|
     |
*
Scott Summers is doing the vacuuming in the Foyer and he's pissed. For the third time, he's filled in for Jerry Hillman, a kid he's not even sure is a mutant (on account of having nothing particular about him at all with the exception of being exceptional at pissing Scott Summers off). Scott could let the Foyer be a mess, but if he does he knows his group is going to catch demerits and that might count against him later.
And so he toils. Oh how he toils. And fumes.
And not to mention that he doesn't want the higher ups to be pissed off. His senior year has started off very stressful and when times get tough, he resolves to keep his head low and "Do The Right Thing."
*
*BANG*
It was the sound of hell toiling, the little skitter scrape of nails that pitter patter across the tile first. Then a scream. A loud scream. One that doesn't sound too familiar but -does-. Maybe because it was with some slight sort of glee. Or maybe it's because she just -may- get in trouble for this.
"Mister He-Who-Wags get back here! You need a bath!"
Someone was about to be really, really mad. But Jean chases behind him, her hands outstretched to try to catch the hind quarters of the dirty dog, who.. ran through fresh mud which dried and caked up along his nails and in between his toes. He stops, hearing the vacuum cleaner, -seeing- Scott.. and begins to bark and shake.
"He is -not- attacking the house! Now come on! I only said you could spend the night for a week and you're testing my patience!"
The dog barks right back at her, which has her eyebrows raising. "Well, I left the door open. Go pee and come back. Cheese louise.."
The pup, digging his feet into the freshly vacuumed carpet trots outside, pleased at this outcome. Jean on the other hand, facepalms, then sighs.
*
Since she's had more time to spend at the Institute lately, Crystal has taken more of an interest in assigning things like chores around the place. Of course they can hire help for some things, but she's of the mind that it's good for the kids to take some ownership in the place.
Which means she knows it isn't Scott's turn at the vacuuming.
She also knows that there aren't meant to be any dogs that live here. Except for the giant one that…usually isn't in the house unless someone has urgent teleporting needs.
"What on earth is going on here?" she asks as she steps into the hall, blinking at the parade of dog and Scott's work with the vacuum. She doesn't sound upset, per se. Just…a little taken aback.
*
Logan pulls up his motorcycle outside, parking it in the drive and stepping off. He's pulling off his gloves, obviously not wearing a helmet. He pauses to light a cheroot, puffing a few times before he steps inside just to see mess and dog and all.
"Looks pretty usual to me, Crystal," he says in his gruff voice. "Ruckus is kinda how we roll 'round these parts, if ya ain't noticed. Be thankful it's only mud," he grins. "Least it's not me trackin' up the place for once."
*
What's worse than fresh mud on a carpet? Blood. And when Akihiro stumbles in, that's what the carpet gets covered in. And for the first time, it looks like it's his blood. Bruises and swelling cover his body, and a number of gashes that look like they're on the way to closing up, but are having some trouble.
"Somebody order Japanese?" he groans, forcing himself up onto shaky feet. "Oh, am I late for a party?"
*
Scott is rigorously vacuuming. So hard. And so when the dog comes he's totally taken by surprise. First that it's a dog, and second that it ruins all of the hard work he's doing. By the time Akihiro enters, with the blood and all, Scott is turned towards Crystal with his palms up as if to say, 'hey lady, I tried. I tried to make it nice in here.'
*
"Well. I met a friend. Though that friend led to other friends and that one.." She points out at the door, probably at Logan, probably calling him a dog.. "Kind of followed me back. I figure if I clean him up, hang out with him for a while, find him a nice kid, then everything will be right.. in.. the.."
Jean slowly turns, staring a little past Logan with a squint in her eye. Whatever possibly-kind-of-sort-of-blatant lie Jean was telling had fallen by the way-side as her hand snaps out, an attempt at a TK grab to hoist Akihiro from the carpet to leave him dangling. "What.. the hell.. are you doing here?!"
*
"Well, that's fair," Crystal sighs to Logan. "It does cut down on the mending. And the stai-" So much for the stains.
"Jean," she says in a low, firm tone. "Gently, please." Note that she doesn't say to stop. Just…gently hold the man in the air with your brain. Think of the carpets.
"Scott, could you turn that off, please?" she winces at the vacuum. "It's all right, I have a feeling we're going to need more than the vacuum before this is over."
