Warren's Birthday Party (Open to All)

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

Josh's tongue is sticking out as he scribbles a note onto a piece of paper with a green marker. He surveys his work:

Warr-

Come find me in the Blackbird when you get back, okay?

Josh

Hm. That should do it. Hastily he slides it underneath the door to Warren's single, and hurries down the stairs to the elevator.

I hope he likes it. He did say he was hoping to meet more people around the Institute.

When he arrives in the sub-basement, he quickly strides to the hangar and hits the door release.

"Got everything set, Josh?" Ororo is unloading food onto a long table covered in a tablecloth. "This is great. We haven't had a chance to celebrate something in a long time..." She suddenly looks deep in thought, and concentrates on lifting the cake onto the end of the table.

"It turned out perfect!" Josh grins as he surveys the cake. There are a pair of white wings on the cake, woven intricately into the normal floral pattern. It says 'Happy 20th Birthday, Warren!'

Hank drops off a girder, where he had been hanging a banner proclaiming the same message. "Everything looks delicious, Ororo. My stomach is already rumbling." He brushes off the shoulder of his jacket.

"Thanks for helping me out, you guys. I want Warren to feel like the Institute is his home. He should be back from his business trip any time now..." He looks at the people gathered. "We just need to get the chairs set up." He indicates a stack of folding chairs underneath the Blackbird.


[note - this is an open social-type thread for everyone. feel free to add anything you like to the setting or whatnot. Here's hoping for a big turnout!]

[Rogue]

Even though she didn't really know the resident Angel all that well, Rogue was present. A gal needed some social interaction from time to time, and a Birthday was cause for celebration, even if one didn't really know the person that closely.

Heck, did she even know anyone closely? Bobby, she supposed. Logan, maybe John. And the rest of the psykes in her mind, of course. But, then, that wasn't quite the same as getting to know someone - that was... knowing them by force. The thought almost made her laugh aloud, as she surveyed the room absently.

Within her mind, the chattering that was always a dull noise in her mind picked up a little. The psykes were now chattering about Birthdays - innocent, happy conversation about their lives before she'd stolen the bit of their soul that was trapped there. They didn't sound angry or bitter, almost reflective, happy, and sentimental. So she left them be, a small smile on her face as she listened to them, not shoving them behind their doors and cages.

"...We just need to get the chairs set up."

Rogue's eyes snapped over towards those in the room for real, who'd been speaking a little while she hadn't been paying attention. Looking from Josh, to the chairs he motioned to, she she nodded slighlty, and moved towards the folded chairs, tossing a slight nod and a smile to Josh. Seemed to her that he was very eager for everything to be perfect. She grabbed two of the chairs, and moved off to set them up around a table.

[Bobby Drake]

(( OOC: (sigh) I hate it when I preview a post and forget to post it. Take 2...))

Bobby looks around the hangar as he walks in, impressed by the decorations and the supplies. "Wow... you're really going all out here, aren't you?" he asks Josh. "Knew that OCD would come in handy some day..."

He walks over to the table as he talks and empties one of the two large bags he's carrying with him, which turns out to contain a large aluminum bowl (empty), a dozen squeeze-bottles of colored liquid, and a pile of small paper cones. He arranges them in an empty spot on the table, then tosses the second bag to Josh.

A couple of rubber snakes fall out, and the lumpiness of the bag makes clear that the bag is full of others, probably hundreds. Bobby inclines his head in the general direction of the Blackbird and adds, grinning "Figured it would help set the mood..."

Then he notices Rogue as she comes around the plane with chairs in tow, and stops still.

It's not that he's been avoiding her since he got out of the infirmary... not exactly, anyway. But they haven't seen very much of each other since then. Well, actually, they haven't seen each other at all. And the pile of things he ought to have already said to her and hasn't gets bigger every day, until he can't face starting.

So he settles for "Um... hi, Marie." and a stupid little wave.

[Rogue]

"Um... hi, Marie."

Glancing up at the familliar voice, Rogue responded with a small smile, and a "Hey Bobby." that sounded only barely more enthusiastic than his own greeting.

"Haven' seen ya aroun' much, lately. Where've ya been hidin'?"

She wasn't sure if the question was more an attempt at small-talk, or the start of a conversation about their relationship. It seemed that since her powers had come back, he hadn't been around. She hadn't really made effort to search him out, though, of course, so maybe the distance was partially her fault.

No, she knew it was. She always distanced herself from him, even before. She didn't want to hurt him. But the difference was that usually he hadn't been letting her stay away.

