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poster: Jen date: 24 July 2002, 9:40pm EST Cammo had
been standing in the door staring at Annie for a good two minutes, but
Annie was so busy rummaging through the DVD’s that she didn’t notice
his obvious attention. I chuckled and tried to get Annie to choose a
movie a little less… stupid than the last one. The flash of headlights in the drive brought me to my feet in an instant, thankful that I wouldn’t have to suffer through her latest ‘must see classic.’ Spaceballs had been enough stupidity for one night. It had, however, done a good job of keeping me from going nuts waiting for Max. I owe her big time for that. “Where are you going?” Annie cried. “We haven’t picked a movie yet!” “Max is home.” I blushed. “I’ll take a rain-check.” "Ahh, so you need to go running in slow motion to your sex kitten." “You watch way too many movies." “You haven't seen enough, something I am trying to rectify." "We can pick back up tomorrow. Er - maybe not tomorrow." I gave her a wink and disappeared out of the rec room. I paused at the hall mirror and took a quick look. I wasn’t primping. I’d knock anyone who said so into next week. I was just checking that Annie and Jubilee hadn’t gotten me with any of the Cheeto dust they were throwing around. Every lesson in decorum and the inappropriateness of public displays of affection went out the window when I saw him. Next thing I knew, I had my arms around his neck and was kissing him as if he’d been gone a year instead of four days. Its scary how much I’ve missed him. I never thought I’d let myself care enough about another person to miss them. I’d blame it on those pheromones and all, but I’d be lying. It’s just him. Scot cleared his throat and suddenly the public nature of the garage hit home. I let go and stepped back, smoothing my shirt, trying to look cool and collected even though from the broad smirk on Mr. Summers face and the flare of Max’s nostrils I know it isn’t working. “Don’t forget you two have class in the morning.” Scott said hanging up the car keys. “Goodnight.” “Gee baby, did ya miss me?” Max asked the moment Summers cleared the garage. “Not at all.” “Liar,” he whispered before brushing his lips across mine.
poster: Angelface date: 25 July 2002, 1:08am EST "Dang." I fumbled with the print once more before giving up. If I kept this up I was going to hurt my fingers. I need help. If only Cameron would swing by looking for my freak of a roomate. I wouldn't mind seeing him stretch to hang this up, and it's not like he'd say no, he's way to nice for that. Oh well. I'll just ask him the next time he comes by. I'll just go get a bottle of mineral water before I start to study. Knowing this place, all I'll get is tap water. I must remember to put that on the list for Mother. On my way to the kitchen I saw Cameron standing by the doorway of the recroom, he was looking inside and as I passed by I saw Annie sitting with that poor excuse for a girl. He didn't even register that I had walked by, but when I glanced back he had started off in the opposite direction. I grabbed my water - of course not mineral, but at least it wasn't tap water and started back toward my room barely avoiding being knocked down by that barbarian, Sarah, in the process. Someone really needs to discuss manners with hat girl. I didn't even get a 'pardon me." I glanced back toward the rec room and noticed Annie stretched out ont he couch with a bag of cheetos in her arms. Annie was still in the rec room. Which meant Cameron was off all by himself. Hmm.. I went towards the boys half of the dorms on the chance that I would catch him standing in the hallway. I did, in fact, see him talking with Mr. Summers before he disappeared into his room. I waited a few moments before knocking on his door. "Oh, Hi Angelica. Can I help you?" Dang. He looks even better without his shirt. "Yes, I was hoping you could help me hang something in my room, I just can't seem to get it to stay up." "No problem. Let me grab my shirt." I bit my tongue to stop from saying 'not on my account.' "Thank you." We walked back to my room silently, I hadn't really thought of any conversation topics. He led the way, apparently he's been there enough times, but who am I to complain I had a great view. God is shining on me today. Converstation took care of itself once he saw the Picasso print. I never would have thought Cameron would know anything about art, but he does - at least he knows Picasso. "The Guggenheim has a large Picasso exhibit. Have you seen it?" "No." He shifted uncomfortably. "I don't get out much." "Really? Well I definitely suggest you go see that exhibit," I said, 'and if I happened to go along all the better'. "I'll think about it." He stepped toward the door, but didn't seem to be hurrying to get through it. I think that's a good sign. "I heard you practicing yesterday," he said pointing at my violin. "You're great." I forced a light blush on my cheeks. I should at least try to look modest. "Thanks. It's nice to know other people appreciate it. "I should practice now anyway, do you want to stay and listen?" "Love to." He settled back on Annie's bed, arms behind his head and waited for me to begin. I have him a nervous smile, as I tuned my violin. It wasn't forced. It didn't need to be. I don't usually like people listening to me practice. I know its strange, since I can stand up before hundreds of people and play. There's just something quite... intimate about playing for just one person. Especially someone who smiles at you like that. I shook
my head and began to play, relaxing as the first strains of Mozart's
Violin Concherto #5 filled the room.
