Post by angel on Sept 7, 2006 3:47:22 GMT -5
Flapping his wings, Warren hovered lazily around the building, not entirely sure which of the balconies was Alison's. He was willing to bet that she had a balcony - someone like her wouldn't be living in an apartment that only had a little window for the breeze to come through, but then one never could tell.
He'd actually cleaned himself up a bit before the flight down, putting on clean - though still gravity defying - jeans and a button up shirt. The sleeves were currently rolled up to his elbows, a subtle pinstripe of shimmery white on white posing an interesting contrast with what he was wearing on the bottom. Crossing his legs and letting his wings do all the work, Warren went for another lap, waiting to see some sign that he hadn't come all this way for nothing.
After waiting in the family room, passing time by watching some terrible soap opera, Alison decided that maybe Warren would have rather flown in than taken the elevator up. She went to the sliding glass door to one of her three balconies, and slid it open, stepping out into the sun. She peered at the skies, seeing no sign of a flying man.
A figure appeared on one of the balconies, her blonde hair lit up in the afternoon sun. Uncrossing his legs, Warren approached with the sun behind him, casting a shadow over Alison and leaving himself surrounded by a halo of light.
... Ok, so he could be a bit theatrical sometimes. What was wrong with that?
Bringing himself down so that he was leaning on the balcony rail - from the wrong side - white wings flapped powerfully to keep him aloft.
"I was about to send you a message, see if you were standing me up." Warren grinned and patted his right pocket, where the small bulge of his phone could be seen. He had been about to message her, but the possibility that someone would stand him up had never seriously crossed him mind.
... Ok, so he could be vain, too. It wasn't like he had no reason for it.
Alison found herself suddenly in a shadow, and she looked up to see Warren overhead. Staring at the sun made her eyes water, but she looked away impressed with the cinematic sight he made, outlined against the sun as he was.
Alison didn't mind him calling her a nickname, in fact some of her close friends called her Ali a lot, and she liked the way he said it. Smooth. Like the rest of his personality.
"He won't say anything to you," she said quickly, wanting to avert any trouble before it started. "Not in front of everybody. He'll probably want to take publicity shots with you," she added dryly.
She pulled open the drawer of the end table, pulling out a small menu and holding it out to Warren. "What do you want?" she asked, unfolding it. "I already know. I get the same thing every time. Sesame chicken with rice."
"Well, he'll have to drag me away from you for that, and that's not going to happen." Warren smiled as he flirted jokingly.
Though he was tempted to make a joke about eating birds, he decided against it. Instead he just shrugged, saying, "Sounds good to me. I'm easy, hey." Then he blinked for a few seconds. "Easygoing. Sorry, a guy in my dorm at high school used to say that all the time, guess I picked it up."
"Did you want to watch a movie or something, then?" He thought about making a joke about horror flicks and holding her hand so she wouldn't be scared, but he was already looking like a bit of a man-whore.
Ali tried to hold her laughter in, hiding her smile with her hand, though he'd know full well it was there. A movie... Her eyes lit up. "Hey, you know what I got the other day? Dirty Dancing! I looove that movie--"
She stopped, her eyes on Warren, smiling sheepishly. "Okay, probably not your thing. I've got tons of other stuff." She stood and went over to a closet door in the wall beside the flatscreen opening it, she revealed a huge collection of movies. "Name it, I've probably got it."
She waved to him and sauntered to the railing as he leaned against it. "Silly me was expecting you to use the elevator," she said jokingly as she slid her hands into the pockets in the zip-up sweater she wore. Knowing from living on the fifteenth floor that the higher one got, the colder the air became, she had layered her clothes. It was in anyway, and she looked fantastic. She'd originally gone for skinny jeans and heels, but had ruled against the heels on second thought and opted for flats. If her shoes happened to fall off, she'd rather they not harpoon someone on the way to the ground.
Tucking a stray bit of hair that had escaped her low ponytail, she motioned for him to come inside. "Come in before someone sees you. I was stupid enough to buy a place a block down from a gossip magazine's headquarters, and three times now they've printed shots of me on my balcony doing something stupid." She went to the door, pausing and wondering aloud, "Are there any rules of flight you should tell me?"
"I've been circling the place for ages, they probably think I'm stalking you. That, or they think I've had a very good idea and they're going to try to hire a mutant who can fly to be a photographer." Warren grinned cheekily as he climbed over the balcony, letting his wings settle and fold in behind him as he stepped onto solid ground. Well, solid balcony. Same thing.