He'd been trying to keep them close, even despite her own efforts to push him away. For every step back, he'd made one forward. But, apparently he was getting tired of that. She didn't blame him, honestly, but that didn't make it feel any better.

Abently, she unfolded the chairs near a table, and pushed them in, so they weren't sticking out into the walkway.

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

Hank jumps back up into the rafters as the banner comes loose.

"Stars and Garters, Ororo!" He gracefully catches the end on his way up and begins fixing it.

When Bobby arrives, he throws a bag at Josh.

>"Figured it would help set the mood..."

"Hah! Good one, Bobbs." Josh finishes setting out a bowl of snacks as Ororo puts spoons into various dishes. "D'you think you could go throw these around? I should probably help Rogue with the chairs."

Ororo gives him a look and cocks her head, peering into the bag. She begins to smile. " 'Snakes on a Plane', right? Nice touch."

"Bobby's idea." Josh jerks a thumb over his shoulder to Bobby, and does a double take when he sees Bobby standing next to Marie.

<This could be bad.> Storm merely gives him a knowing look and begins scattering rubber snakes.

Josh makes his way over to the two, and begins telekinetically lifting chairs into position with an outstretched hand. He watches the pair out of the corner of his eye. Is Bobby going to end up in the infirmary again? This time it might be on purpose. Well, at least Warren and I would have the room to oursel-... Josh blinks and shakes his head. Down boy. I wonder what he's gonna say to her?

[Bobby Drake]

> "Haven' seen ya aroun' much, lately. Where've ya been hidin'?"

Bobby contemplates a number of responses ranging from the vulgar to the deceptive and settles on evasive: "Oh, you know. Institute's a big place, sometimes." He wishes that hadn't come out in quite such an I've-got-a-secret tone of voice, but oh well, it is what it is.

He also wishes he didn't feel so guilty around Marie. It was bad enough before, what with all the weirdness around Kitty and everything, but after the awkwardness between them after she took the Cure, and the whole, um, situation with John, it's like he's lying to her every minute he stands there without saying anything. And it's not like she has any grounds to complain given how she handled the whole Cure thing, and it's not like she's taken any steps to talk to him, either, but that still doesn't make him feel any better.

And it really doesn't help to know she's got half the known universe running around inside her head... Logan and John and who-knows-who-all-else. It's like there's an audience watching and taking notes -- not to mention Josh and Ororo and Hank (and geez, he'd have thought being the U.N. Whateveritis would be a more timeconsuming job, but he always seems to be around) all trying to pretend they aren't watching.

Ultimately, though, Bobby knows all of that is excuses. They may not be dating anymore, but she at least deserves the courtesy of hearing that out loud and hating him if she wants to. (Not that he doesn't deserve the same, but after knowing Marie as long as he has he knows he's not going to get it.) "So, um... we should probably talk, some time. About, you know... stuff.."

[Rogue]

"Oh, you know. Institute's a big place, sometimes."

She smiled slightly, nodding in agreement. She was surprised at how easy it was to keep a neutrally pleasant look on her face when she felt this conflicted.

Was he avoiding the question? Or was that all it really was? Either way, it didn't help settle anything.

Psyke-Bobby was laughing at Real-Bobby's attempt at an answer. She wasn't sure why he found it so funny. Maybe he recognized the awkwardness of the veiled reply, too.

"Yeah. Can be." she responded with a nod, "'M sorry I wasn' around when ya woke up...I w's in there for awhile, but...it really ain' my favorite place t'be. Makes Lo-...me nervous. Jumpy an' all tha'..."

She not-so-tactfully cut 'Logan's psyke' out of the sentance, replacing it with 'me', so as not to sound crazy. Because she wasn't, not really, and she didn't need him thinking she was, and pitying her or worse.

"So, um... we should probably talk, some time. About, you know... stuff.."

Ah, stuff. Another word for, what, exactly? Their relationship, and how far downhill it had fallen was her best bet.

With a nod, she offered a carefully-formed smile, as if nothing about his statement bothered her. She had a feeling she knew where this was heading, and, despite the distance between them, she didn't like it, didn't like the thought. She also didn't like the fact that, even though she'd told herself it wouldn't matter if he didn't want to stay with her - the untouchable once again, and who really wanted to be with someone they couldn't touch - really? -, it was already feeling like it did matter.

A nagging little voice (that wasn't a psyke) was hissing "I told you so" in the back of her mind.

"Yeah, s'been t'long since w'talked..."