poster: Allison date: 25 July 2002, 5:40am EST Sylvester Stallone hadn’t even been defrosted in Demolition Man, before I got bored. It really didn’t help that Ryan’s photo was burning a hole in my pocket. Between, Cammo’s pep talk and my own thinking I was almost ready to call him, but I needed just a little bit longer. That, and the fact that time zones were preventing me from being absolutely sure he’d be home. I figured I’d head back to my room and try to relax before I looked for the phone. As I approached my door I heard Angelica playing her violin. I groaned inwardly as I opened the door, I wanted to listen to my music but that wasn’t an option anymore. I was surprised to see Cammo laid out on my bed, why anyone would want to listen to Angelica practice was beyond me. “And then Baby Bear said, ‘Someone’s been sleeping in my bed and she’s still there!’” I quipped. "Well there's plenty of room for two," he said with a naughty grin. “I don’t know Goldilocks, you might hog all my blankets,” I faked a suspicious glare. "We'll find some way to keep you warm," he said, cracking up at the lameness of the line. I noticed Angelica glaring at me, probably didn’t like me interrupting her practice session. “You’re such a dork.” "But a loveable one, right?" he asked, "I couldn't live with myself if I was like... Urkel or something." “I’d say you fit more in the Gonzo category, all you need is a chicken named Camilla.” He pouted,
"Here I was thinking I was Kermit." He shot me a confused smile, "I think this analogy has just collapsed in a state of no-logic." “So it has,” I grinned, “What’re you doing in here anyway?” "Oh, Angie wanted me to listen to her play violin," he said. "She's really good at it." I saw Angelica beam at the statement. I shrugged, “But you can’t sing along to classical music, its no fun.” He frowned at me. "Yes you can. Bum bum bum bada baaa!" I laughed, “If you could keep that up through out an entire symphony, I might pay attention.” "Oh I can," he said, and started with some Vivaldi, "Da DA da da da dit DA DA!" I giggled, “And you wonder why I called you Gonzo.” "You keep up with it and you're gonna be Camilla." “Bawk bawk,” I flapped my arms. He started to crack up; his whole body was shaking on my bed. I just watched, very amused at the way he was falling apart. Then I glanced at the clock, “Are you done yet? You have to help me find the phone.” "Why? Where did it go?" “It’s probably where it always is, I just don’t know exactly where that is,” I explained. I hadn’t needed the phone in the past few weeks so I never bothered looking for it. "Oh! Right. Let's go then. Seeya Ange," he tossed a wave back to my roommate who looked about ready to explode. We made our way down to the main foyer, tucked into a corner was a desk, and on the desk, a phone. I picked up the receiver; my hand froze before I dialed the first digit. I thrust it into Cameron’s hand, “Will you just dial the number? Please, Cam, and ask for Ryan? Someone else might recognize my voice.” I felt like I was going to throw up, or hyperventilate. "Okay, okay... Let's see here.... Ah. It's ringing. Hey, hi, is Ryan there? We found his runaway pet." He passed the phone into my hands; I brought it up to my ear slowly. “Annie? Are you there? Are you all right, we missed you,” his voice asked quickly. “Yeah, I’m here, I’m fine,” I exhaled loudly. “Why didn’t you call earlier, or write? Everyone’s been worried sick,” he said over the line. “I highly doubt that,” I grumbled. “He’s really sorry, An. But you know Kevin it takes him forever to adjust to anything new. He just needed some time.” “He just needed sometime?” I asked indignantly. “I’m the one who’s a fucking mutant!” Cameron shot me a worried look, and I shook my head at him. “How about we don’t talk about Kevin?” he pleaded. “This is the first time I’ve spoken to you in months, I don’t want to fight.” “Fine,” I clenched my teeth, “-new subject.” There was a short pause before I could hear him grinning across the country, “Who was the boooy that I talked to earlier?” I groaned, “You are such a dweeb.” “That doesn’t answer my question.” “It was Cameron; I was being a wimp and made him dial.” Ryan started to make kissy noises on the other end. “Why do I talk with a nerd like you? We’re just friends,” he was being stupid, but it was so predictable and familiar. “You’re stuck with me and all of us, you couldn’t get rid of us if you tried, we’ve got tenure.” At that point Cammo tapped my shoulder and signaled he was going to go, probably to have some dinner. I nodded and waved him on, before returning to my conversation. “So what have I missed in the active town life of Sedona?” I asked, leaning back into the chair, letting his rambling wash over me.
