving to the door as he talked, but the faint smile on his face showed that he had enjoyed the experience more than he'd let on.

"So, let's hear it. You bagged Alison Blaire, didn't you?"

[angel]

"They went for the forest instead of a polar bear scene? I wanted to see you wrangling a penguin." Apparently he'd enjoyed being a wood nymph though, cause Bobby was actually smiling. They headed back toward the elevator and were almost there when Bobby asked the question.

"Erm... I got her number, if that's what you're saying. And she asked me to be her date for the premiere. The rest of you lot can come along as well - I think she mentioned you." He put on a mock frown of concentration. "Yeah, I got all the details, she said we can invite whoever we like as long as we let her know. So, you know, I'll tell her when we go out next week or something." He couldn't help it. She was hot, rich, and famous. What young man wouldn't gloat? And she actually seemed to be pretty nice and down to earth, too, which was a nice change from the general run of the mill celebrity types.

"So you're not going to start wearing sunglasses everywhere and get yourself a big burly security guard, are you? Cause I'm not carrying more weight on top of yours." Warren smirked at his friend. "And you're not stealing my product, so don't get used to having your hair like that."

[Iceman]

Bobby rolled his eyes as the elevator door closed behind them and they started to move. "Right. You're welcome," he said. "If it weren't for me, you'd still be back there harrassing the broad at the desk with the coke-bottle glasses."

"Don't worry, War. I'm not going to tag along on your little spa days. As much as you'd love to see this in the steam room."

[angel]

"She was cute!" The elevator started taking them up toward the rooftop again, since Warren was stuck playing carrier pigeon one more time.

"And, you know, if it wasn't for me you'd have been late." Which was hardly a fair trade, but still.

"Guess I'll have to cancel your appointment for next month, then. And I was going to sell those pictures on the internet, too." He grinned as they came out onto the rooftop. "Must say I'm relieved that I won't be dealing with webmasters for... specialist porn sites though. They're a bit... special themselves."

Holding out his arms as if for a hug, Warren grinned.

"Now come on, sweetheart, we've got to run home for Queer Eye re-runs!"