[Bobby Drake]

> "M sorry I wasn' around when ya woke up...I w's in there for awhile, but...it really ain' my favorite place t'be. Makes Lo-...me nervous. Jumpy an' all tha'..."

Bobby nods, trying not to look as annoyed as he is. Yeah... wouldn't want my injuries to inconvenience you in any way, now would we? Not that he had any reason to expect Marie to hang out in the infirmary all day watching him breathe. Once, maybe, but not lately.Still, annoyed was better than guilty. Jeez... I'm getting to sound more and more like John every day.

"Yeah, I understand. I'm sure 'Lo-you' have been busy. "

Which he really wishes he hadn't said, because pathetic as he might be he wasn't pathetic enough to be jealous over Marie's crush on a teacher seventeen times her age, especially when she's not his girlfriend anymore, which let's face it she hasn't really been in a long time. Which she seems to understand perfectly well... at least, nothing about her attitude indicates that any of this is bothering her. Which is something of a relief, because no matter what else was going on he really doesn't want to hurt her. Or to get her mad at him.

"Anyway... that can wait till after the party, I guess." He gives a quirky half-smile as he notices Ororo scattering snakes around the room and Josh fussing with chairs while they both pretend not to be watching, and turns back to the bowl he brought on arrival, filling it with shaved ice from nowhere (which he hopes Ororo is noticing, because it's a heck of a lot trickier than it looks and it took him a long time to get it reliable). "Anybody want a snowcone?"

As he pours cherry syrup over his snowcone he thinks loudly in Josh's direction: Don't worry, I won't spoil your party. You decide on a gift yet?

[Rogue]

"Yeah, I understand. I'm sure 'Lo-you' have been busy. "[/color]

Was he trying to make this difficult, trying to make her angry?

Mocking her really wasn't the way to go right now. Everyone within her mind was defensive in response ot his words, too, and she carefully pushed them back.

Her eyes narrowed slightly, but she didn't have time to form a proper response before he had spoken again.

"Anyway... that can wait till after the party, I guess."

"Yeah. S'pro'lly b'best that way." she responded with her own smile, more believable than it felt, and brushed past to head over towards some of the still-unfolded chairs. She wasn't going to let this stop her from enjoying the party, or let it spoil it, for herself, or anyone else.

It wasn't like she should even care. They were already over - really only together by the tiny technicality that neither had gotten around to breaking it off. Other than that...

She picked up two more chairs, and begain moving back towards the tables to set them out.

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

Ororo finishes emptying out the plastic bag and sticks it underneath the table.

"Looks like everything is just about ready." She folds her arms gracefully over her chest. She had initially voted for having the little gathering in the arboretum - the most peaceful place on the grounds, at least according to her - but Josh had overruled her in favor of the 'Snakes' theme. Something about the first day the two of them had met...

Ororo shakes her head. Another pair of the senior students to topple head over heels for one another. Oh, Josh hadn't said much. But she could tell. Maybe Bobby Drake could see Josh's core temperature raise a degree or two when Warren was around, but she had one thing he didn't - life experience. Joshua clearly had it badly for the blonde-haired boy. She hoped it wouldn't interfere with his training... Bobby, Marie, and Kitty briefly came to mind at that.

Good for them, though. Josh could use a bit of happiness in his life. He'd taken recent events badly, same as everyone else. They could all use a reminder that they were human. Even the Storm Goddess could, she thinks sardonically.

Josh ambles over to her. "Yeah, thanks again for all the help." He's almost beaming.

> <Don't worry, I won't spoil your party. You decide on a gift yet?>

He arches an eyebrow in Bobby's direction. <Besides the obvious gift, you mean?> He blinks innocently to show he's kidding. <I've got an idea or two...>

[Warren Worthington III]

Warren parks in a garage a few miles south of the Westchester border and flies the rest of the way, the way he usually does when he returns to the Institute. It won't do much good against concerted spying, he figures, but then the professionals already know all about the Institute and have their own reasons for keeping quiet. It's just a habit he picked up to prevent reporters and papparazzi from following him back home.

Besides, he enjoys the peace of flying after a business trip. Especially after a fiasco like this last trip. Seven newsmagazine producers in two days and not one of them would do more than listen politely to his "Inside the Mutant Containment Camps" pitch.

At first he thought he'd seriously misjudged their politics, but a few drinks with Stossel made it clear that the Pentagon was exerting a lot of pressure to keep the camp situation quiet... nobody wanted another Guantanamo incident. Stewart had seemed interested, but without actual evidence there'd be no point, and investigative journalism wasn't exactly their forte.