poster: nacey date: 25 July 2002, 10:59pm EST I followed Sarah to her room, and I felt funny about us going in there since Cassie was away. "So you're sure she's okay?" she asked. "Yeah," I said, scratching behind my ear. "I mean, I think so. She seemed okay to me. Emotionally stressed, but essentially okay. I wish she'd come back though, I miss her." Sarah looked about herself, a tense expression on her face. "Hey... you okay?" I asked. She eyed me and looked around. "Sure." Why is she acting like she's been caught stealing the last packet of Oreo's from the kitchen pantry? That's when I smelt it. Male scent... Cammo. And the new girl, Annie. I looked about the room, nostril no doubt flaring, but not with any anger. More curiosity. "You had visitors?" I asked, an intrigued smile on my face. Sarah jerked her chin up, eyes narrowing. "Yes." I couldn't help but find her defensiveness adorable. I stepped towards her, arms out. "Babe, that's great! I'm so glad you're making friends!" She looked confused. "You - you're not angry?" I laughed. "Why would I be angry with you?" "I - it was stupid." "Has this got anything to do with Cameron's scent?" I asked her, edging closer. "It wasn't my idea. I swear." Her eyes were as big as saucers. I had to laugh again. "What? What are you talking about?" "Annie asked him to help us study for the Geometry test. I didn't want him in here, but she'd left all her stuff in here and... you're laughing." "You bet I am," I chuckled. "You look so guilty." "I didn't think you'd believe me," she mumbled looking down at the floor. "What? That you didn't sleep with someone whilst I was gone?" I tilted my head down to meet her eyes. "Baby... if something happened in here, I'd have smelt it. Besides, even if I couldn't smell that good, I trust you." Sarah reached up and gave me a soft kiss. "Thank you." I smiled, winding my arms about her and grinning. "No problem, babe." I wiggled my brows. "Any more where that came from?" She traced my ear with a fingertip. "Sure you're not too tired from your trip?" "Ohhh no," I said, running my hands over her lovely behind. "I slept most of the way here, and I have really... really... missed you." I puncutated the sentence with long sweet kisses. "Mmm... I missed you too," she murmured, slipping a hand beneath my shirt . "Go lock the door." No sooner
said than done, and her hands were back on my body, and mine were divesting
her of her shirt. Da-yamn. It was good to be home.
poster: cammogirl date: 27 July 2002, 6:58am EST The words stuck in my mind like glue. The really smelly annoying kind that gave you a headache and wouldn't go away. 'We're just friends...' Maybe she's too shy to say anything in front of me, I thought. Then I kinda came back to reality and realised that she probably just wasn't interested. She'd never really expressed any interest, so I don't know why I'm acting so surprised. I guess it was the fact that before the mutation set in, I never had a hard time getting a girl. Then after the mutation, I just - didn't want to. It was a bit of a slap in the fact, I suppose. Not that I minded the effort, but I was wondering if it was all worth it. Underneath all the weird heartache crap that I'm not really used to. I remember feeling like this before, in seventh grade. I hadn't hit puberty yet and I was gangly and my body wasn't sure what it was doing with itself. I walked up to this girl - she wasn't particularly popular but that never really bothered me until I had popularity to lose - and asked her to the up coming school dance. And she looked at me and giggled. Obviously the answer was no. Okay, I
thought. Need to clear my head. Work-out. I always feel better after
a work-out. So that's what I did. I went into the gym and lifted weights,
pushing my usual limit. I had to be strong, because I was going to be
an X-man. And if I was going to be an X-Man it was probably better that
I didn't have a heavy social life anyway, because that leads to complications.