*
*SNIKT*
Aki's arrival draws out Logan's claws and he turns, snarling. He doesn't much care about bleeding, moving at a stalk until he's getting right into his son's face, forehead to forehead, "You got a lotta bleedin' nerve comin' here, boy. You better gimme a damn good reason not to finish the job somebody started on yer carcass an' you better give it quick, else the boy scout over there's gonna have a lotta blood to clean outta this place."
*
Akihiro is snatched into the air, the motion disturbing several cracked ribs and causing him to let out a pained squeak. It takes a moment for him to really focus on his father, with one of his eyes being swollen shut. "T-there's a bomb in my head. But if you let me go, I'll try to find help elsewhere."
*
Just as Scott flips off the vacuum, Akihiro's words come clear. Scott turns slightly towards Crystal, and then back towards Akihiro, all the while a look of dazed confusion on his face. He reaches up to his glasses just in case.
*
"He doesn't deserve gentle.." Jean mutters towards Crystal. But.. she surprisingly was. For parts of her felt a hint of sorrow at his wounds and not wanting to exasurbate them. The other part of her had a mind to draw minute lines of telekinesis to peel the flesh apa—..
"A bomb?!" Jean nearly snaps out. "And you come here, where there are CHILDREN?" This time, it was Jean taking those steps forward, rushed and hurried, attempting to push Akihiro out of the door with her fingers still raised, a slow clench forming to enforce for herself to remain gentle with her invisible grasp.
*
Crystal holds a hand up to Scott when he reaches for his glasses. At least someone is likely to hold back on the destruction. "That's certainly a compelling reason," she says evenly. "Though Jean makes an excellent point. Let's take this outside." Away from the children. And the carpet. "Jean, if you would?" As she moves closer to the staredown between Logan and his son, she pauses for a moment by the elder, giving him a brief look as if to ask if he's all right.
*
Logan swallows heavily, "Yeah, let's take him outside," he says. He stalks on past, leaving his claws out as he stifles it. The rage. Yeah, Akihiro was his son, but he's also run off to play nice with Logan's worst enemies, with the people who tortured him, tortured Jean, tortured Akihiro himself. And for what?
"They put that bomb in your head before you signed up, boy? You tellin' me you got blackmailed into all this, that you didn't have a choice?" he says. He's speaking very carefully now, keeping his distance to let Jean have free reign.
*
"It's not that large. If it goes off you'll just have to clean pieces of me up." Akihiro is clearly regretting showing up. His wounds appear to be healing now though, the swelling disappearing, bruises clearing up, and obviously fractured bones fixing themselves.
"I wish I could say that. They promised me Russian spies, a chance to find out who put that hit on my mother, which assassin tried to kill us both. I should have known they were lying." For what it's worth, he's not lying, or at least his brain and heart are saying he's telling the truth. "Don't blame you for wanting to kill me."
*
Scott follows everyone outside, taking another longing look at the mess of the room he just got done cleaning. Under his breath, though Crystal's senses could obviously pick it up, he mutters to himself.
"Man, I ain't picking that shit up."
*
Still being careful with holding Aki hostage, Jean steps down and off of the steps with an even glare. Even as He-Who-Wags approaches, she snaps her fingers with the other hand and points further into the yard. His poor little tail slumps as he skitters off, finding better pastures than this tense situation. Poor thing wishes he would have stayed on the streets.
"And you listened to them? They tortured you for days.." She thinks. "..I -begged- for you. I -begged- for them to leave you alone and you willingly went with them? On a promise? You seen what they did to us! If you wanted answers, why didn't you come to us for help!"
At least she couldn't sense a lie, but she was still upset. She had half a mind to open those wounds up again but she didn't. She just draws her hand away, allowing the hold to fall by the wayside, freeing Aki from her grip. She probably would have tried to hurt him.
*
Crystal shoots a look toward Scott's muttered words, a faint glimmer of amusement in her features that fades swiftly away at Akihiro's explanation. "I'm not interested in cleaning up pieces of you. Aside from the mess and the trauma to students, I have some deep-seated objections to allowing anyone to blow up people like us," she says evenly.
When Jean sets him down, there's a faint rumbling in the earth beneath his feet, a warning against trying to run. "I suspect that this is a longer, more complicated story. The important question right now, though, is whether or not you could have been tracked or followed here."