He followed her to the door and into her apartment, looking around with approval. She had good taste. Obviously wasn't wanting for funds, either, not that it mattered. Looking back to Alison, Warren smiled. "Just hold on, and don't get in the way of my wings." When he'd first used his powers publicly - well, he'd hidden his identity, but he'd still been using them in public - a guy had tried to clambour over him and had grabbed one of his wings, leaving Warren to try to stay aloft with only one. It hadn't been particularly easy - he'd kinda gone in circles for a while, dropping rapidly.
His eyes flicked back to the balcony, looking at the height and the width. As much as he'd enjoy diving off, it would probably scare the crap out of her. Unless she was into extreme sports. "Can we get up to the roof? Might be easier to go from up there. Gentler for your first time."
"Yeah, the elevator's just out here..." Alison thought about his instructions, which seemed ridiculously simple given the fact that they'd be twenty stories up in the air.
When they reached the roof, Alison stepped out of the elevator and looked around. New York city was all around them, stretching out as far as the eye could see. The city sounds down below were muted, but the masses of cars and people on the streets and sidewalks were ever-moving below them. "So," she said, turning back to face Warren. "How do you usually do this? Do you like the girl to be on top? Well--Or, Bobby." She laughed at this, crossing her arms and hugging her arms around herself.
Bursting out laughing at the innuendo that their conversation would hold to an outside listener, Warren stepped over to Alison and put his hands on her waist. "That depends on whether you want to be looking at the city or looking at me."
He put his arms around her like a hug, looking down with a smile. "I can hold you like this."
Then he moved around to behind her, holding her waist from behind and speaking quietly into her ear. "Or I can hold you like this."
Abruptly, he bent down and scooped her up in his arms. "Or I can hold you like this." Grinning down at her, he elaborated.
"Most of the time, this is easiest for people. You can put your arms around my neck if you like."
He hoped there weren't any photographers around.
Warren certainly was not lacking in suave or debonair qualities, Alison realized as he demonstrated her choices. He was getting a little touchy-feely for their first--well, it wasn't even a date, really. Alison again wondered if he followed the news (or the gossip, for that matter), and had heard anything of her relationship with Roman Nekobah, the nearly-forty world-famous singer and actor. It had been solid for a several months, and they'd begun working on a film together. But the film involved mutants, and Roman's prejudice against mutants had become clear as they'd continued work on it.
This had bothered Alison immensely, who had never told him or anyone else about her mutantcy, and their relationship had become an on-again, off-again relationship plagued by the media's mix of fact and fantasy. They maintained a happy front just to ward off the gossip, but Alison considered them finished. But she knew that Roman hadn't caught on to the fact as of yet.
When Warren lifted her into his arms, she pealed with laughter and put her arms around his neck. "I think I like this one," she said comfortably, leaning into him. "You know, a character based off of you would make a really good romantic comedy movie."
He grinned down at her, opening his wings to their full span and wandering to the edge of the roof. He could just take off, but it was a bit more dramatic to jump off the edge. Still, he'd told himself that he was going to go easy on her, so he held her tight and started flapping his wings to gently lift them off the roof and into the air.
"I'll take that as a compliment." Once they'd gotten a bit higher up, he flapped his wings more powerfully, moving up higher with each stroke. Moving around in a lazy circle, his eyes darted around to see what was going on in the city.
"So, where to? Would you like the tour, or is there somewhere specific that you'd like to see?" He crossed his legs beneath him again, so that she was almost sitting in his lap. He couldn't help but notice that Alison was warm where she was clinging to him, and she smelt very nice.
Movie star, remember? He tried to tell himself that he wouldn't try anything and end up looking like just another crazed fan. He hadn't even paid that much attention to her work. He wasn't really doing a good job so far, though - but Warren was an incurable flirt.
Ali looked down over the edge of the building. It was a long, long way to the ground. She felt the wind from his wings beating against the air, and as they lifted into the air, she tightened her grip around his neck, pressing against him.
As they rose a distance above the roof, Alison tensed slowly, looking out at the city. "Oh...My..." She didn't finish, but buried her head against his shoulder in a peal of almost child-like laughter. She couldn't hide her eyes for long, though, and she lifted her head again, a faint "Wow..." escaping her lips as she took in the sight.