How many times had people risked their lives trying to save their significant
others around here? Too many times. Then again... Logan always loved
a good punch up, and so did Rogue for that matter... it was more like
an aphrodesiac to them. Well... everything was a good aphrodesiac to
them. How did I get onto this subject? "Thank you," she said, a huge grin plastered across her face. I'm sure I looked confused. It didn't help that her arms were wrapped around my neck and her chest was perched on top of mine. "Erm... what for?" "Everything, listening to me ramble, dealing with wimp Annie repeatedly, everything." Usually, I think I would have smiled and said something cute. With my current mood I shrugged and met her eyes with a calm gaze. "It's okay. No biggie." She smiled, tilting her head a little. "Well I appreciate it, and a few people in Arizona appreciate it, so thank you." I sighed, a weary smile on my face. "No problem." She grinned then, pecking a kiss on the tip of my nose. I could feel myself blushing, and she was so close against me... I blushed deeper, smiling shyly and squeezing her arms a bit before stepping back, pulling some of my hair behind my ears. "Well I won't keep you from uhm..." I looked about. "Whatever you were doing." She frowned in thought a moment. "Actually, I think I'm officially bored. I'm gonna go bake something." I nodded. "Cool." Maybe I could run off with the cooking rum. "I need something to drink myself." I followed her into the kitchen, where she immediately began pulling out bits and pieces of cooking equipment. "Any requests before I go off half cocked in baking mode?" "Not really. Knock yourself out." I went to a cupboard and pulled out the cooking rum, opening the bottle and sniffing it. I grimaced. "Urg. Well I guess the supposedly underaged can't be choosers." A confused look fluttered over Annie's face. "Is it a special occasion?" I looked to her, pouring myself a slip of rum, knowing I'd probably just walk off with the bottle anyway. "The non-existence of a perfectly good sex-life that died when Camoflage boy was born." She looked rather amused at that. "What suddenly made you miss being an Aussie trollop?" I lifted my mug, eyeing her as I took a swig. "The realisation that I wasn't one anymore." I swallowed, and it was fire. "Gaaah." I shook my head wildly. "It's shit. Want some?" "I've been down the path that is cooking rum many a time. It never ends well, plus I have class in the morning. So just one sip." I handed her the mug, shaking my head. "Drinking alone. What have I come to?" I then slapped my stomach in thought, and I'd forgotten I was thoroughly shirtless. "I've gotten awful sorry for myself, haven't I?" She smiled,
sipping the stuff and handing it back. "Yeah, but you're cute so
I forgive you." She paused to think, "I don't know, maybe I'll go to a cooking school in the city and open up my own little bakery. The option of taking over my dad's place is sort of up in the air at the moment. Or I could move to Lithuainia." I sniggered. "Lithuania?!" She shrugged, "Has a cool name." I smiled wanly, and upending some more cooking rum into the mug, I winked at her. "Good luck with the cooking. I'll be in my room if you wanna hang." "All right, have fun and try not to do anything embarassing unless I can watch." I couldn't help but grin at that. "I'll call you the moment I'm wandering around the grounds naked with my underwear on my head." With that I plodded into my room, and after drinking the rest of my rum I collapsed on the bed, pulling open a copy of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy that Max loaned to me. He's forever quoting it, so I figured I may as well give it a read. My mind soon got lost in fiction, but always behind it was the dull ache in my chest.