It would be ridiculous if it weren't so dangerous... sooner or later something was bound to leak and the backlash would be worse the longer they held off. Dammit! You'd almost think they wanted to start a war! Which was tempting to believe, but Warren doubted it. It was just a calcified institution unwilling to admit to a mistake.

Of course, off the record everyone was willing to admit that for every real criminal in the camps there were ten cannon-fodder flunkies who were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, that for every dangerous mutant there were a hundred even less powerful than Warren. But on the record, they were all "dangerous mutant terrorists" being contained for "reasons of national security," and anything that even smelled of suggesting a change from their current policy was drawing fire. Professor Xavier would have had some kind of leverage, but then he'd been a real player, not just a glorified celebrity. And Hank had already made it clear that the President wasn't prepared to overrule the Pentagon on this one. So for Warren it had been one closed door after another.

Hell of a way to spend a birthday. Well, at least his flight had landed on time... that's something.

He really isn't looking forward to explaining his failure to Bobby... he'd as much as promised the kid he'd get the media to investigate the camps, put public pressure on them to release the ones they couldn't make a real case against and try the ones they could. He felt bad enough about not having thought of it himself.

Unwilling to face making his way through the halls, Warren unlatches his window and crawls in, tossing his bags under his bed. Really, he just wants to climb under there with them and pretend this whole week hasn't happened... but after a week on airplanes he knows if he doesn't moisturize his wings soon he'll be molting all over the Institute. So he wraps himself in a towel, kicks his clothes under the bed, and trudges out to the bathroom.

He almost misses the note slipped under his door:
Warr-
Come find me in the Blackbird when you get back, okay?
Josh
And he grins despite himself, and suddenly it hasn't been such a bad week, after all.

Warren laughs at himself as he hurries through his shower. Dear God, I've become a Dido song. When did that happen? He doesn't bother to answer himself... he knows exactly when it happened, it hasn't been far from his thoughts ever since, and if he thinks about it too much he knows he won't make it out of the shower for a long time.

He's grinning like an idiot as he dresses again. Of course, knowing how the Blackbird affects Josh, there is the possibility that getting dressed is an unnecessary complication. It is Warren's birthday, after all, and he wonders how Josh would react to Warren showing up in the access hatch in just a towel... or nothing at all? It's tempting, but for all he knows it's all perfectly innocent -- maybe Josh got his pilot's license this week and wants to show off -- in which case he'd just embarass both of them. And he'd promised himself he'd let Josh set the pace, a decision he's had no reason to regret.

So, OK, clothes, then. But no reason they shouldn't be easy to get out of quickly, right? After all, he might be about to get the best birthday gift ever, he ought to be prepared. He settles on a pair of light blue cotton drawstring pants over black silk boxers and a pair of sandals, one of his custom-fitted poncho-things belted around his waist, and a handful of accessories in his pockets.

When he arrives in the sub-basement, he deliberately moves slowly to the hangar doors... whatever Josh has got in mind, Warren figures it's best to give him time to get ready... before palming them open.

(( OOC: Oo, lookit! It's my 100th Angel-post! ))

[Bobby Drake]

> <Besides the obvious gift, you mean?>

Bobby snorts, spilling snowcone onto his shirt. "Yeah, besides that." He makes an 'oops' face as he realizes he's talking out loud again, then smirks evilly as he goes back to thinking 'out loud'.

<I figured if you'd had that in mind, you wouldn't have invited the rest of us to watch... though maybe you're getting off on the whole website thing more'n you admit? Hell, I bet you could talk Wings into recording some mutant porn in the spirit of 'showing the public that mutants are just like everybody else'...>

It's clear that he's kidding, and only slightly less clear -- at least to Josh, who knows Bobby's mind pretty well by now -- is the wave of envy riding just underneath the banter. Not of Josh or Warren themselves but of their relationship, and their willingness to be open about it, all of which makes Bobby's own furtive nocturnal activities feel exactly as cheap and tawdry as they are.

On the other hand, Bobby can't help but grin at the expression on his roommate's face. "Walking on air" is the expression that comes to mind, though it's not really appropriate... when Josh walks on air he makes a little frowny concentration-face, his tongue sticking out of the side of his mouth like a third-grader mastering penmanship. Or, well, he used to. Whereas whenever Warren comes up in conversation these days -- which is pretty much all the time! -- Josh lights up like a Christmas tree. Even when he tries to keep it under control, Bobby can sense his body temperature spike.