It was then that she saw her fingers, which were wrapped firmly around each opposite arm. They were glowing. It didn't dampen her delight, but she quickly focused to hold in the light. She should have figured that that would happen, and she hoped it wouldn't last the entire ride. She didn't want to have to think about it when she should be enjoying the sights, and the stunning pilot she was holding onto.
"Let's go somewhere pretty. I've had enough of the city. Hows about...Central Park?"
Charmed by her reaction, Warren grinned. Not many people were so obvious in their delight, and some were downright terrified by being in the air. Yes, much better package to be carrying around than Bobby.
"Central park sounds good." Holding her carefully, not wanting to scare her, Warren unfolded himself and swooped down, taking them toward their destination with powerful strokes. His speed was cut down by the fact that he was carrying her, putting up a lot more wind resistance, but he still managed to get them over there pretty quickly. He kept them above the skyline, so that her identity wouldn't be obvious to anyone who happened to look out window. His would be, but he was a common sight in the sky these days.
He didn't drop until they were over the park, looking for a nice spot that was also deserted. There was a nice spot near the water toward the north end, and he couldn't see anyone around.
Bringing them gently down to earth, Warren smiled and let Alison down carefully, keeping one hand on the small of her back for perhaps a moment longer than necessary. "How was that?"
Alison felt a mix of emotions as they landed; she was disappointed that the ride was over, but grateful to be back on the ground. The flight had been the most exhilerating thing she'd ever done, seen, and felt in her life. To fly--It was something people dreamed about doing. And she'd done it. She turned the man she had to thank for that, and as her arms slid from around his neck, she gave him a smile more real than any she'd ever put on for a camera or to play a part.
"New York City has never been so beautiful," she said rapturously. Her hands stayed on his chest for just a moment before she stepped away from him. "You get to do that all the time?! It's incredible! Just flying around--" She twirled in a circle, her arms out, laughing joyously. Her adrenaline was pumping from the rush, and she tended to get a little wild when that happened.
Stopping to face him again, she lowered her arms, her Cheshire Cat grin never fading. "How anyone can be against a gift so wonderful is beyond me."
If he'd been an aerial taxi - which he sometimes felt like - her reaction would have been all the payment needed. A pleased smile lit up Warren's features as she twirled around, and he nodded in agreement. "That's what I do."
Her next comment stopped him in his tracks, though. For a long time he had felt odd about his gift, and his father had invented the cure largely of a desire to get his 'perfect son'. Not knowing how much Alison knew about the situation, though, Warren didn't know how to take it. Not wanting to dampen the mood, he kept his answer short and accompanied by a half smile.
"Well, not everyone is so easy around mutants as you, Ali...son." He'd almost given her a nickname, but he wasn't sure how she'd take it so changed to the full version belatedly. "Especially ones that are so obvious." He hadn't had as bad a time of it as some - like Kurt, for example - but Warren had still faced some anti-mutant sentiments in the past. Trenchcoats weren't always enough to hide his mutant identity, but he'd started to come to terms with it more recently. With his face on the news, there wasn't much else he could do. "People don't like being faced with difference."
He shrugged lightly, his wings shifting with his shoulders. "Anyway, did you want to go do anything? Late lunch? Early dinner? We could wander down to the Boathouse, or you know, I think there's some jazz happening over at the Dana Discovery centre." He was looking vaguely at a guy holding a paper, his sharp eyes spotting the events. His eyes flicked down to his watch. "Yeah, in about fifteen minutes."
The Dazzler caught Warren's slip and attempt at recovering smoothly. She didn't comment on it, hiding her smile. Was it possible that Warren wasn't as 100% sure of everything as he seemed? 'He is human, after all. Well--actually, no, he isn't,' she thought to herself amusedly. 'But then, neither am I.'
When he started to talk of going somewhere where others would be, Alison hesitated. The gossip would abound if she were seen with Warren, but she knew how to handle gossip. She would just tell the magazines that she and the coveted X-Man were simply good friends. Which was the truth. But to avoid the suspicion (as much of it as she could avoid), she needed to place a call to her publicist ahead of time.
"Jazz, huh? Let's check that out," she suggested, looking around to get her bearings and figure which way the Dana Discovery Center was. "And when we get there, I'll find a bathroom...Powder my nose and all that."
She paused again, looking at Warren. She assumed that he was used to publicity, but she wanted to be sure. "You know there's a good chance we'll end up in all sorts of magazines with all sorts of scandalous stories, right?"