*
Logan puts away his claws and shakes his head, "Dammit, kid, it ever occur to you that it was probably them in the first place? Hell, wasn't long after that they took me and put me through their little corner o' hell. Even otherwise, Jean's got a point - you got resources here and yeah, I won't lie, I came up dry when I tried on my own, but that ain't the same as me givin' up," he says.
"Shortcuts always lead the same place. Misery. Now we're gonna have to figure out how to carve that thing outta yer brain, which they probably encased in adamantium at this point?"
*
Akihiro hits the ground, but doesn't stay there long. It doesn't look like he has any intention of running though. "They learned their lesson about that with you, all they did were my claws." he informs Logan, reaching up to tie his hair back.
"And yes, they probably know I'm here. But I just wanted to stay long enough to have somebody let Kitty know I need her help. Then I'm carrying on, don't want to draw too much attention to this area."
*
"I could shoot him," Scott offers. "I mean, he heals right?"
Crickets.
"Just sayin, guys."
*
Jean really had no more to say. Her jaw was clenched tight, up until she heard Akihiro's words, she finally gives a shake of her head. "You stupid sonovabitch." Yes. Jean cursed. She'll probably beg forgiveness for it later. With an inhale of a breath, her fingers reach up to press against the bridge of her nose, rubbing ever so softly as Scott's words break through the slight hint of anger, a little smile curling her lips. With a turn, she prepares to head into the house, one eye popping open to look towards the left of her, and with a stop and a stare, she nods her head ever so faintly.
Then to Scott. "You're cute." And a reach to pinch his arm. Nyah.
"Sorry about the mess, Scott. I'll clean up for you later. Wags!" She calls out, the little pup eagerly dashing, splitting through the grass to bound into the house and up towards Jean's room. Yep. That'll be a lot of cleaning for her to do.
*
"That's probably excessive, Scott." Crystal smiles faintly to the student, then nods to Akihiro. "Kitty could, conceivably get it out, yes? Unless it's rigged to explode if it shorts out. A more surgical approach might be more prudent. But we'll pass on the message. Where can we meet you?"
*
Logan cocks his head, 'You know they got crazy things called phones, don't you? Could've rung the place from a dozen payphones instead o' leadin' 'em right to the damn door," he snarls. "Maybe, just maybe, we'll help you, but you ain't a bit deservin' o' it right now and it would serve y ou right if you were left to rot - or if I just dragged you off and cut the damn thing out of your brain right now myself. We'd probably survive, you an' me…" he says, "And I could get some o' this bad mojo outta my head," he says.
"As it is, unless you want me playin' doctor, you get your ass outta here fast. And if they show up here, if they hurt a single hair on a single kid cause your sloppy ass didn't think for two seconds, I will personally rip every suffering they have out of your damn hide. Now GIT."
*
Akihiro goes to reply to Crystal, but the words from his father cause him to actually flinch. He turns and begins sprinting away, and unless physically stopped, he just keeps on going.
*
Scott brightens a bit as Jean mentions he's cute. But then he looks to Logan and immediately loses the smirk he'd grown. "Well," he says to Crystal as he recovers. "I like to have all options considered." And then Akihiro goes running, "Well, least he didn't blow up."
*
Ba-dum-tss!
Jean heard the growled words of Logan, even the considration of Crystal. At least everything ended on an even note. But still, the prospect of someone attempting to approach the manse because of Akihiro put her a little bit off. She inhales, her lips blown out in a slight flubber, then turns to face the door before settling upon the floor, legs at a cross. "Good thing I ate earlier.." She murmurs quietly, her hands shaking out and squeezing together, settling into her spot.
"You ready, ol' girl.." She murmurs to herself, fingers soon pressing against her temples as she closes her eyes to concentrate. "I'll keep first watch. If I sense anything untoward, I'll hollar. In some fashion or other.." The last line of murmured as well, as she takes a few deep breaths.. and with much effort, she tries to spread herself throughout the mansion, falling completely still. Dumb idea Jean! Way to go!
*
"Jean, please get the answer to that question," Crystal sighs when Akihiro takes off at a sprint. "Phone calls can be traced. I'm reasonably certain you can't." She glances to Logan, some sympathy in her expression, but she doesn't say anything. What could she say? It's his family. She won't interfere with that. Much.
Turning back to Scott, she arches a brow. "Now. Why wasn't Jerry doing the vacuuming?"
*