poster: Angelfacey date: 28 July 2002, 11:24pm EST Angelica snarled and roughly shoved her music into her case. Her violin earned better treatment, but not by much before she sat at her desk and pulled out a fountain pen and a slim leather notebook. Dear Diary, I am developing a serious dislike for my roommate. She has a remarkable ability to annoy me endlessly. I find this interesting since it is generally difficult to bother me. I didn't have any trouble rooming with Jane during the tour, but Annie is driving me insane. Butting in when I was making some progress with Cameron was highly irritating. Annie managed to annoy me so much I couldn’t continue to practice. That’s never happened to me before. Just one more reason to get out of here as soon as I can. She just walked in and started talking to him while I was playing for him. And then he left with her. He excused himself – but just barely. I do not see what he sees in her. I’m not giving up though. He is so cute and that smile just makes me melt. I will not give up. This was merely round one. I know he likes my music, he said as much, more than once. He even defended it to Annie, apparently they don't share taste in music. He didn’t seem too upset by her disparaging comments, which really upset me. It wasn’t so much her words as her total disregard for my feeling or the fact that I had his attention. And if I can get it once, I can get it again. I just have to think of something. There is no more thinking - at least not in this room. The things I am hearing right now belong behind a curtain at the video store, not next door to me at boarding school. I can't believe the teachers allow students to participate in such activities. They have to be breaking some sort of rule, or at least a noise ordinance. And now my picture has come off the wall. I am going to find someone to complain to. This is just intolerable. Angelica
Angelica groaned. Rogue was the only adult to be seen. She was not likely to be sympathetic to my problem. She was painting; normally one would assume this would be a relaxing event for the art teacher. Tonight it was exactly the opposite; with every brush stroke Rogue's muscles seemed to wind tighter. To her credit, Angelica didn't hesitate to speak with her. "Excuse me, Miss Rogue - ” “What do you want?” Rogue snarled., grinding her brush in the deep blue paint. "Sarah has…company and they are... there are quite vulgar noises coming from her room." "And.." “Aren’t you going to go stop them? I can’t imagine that this is sanctioned behavior.” "You expect me to go in there and pry two hormonally crazed mutant teenagers off each other." “It is your job.” "Normally, it would be my job. In this case they have a note from the doctor." "That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." "If it bothers you so much, get some earplugs." Angelica huffed. “If you won’t do something. Then I’ll find an adult who will.” "It should be a great way to kill the evening." Angelica
turned on her heel and left. Perhaps Mr. Worthington would be more attentive
to the problem.
poster: Allison date: 29 July 2002, 9:11pm EST It had taken two and a half hours, two coffee cakes, one batch of chocolate chip cookies and another of oatmeal raisin, until I had effectively exorcised my inner Betty Crocker. I left most of the cookies and one of the coffee cakes up for grabs, but a dozen of the chocolate chips and the other cake were mine. I wrapped them up in tinfoil and walked down to Doctor McCoy's lab. I know he has a refrigerator down there and I was willing to barter my goods if I could store them away from the rest of the student body. I could see my mentor hunched over a microscope, so I knocked on the inside of the door, "Hey, Doc?" At first I thought the whole mentor thing was geeky and pointless, but Dr. McCoy’s really cool, and he’s always telling me about the scientific aspects of my mutation. I just kind of figured I had a bit too much Stretch Armstrong in my DNA. He barely looked up from the eyepiece, "Ah Annie, to what do I owe the pleasure?" I held up my plate, "I was wondering if I could borrow some space in your fridge. You can have some of the cookies." He shot me a fanged grin, “I’m sure I could make room for some of your sweets. What did you bring this time?” “Coffee cake and chocolate chip cookies, there’s some more stuff up in the kitchen.” “Well you certainly are welcome to leave them in here,” he answered, eyeing the plate. “Thanks,” I opened up the small fridge that didn’t hold strange chemicals, and left my booty inside. “Well, I’m going to head off to bed, I’ll see you in class tomorrow.” “Sleep well, Annie,” he replied before turning back to his work. I walked back to my room, looking forward to crawling into my bed and not opening my eyes until morning. Today had felt really long, it would be nice to see it end. And that hope survived long enough for me to change into my Wonder Woman PJ’s and brush my teeth. Right before I crawled into my bed I realized that apparently Sarah and Max were reuniting next door, and not in Max’s room as I had hoped. I glared at the wall separating the two rooms, “Horny bastards.” Apparently the noise wasn’t bothering Angelica too much, then I noticed, the priss had earplugs. I grumbled and grabbed one of my pillows and a blanket off my bed. I could not sleep in here tonight. I dragged my blanket behind me and walked out into the hall, “Now where?” I ran through my options, the recroom would be too loud, and I didn’t feel like sleeping on those strange chairs in the rooms no one really uses. I sighed and plodded down to the other side of the dorms. I didn’t really bother to knock, I just opened up the door and did my best to look pathetic, it really wasn’t that hard. Cameron raised an eyebrow as he looked up from his book, "Well... I must have done something right today and nobody told me..." I shrugged, "You can thank Max and Sarah, no respect for us normal mutants." "Ah, I see. Remind me to send them a fruit basket in the morning." I let out a short laugh, "Try the afternoon. Now shove over." He watched with a smile as I settled my self on his bed. "Okay. I hope I don't accidentally squash you..." "I probably won't care, I do a great log impression." "It's all good then. You can even cuddle Mr. Boofhead." "Aww, thanks," I grinned as he tossed me the bear. I pulled up my blanket and burrowed down into my pillow. "Night, Cam, night Mr. Boofhead." "Night, babe." About three
seconds later I was fast asleep.