"Actually, it might make my father happy about what I'm doing for once." Warren smiled easily. Especially since she was a nice, well off, good looking human girl - the kind his parents had been trying to get him to date for years. "Scandalous stories don't bother me, Alison, but..." He paused, his wings fidgeting for a moment as he realised that she was right that they probably would be in all sorts of magazines.
"Well, it'd ruin the surprise for the Premiere, wouldn't it?" He shrugged. "Maybe we can do it another day, or I could go pick up some jazz and we could go back to your place." He laughed. "Or back to the mansion, but that might get a bit... interesting." He wished he'd finished his own house hunting, but Warren hadn't been able to find an apartment that suited him just yet. He needed big open spaces and plenty of windows.
'The mansion? Is he trying to impress me?' Alison had to wonder, but she glossed over it. He must just want her to know that he was rich, though Alison hoped he didn't think that she put so much emphasis on that just because she had money.
"Let's grab some take-out and go back to my place, how does that sound? Do you like chinese?"
"Yeah, your place sounds like a plan, Xavier's can get a bit crazy." Warren grinned. "Even for someone who's friendly with mutants, it can be a bit much." Not many humans visited - the last lot had been Bobby Drake's parents, and that had been... well, interesting. Of course, they weren't really the most tolerant of people.
Warren wasn't sure if Alison knew of the mutant school, or their connection with the X-Men, but it wasn't like he was betraying some big secret by revealing that he lived in a school for mutants. Plenty of people lived there.
"And Chinese sounds great." He shrugged. "We going to order in, or would you rather I just go pick some up?" He was still considering the gossip magazine angle, and was wondering whether they'd head straight back to her place rather than be seen in public together. At least until the premiere.
"Let's order in. I know the best place," Alison decided after a moment of dithering. She then turned her attention to what he'd said just before. "Wait, you live at Xavier's? The mutant school?" She seemed intruiged and amused at the same time. She hadn't been aware they taught college classes. And she'd sort of assumed that Warren was out of college, anyway.
"Yeah, for the moment. Things were a little bit... interesting when the cure first came out, needed a place to go. I've been looking for a place in the city, though." He shrugged again. "Hopefully a decent distance from my parent's place." With a half smile, he held out his arms and waited for Alison to come to him before picking her up again. With a few strong strokes, they were back up in the air above the city, the wind rushing past as they headed back to her apartment building.
He'd actually cleaned himself up a bit before the flight down, putting on clean - though still gravity defying - jeans and a button up shirt. The sleeves were currently rolled up to his elbows, a subtle pinstripe of shimmery white on white posing an interesting contrast with what he was wearing on the bottom. Crossing his legs and letting his wings do all the work, Warren went for another lap, waiting to see some sign that he hadn't come all this way for nothing.
After waiting in the family room, passing time by watching some terrible soap opera, Alison decided that maybe Warren would have rather flown in than taken the elevator up. She went to the sliding glass door to one of her three balconies, and slid it open, stepping out into the sun. She peered at the skies, seeing no sign of a flying man.
A figure appeared on one of the balconies, her blonde hair lit up in the afternoon sun. Uncrossing his legs, Warren approached with the sun behind him, casting a shadow over Alison and leaving himself surrounded by a halo of light.
... Ok, so he could be a bit theatrical sometimes. What was wrong with that?
Bringing himself down so that he was leaning on the balcony rail - from the wrong side - white wings flapped powerfully to keep him aloft.
"I was about to send you a message, see if you were standing me up." Warren grinned and patted his right pocket, where the small bulge of his phone could be seen. He had been about to message her, but the possibility that someone would stand him up had never seriously crossed him mind.
... Ok, so he could be vain, too. It wasn't like he had no reason for it.
Alison found herself suddenly in a shadow, and she looked up to see Warren overhead. Staring at the sun made her eyes water, but she looked away impressed with the cinematic sight he made, outlined against the sun as he was.
Alison didn't mind him calling her a nickname, in fact some of her close friends called her Ali a lot, and she liked the way he said it. Smooth. Like the rest of his personality.
"He won't say anything to you," she said quickly, wanting to avert any trouble before it started. "Not in front of everybody. He'll probably want to take publicity shots with you," she added dryly.
She pulled open the drawer of the end table, pulling out a small menu and holding it out to Warren. "What do you want?" she asked, unfolding it. "I already know. I get the same thing every time. Sesame chicken with rice."
"Well, he'll have to drag me away from you for that, and that's not going to happen." Warren smiled as he flirted jokingly.
Though he was tempted to make a joke about eating birds, he decided against it. Instead he just shrugged, saying, "Sounds good to me. I'm easy, hey." Then he blinked for a few seconds. "Easygoing. Sorry, a guy in my dorm at high school used to say that all the time, guess I picked it up."
"Did you want to watch a movie or something, then?" He thought about making a joke about horror flicks and holding her hand so she wouldn't be scared, but he was already looking like a bit of a man-whore.
Ali tried to hold her laughter in, hiding her smile with her hand, though he'd know full well it was there. A movie... Her eyes lit up. "Hey, you know what I got the other day? Dirty Dancing! I looove that movie--"
She stopped, her eyes on Warren, smiling sheepishly. "Okay, probably not your thing. I've got tons of other stuff." She stood and went over to a closet door in the wall beside the flatscreen opening it, she revealed a huge collection of movies. "Name it, I've probably got it."
She waved to him and sauntered to the railing as he leaned against it. "Silly me was expecting you to use the elevator," she said jokingly as she slid her hands into the pockets in the zip-up sweater she wore. Knowing from living on the fifteenth floor that the higher one got, the colder the air became, she had layered her clothes. It was in anyway, and she looked fantastic. She'd originally gone for skinny jeans and heels, but had ruled against the heels on second thought and opted for flats. If her shoes happened to fall off, she'd rather they not harpoon someone on the way to the ground.
Tucking a stray bit of hair that had escaped her low ponytail, she motioned for him to come inside. "Come in before someone sees you. I was stupid enough to buy a place a block down from a gossip magazine's headquarters, and three times now they've printed shots of me on my balcony doing something stupid." She went to the door, pausing and wondering aloud, "Are there any rules of flight you should tell me?"
"I've been circling the place for ages, they probably think I'm stalking you. That, or they think I've had a very good idea and they're going to try to hire a mutant who can fly to be a photographer." Warren grinned cheekily as he climbed over the balcony, letting his wings settle and fold in behind him as he stepped onto solid ground. Well, solid balcony. Same thing.
He followed her to the door and into her apartment, looking around with approval. She had good taste. Obviously wasn't wanting for funds, either, not that it mattered. Looking back to Alison, Warren smiled. "Just hold on, and don't get in the way of my wings." When he'd first used his powers publicly - well, he'd hidden his identity, but he'd still been using them in public - a guy had tried to clambour over him and had grabbed one of his wings, leaving Warren to try to stay aloft with only one. It hadn't been particularly easy - he'd kinda gone in circles for a while, dropping rapidly.
His eyes flicked back to the balcony, looking at the height and the width. As much as he'd enjoy diving off, it would probably scare the crap out of her. Unless she was into extreme sports. "Can we get up to the roof? Might be easier to go from up there. Gentler for your first time."
"Yeah, the elevator's just out here..." Alison thought about his instructions, which seemed ridiculously simple given the fact that they'd be twenty stories up in the air.
When they reached the roof, Alison stepped out of the elevator and looked around. New York city was all around them, stretching out as far as the eye could see. The city sounds down below were muted, but the masses of cars and people on the streets and sidewalks were ever-moving below them. "So," she said, turning back to face Warren. "How do you usually do this? Do you like the girl to be on top? Well--Or, Bobby." She laughed at this, crossing her arms and hugging her arms around herself.
Bursting out laughing at the innuendo that their conversation would hold to an outside listener, Warren stepped over to Alison and put his hands on her waist. "That depends on whether you want to be looking at the city or looking at me."
He put his arms around her like a hug, looking down with a smile. "I can hold you like this."
Then he moved around to behind her, holding her waist from behind and speaking quietly into her ear. "Or I can hold you like this."
Abruptly, he bent down and scooped her up in his arms. "Or I can hold you like this." Grinning down at her, he elaborated.
"Most of the time, this is easiest for people. You can put your arms around my neck if you like."
He hoped there weren't any photographers around.
Warren certainly was not lacking in suave or debonair qualities, Alison realized as he demonstrated her choices. He was getting a little touchy-feely for their first--well, it wasn't even a date, really. Alison again wondered if he followed the news (or the gossip, for that matter), and had heard anything of her relationship with Roman Nekobah, the nearly-forty world-famous singer and actor. It had been solid for a several months, and they'd begun working on a film together. But the film involved mutants, and Roman's prejudice against mutants had become clear as they'd continued work on it.