poster: cammogirl date: 31 July 2002, 11:53pm EST Logically, my mind was clear on the matter. Very clear. Annie just friend sharing bed; no big deal. But my body was rallying against me. I thought this sort of thing would only ever be a problem for Max, but right at that moment it was one for me. I guess animals are animals, and as great as we humans think we are, and as controled and as civilised as we may appear to be, one universal reality applied to all of us. When the female of your desires (intentional or no) is within a metre of you, your body gets excited. Right at that moment, adrenaline had made itself at home in my blood-stream, and my hands were shaking. If I could, I would have whimpered. I could smell her shampoo, and she was making the cutest little breathing noises. She was making the blankets warm, and because the bed was an old one from the fifties, it was sagging a little in the middle, making us slip and lean against each other. It took me ages to finally get asleep. I laid very still, fighting not to toss and turn, and as I went into unconsciousness, lurid thoughts haunted me, and I constantly had to smack down my libido and try to get it to behave itself. It was all very embarrassing. I guess that was nothing compared to the next day, one I didn't think about. At all. In the slightest.
poster: nacey date: 1 August 2002, 1:15am EST A heavy bout of reunion sex and a full night's sleep later, I was in a particularly good mood. I lay there, all naked and tangled up with Sarah, and nothing could have been better in my world. Not a thing. I felt for Rogue and Logan - they still had to deal with their seperation, but I couldn't worry for them too long. My mind always wandered back to how good it felt to be home, to be smothered in the scent of my girl, to have her soft and warm and tactile against me. She stirred a little, and I smiled, running my clawed fingertips through her short cropped brown hair. "Morning gorgeous," I said. "Mmm..." She cracked open an eye and then seemed to think better of it, reburying her head in my shoulder. "What time is it?" "Time for some yummy kisses," I said, taking a mouthful of her shoulder and suckling, pointy teeth grazing her skin. "You're incorrigible." I grinned, moving my caresses to her mouth. "No, I just love you lots and lots." She froze
for a moment and I thought she was going to spazz over my declaration
again, but she didn't. She smiled and nipped my lip. "I can't play
now. I have a training session at 6." Before I could perform more for my case of her skipping out training, that blasted mental bell of Xavier's went off in my head. //All X-Men to the Briefing Room. Max Stockard, can you please attend?// I threw my head back on the pillow and growled. "Shit! Can you hear that?" "Hear what?" I sighed. "Xavier just called a briefing," I said. "He wants me there. Probably to relay to him what he already knows anyway... stupid crap." I frowned, almost comically, pouting at her. "This is really not fair." "Getting included in the breifing is a good thing. It means Xavier's taking you seriously as a potential X -Man." I nodded, and then added one more whimper. "But why does he have to take me seriously when I want some time with my giiirl?" She rolled her eyes. "Didn't you get enough last nigt? I expect I'll be hearing about it from my neighbors for weeks." I looked at her flatly, very seriously, but with a glint of humour in my eyes. "There is no such thing as enough." Sarah giggled. "How oh how did you survive all that time away?" I continued the serious frown. "Lots of time out in dingy gas station bathrooms." She screwed up her face and muttered, "I really shouldn't have asked." I laughed, kissing her neck before pulling myself away from her. "I better move my butt if I'm going to get to this meeting." I got up, walking off to have a shower, and little hands wrapped around me from behind. "Wait for me." I laughed again, ruffling her hair as we tumbled into the bathroom. After that foray into joint bathing, (which proved that a lot more got done with one person in a shower than two), I got dressed quickly (kissing Sarah good-bye as she went to early training) and plodded down to the briefing room. The air of the meeting was calm, but serious. As I walked in, everyone was already there. "Am I late?" I asked the Professor. "No Max," he said with that salient smile of his. "We were just about to begin." X-Men de-briefs began like committee meetings. It was really weird. I guess that's the effect of having politically minded people at the helm (Jean and Xavier). They spoke of stuff I wasn't really aware of, stuff that I'd been too young to really understand. Jubilee understood; she was here with a deeply worried look on her face. The mentioned