This had bothered Alison immensely, who had never told him or anyone else about her mutantcy, and their relationship had become an on-again, off-again relationship plagued by the media's mix of fact and fantasy. They maintained a happy front just to ward off the gossip, but Alison considered them finished. But she knew that Roman hadn't caught on to the fact as of yet.
When Warren lifted her into his arms, she pealed with laughter and put her arms around his neck. "I think I like this one," she said comfortably, leaning into him. "You know, a character based off of you would make a really good romantic comedy movie."
He grinned down at her, opening his wings to their full span and wandering to the edge of the roof. He could just take off, but it was a bit more dramatic to jump off the edge. Still, he'd told himself that he was going to go easy on her, so he held her tight and started flapping his wings to gently lift them off the roof and into the air.
"I'll take that as a compliment." Once they'd gotten a bit higher up, he flapped his wings more powerfully, moving up higher with each stroke. Moving around in a lazy circle, his eyes darted around to see what was going on in the city.
"So, where to? Would you like the tour, or is there somewhere specific that you'd like to see?" He crossed his legs beneath him again, so that she was almost sitting in his lap. He couldn't help but notice that Alison was warm where she was clinging to him, and she smelt very nice.
Movie star, remember? He tried to tell himself that he wouldn't try anything and end up looking like just another crazed fan. He hadn't even paid that much attention to her work. He wasn't really doing a good job so far, though - but Warren was an incurable flirt.
Ali looked down over the edge of the building. It was a long, long way to the ground. She felt the wind from his wings beating against the air, and as they lifted into the air, she tightened her grip around his neck, pressing against him.
As they rose a distance above the roof, Alison tensed slowly, looking out at the city. "Oh...My..." She didn't finish, but buried her head against his shoulder in a peal of almost child-like laughter. She couldn't hide her eyes for long, though, and she lifted her head again, a faint "Wow..." escaping her lips as she took in the sight.
It was then that she saw her fingers, which were wrapped firmly around each opposite arm. They were glowing. It didn't dampen her delight, but she quickly focused to hold in the light. She should have figured that that would happen, and she hoped it wouldn't last the entire ride. She didn't want to have to think about it when she should be enjoying the sights, and the stunning pilot she was holding onto.
"Let's go somewhere pretty. I've had enough of the city. Hows about...Central Park?"
Charmed by her reaction, Warren grinned. Not many people were so obvious in their delight, and some were downright terrified by being in the air. Yes, much better package to be carrying around than Bobby.
"Central park sounds good." Holding her carefully, not wanting to scare her, Warren unfolded himself and swooped down, taking them toward their destination with powerful strokes. His speed was cut down by the fact that he was carrying her, putting up a lot more wind resistance, but he still managed to get them over there pretty quickly. He kept them above the skyline, so that her identity wouldn't be obvious to anyone who happened to look out window. His would be, but he was a common sight in the sky these days.
He didn't drop until they were over the park, looking for a nice spot that was also deserted. There was a nice spot near the water toward the north end, and he couldn't see anyone around.
Bringing them gently down to earth, Warren smiled and let Alison down carefully, keeping one hand on the small of her back for perhaps a moment longer than necessary. "How was that?"
Alison felt a mix of emotions as they landed; she was disappointed that the ride was over, but grateful to be back on the ground. The flight had been the most exhilerating thing she'd ever done, seen, and felt in her life. To fly--It was something people dreamed about doing. And she'd done it. She turned the man she had to thank for that, and as her arms slid from around his neck, she gave him a smile more real than any she'd ever put on for a camera or to play a part.
"New York City has never been so beautiful," she said rapturously. Her hands stayed on his chest for just a moment before she stepped away from him. "You get to do that all the time?! It's incredible! Just flying around--" She twirled in a circle, her arms out, laughing joyously. Her adrenaline was pumping from the rush, and she tended to get a little wild when that happened.
Stopping to face him again, she lowered her arms, her Cheshire Cat grin never fading. "How anyone can be against a gift so wonderful is beyond me."
If he'd been an aerial taxi - which he sometimes felt like - her reaction would have been all the payment needed. A pleased smile lit up Warren's features as she twirled around, and he nodded in agreement. "That's what I do."
Her next comment stopped him in his tracks, though. For a long time he had felt odd about his gift, and his father had invented the cure largely of a desire to get his 'perfect son'. Not knowing how much Alison knew about the situation, though, Warren didn't know how to take it. Not wanting to dampen the mood, he kept his answer short and accompanied by a half smile.
"Well, not everyone is so easy around mutants as you, Ali...son." He'd almost given her a nickname, but he wasn't sure how she'd take it so changed to the full version belatedly. "Especially ones that are so obvious." He hadn't had as bad a time of it as some - like Kurt, for example - but Warren had still faced some anti-mutant sentiments in the past. Trenchcoats weren't always enough to hide his mutant identity, but he'd started to come to terms with it more recently. With his face on the news, there wasn't much else he could do. "People don't like being faced with difference."
He shrugged lightly, his wings shifting with his shoulders. "Anyway, did you want to go do anything? Late lunch? Early dinner? We could wander down to the Boathouse, or you know, I think there's some jazz happening over at the Dana Discovery centre." He was looking vaguely at a guy holding a paper, his sharp eyes spotting the events. His eyes flicked down to his watch. "Yeah, in about fifteen minutes."
The Dazzler caught Warren's slip and attempt at recovering smoothly. She didn't comment on it, hiding her smile. Was it possible that Warren wasn't as 100% sure of everything as he seemed? 'He is human, after all. Well--actually, no, he isn't,' she thought to herself amusedly. 'But then, neither am I.'
When he started to talk of going somewhere where others would be, Alison hesitated. The gossip would abound if she were seen with Warren, but she knew how to handle gossip. She would just tell the magazines that she and the coveted X-Man were simply good friends. Which was the truth. But to avoid the suspicion (as much of it as she could avoid), she needed to place a call to her publicist ahead of time.
"Jazz, huh? Let's check that out," she suggested, looking around to get her bearings and figure which way the Dana Discovery Center was. "And when we get there, I'll find a bathroom...Powder my nose and all that."
She paused again, looking at Warren. She assumed that he was used to publicity, but she wanted to be sure. "You know there's a good chance we'll end up in all sorts of magazines with all sorts of scandalous stories, right?"
"Actually, it might make my father happy about what I'm doing for once." Warren smiled easily. Especially since she was a nice, well off, good looking human girl - the kind his parents had been trying to get him to date for years. "Scandalous stories don't bother me, Alison, but..." He paused, his wings fidgeting for a moment as he realised that she was right that they probably would be in all sorts of magazines.
"Well, it'd ruin the surprise for the Premiere, wouldn't it?" He shrugged. "Maybe we can do it another day, or I could go pick up some jazz and we could go back to your place." He laughed. "Or back to the mansion, but that might get a bit... interesting." He wished he'd finished his own house hunting, but Warren hadn't been able to find an apartment that suited him just yet. He needed big open spaces and plenty of windows.
'The mansion? Is he trying to impress me?' Alison had to wonder, but she glossed over it. He must just want her to know that he was rich, though Alison hoped he didn't think that she put so much emphasis on that just because she had money.
"Let's grab some take-out and go back to my place, how does that sound? Do you like chinese?"
"Yeah, your place sounds like a plan, Xavier's can get a bit crazy." Warren grinned. "Even for someone who's friendly with mutants, it can be a bit much." Not many humans visited - the last lot had been Bobby Drake's parents, and that had been... well, interesting. Of course, they weren't really the most tolerant of people.
Warren wasn't sure if Alison knew of the mutant school, or their connection with the X-Men, but it wasn't like he was betraying some big secret by revealing that he lived in a school for mutants. Plenty of people lived there.
"And Chinese sounds great." He shrugged. "We going to order in, or would you rather I just go pick some up?" He was still considering the gossip magazine angle, and was wondering whether they'd head straight back to her place rather than be seen in public together. At least until the premiere.
"Let's order in. I know the best place," Alison decided after a moment of dithering. She then turned her attention to what he'd said just before. "Wait, you live at Xavier's? The mutant school?" She seemed intruiged and amused at the same time. She hadn't been aware they taught college classes. And she'd sort of assumed that Warren was out of college, anyway.
"Yeah, for the moment. Things were a little bit... interesting when the cure first came out, needed a place to go. I've been looking for a place in the city, though." He shrugged again. "Hopefully a decent distance from my parent's place." With a half smile, he held out his arms and waited for Alison to come to him before picking her up again. With a few strong strokes, they were back up in the air above the city, the wind rushing past as they headed back to her apartment building.