the Hellfire Academy, a bunch called the Hellions, and they were talking about them training more. Is that what Cass was doing? Joining these other people? I hadn't picked up what was so bad about them yet, other than the fact that the last bunch hadn't exactly allied themselves to Xavier's cause. Rogue looked downright tetchy. She nibbled at her fingertips, eyeing Xavier with a worried glint in her eyes. Something about this Emma Frost woman bothered her. I began to feel a little worried myself. "Max," Xavier said. "If you would please kindly de-brief us." "Right," I said, getting up, and feeling incredibly nervous. "Uhm... We followed Cass's scent right into Massechussets. We found her at a club in Worcester, called 'Above'. She was with two people, one called 'Domino' with a weird spot on her eye and white skin, the other was Dazzler." "Alison Blair," muttered Xavier. "Right," I nodded. "We spoke briefly to Cassie. She expressed that she didn't feel the X-Men taught her enough to defend herself, and that this Emma Frost chick was." "That's ridiculous," Scott said, obvious hurt in his voice. "We were teaching her as much as she was ready for." Jean squeezed his shoulder, nodding a little and looking sympathetic. "Obviously it wasn't enough," said Rogue darkly. "She said she was sorry she made us worry, and that she'd be fine. Then Domino gave us this card..." I put my hand in my pocket. The card wasn't there. "Oh crap..." I dug around a bit, "Sorry about that." I slid the card to the Professor. He eyed it for a moment, and sighed. Wow. The guy looked... well. You know when you see the parents of some kidnapped kid on TV? Well, mix that with the look of a parent who's kid is a drug addict, and that was the look Xavier wore. Scott, Jean, Hank - all the X-Men - they looked really hurt. Not just worried, but hurt. Scott looked to the Professor sobrely. "What are we gonna do?" "I've spoken to Logan," he replied. "He will be keeping an eye on Cassandrea for a short while. If she chooses to stay there, there is nothing we can do to bring her back. It is her choice to make." He looked to the middle of the table, through it, past it. "But we will make sure that she won't come to any harm."
poster: Amezri date: 1 August 2002, 1:30am EST Alison knocked quietly on the wooden door, waiting before turning the knob and entering the room. "Hey. Just wanted to see how you were doing." Cassie put down her book. "Es bueno," she shrugged. "Ms. Frost has everyone on red alert, with Wolverine in town and all. Not that I'm sure half of us could even *take* him... uhm, anyway," she said with a wave of her hand, "it's all under control." Cassie smirked. Individually, none of the younger Hellions could even hope to put a scratch on the Wolverine, but the team Emma Frost had built should be sufficient. "Yeah, we can handle it." "Yeah. If it were me, though, I'd probably be trying to get him out of town, you know?" The girl on the bed merely shrugged. Her patience wore out quickly these days and right now, Cassie wanted Alison to shut up. "You're taking this very well, you know. Better than expected." The comment rubbed her the wrong way and she snapped. "What's that supposed to mean?" the indigo haired girl hissed as she stood. She was a little too eager to take her anger and confusion out on the girl standing before her. "Did you think that if Xavier's people came for me I would just follow them home?" "I didn't mean to--" "I told you - I told all of you - that I've decided to stay here at Hellfire. So what if I spent a few years at the Institute? So I left behind my friends and my boyfriend. So what?! I told you that I'm staying *here*!" "Jesus, Reina!" Alison shouted, backing slowly towards the door. "Calm the hell down, girl. I just was trying to make sure that you were okay. Apparently, you could use some more down time... See you later, Cass." Alison retreated before anymore verbal barbs were thrown her way. Cassie growled as she slammed the door shut. She wished that everyone would stop questioning her loyalties. Even though she'd only been at the Hellfire Academy mere weeks, she owed Emma Frost a lot, both out of loyalty and gratitude. The Hellions were not the Brotherhood; they weren't evil like them. Maybe.. maybe the missions were a bit extreme, but it's not like she was hurting innocent people. Frost's Hellions weren't out to destroy humans or force mutants to join her cause. They just wanted equal rights. Except.. the things she did on missions - the things she wasn't proud of - were against everything she had ever been taught since she was young, the first law of Wicca: and ye harm none, do as thou will. Harm was all she seemed to be doing these days.
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