It would be annoying if it weren't so obviously genuine. As it is, Bobby can't really get annoyed by it... but he can tease Josh mercilessly about it. The funniest part is that Josh really seems to think the whole Institute and half of the Internet doesn't know about him and Warren by this point.

<Besides, the Snakes on a Plane theme would be a bit of a turn-off, wouldn't it? I mean, I know how lathered up you get about the Blackbird, but that flick had WAY too much genital trauma to -- >

He cuts off as the sound of the elevator opening comes from outside the hangar doors, then looks back at Josh. "So, what now, chief?" he whispers. "Should we hide or something?"

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

Josh sidles over to Bobby as Ororo talks with Hank near the plane.

<Having paparazzi ambush us over lunch was hardly my idea of a good time. Besides, we both know that you’d be the first to download any porn that had both me and Warren in it.> Josh plasters a shit-eating grin on his face.

Envy? Bobby's jealous? Not of me, I'm sure. Bobby'd made it clear that he had fun hanging out with Warren, but blonde and blue eyes weren't really his thing. Besides, he has that whole John thing. Oooh. John. Secret John. Secret Bobby-doing-John. Which was actually kind of hot, but it had to be an emotional rollercoaster. Poor guy.

The idea of him and Warren making some memories tonight definitely has its merits, though. He’d figured that the other boy would be too tired from his weeklong trek to go out for dinner, so they’d just decided to have a bit of a gathering here. He could have something to eat and relax. The idea of the two of them moving to the next step of their relationship set his heart beating faster, but at the same time he had reservations. Was he ready yet? Mmm. I don’t want to seem like I’m not interested in sex, though… He was 17 years old, for god’s sake. The interest was there - he hoped that was obvious. He just wanted it to be perfect for Warren…

He did have Warren’s present upstairs, which would give them an excuse to leave whenever they needed to. And give Bobby more ammo. He continued to grin.

A very distinct mental profile was making its way closer. Aack!

>"Should we hide or something?"

He gets slightly indignant. <I do not 'get lathered up' about the Blackbird! Storm and I just completed my field test, is all. Jeez, Bobby.>

“Um. There’s nowhere to hide!” It was true. Besides a couple tables and chairs, and the Blackbird, the rest of the hangar was empty. Josh suddenly has an idea. “Got it.” He reaches out with his powers and flips the light panel next to the door, plunging them into darkness.

“Try not to stumble into the cake, everyone. Let's get a big 'Happy Birthday' when the lights go on.” He mockingly waves a hand in front of Bobby’s face. <Where are you, Iceboy? I can’t see your mind with the lights out!>

[Bobby Drake]

> <Besides, we both know that you’d be the first to download any porn that had both me and Warren in it.>

Bobby grins back. <Why bother? Way you stare at the walls when he's in his room you'll drill a peephole for me before the weekend's over. I can just watch the live show.> He's not sure if it's his thought or some private internal musing of Josh's, but he notices the boy's temperature climbing and grins more broadly. One point to the Iceman!

Then things get rushed, and the lights go out. Not that that slows Bobby down too much.. the hangar air is cool enough that all the people stand out like they were painted in neon. He considers grabbing Josh's hand, but holds off... it might come in handy one of these days to have people forget he can kinda see in the dark.

Then the hangar doors open and Warren enters, stopping suddenly as he crosses the threshold in the instant before Josh turns on the lights again, and Bobby cheers along with the rest of the crowd:

"Happy Birthday!"

[Warren Worthington III]

Even in the dark, Warren is aware of the waiting figures, by the noises they make and the way the air moves around them. It isn't as good as sight, but he's gotten good at relying on it.

Henry's bulk and triphammer heartbeat gives away one identity, as does the breeze flowing gently around Storm even in the completely artificial environment of the hangar. (He'd asked her, once, whether she did it on purpose, only to discover she didn't even know about it. It had amused both of them.) And he is delighted beyond reason to realize he actually recognizes Josh's heartbeat!

The other two he isn't certain about, but regardless, he's pretty clear on the scenario a couple of seconds before the lights go on. Still, he does his best to seem surprised at the assembled residents when he sees them, and startled by their gleeful shout -- it's the responsibility of a surprise party's guest of honor to be surprised, after all.

And the truth is he is surprised... not at their sudden appearance from the darkness, but that they'd thought to celebrate his birthday like this at all, the cake and the banner and the food and the... what on Earth? Snakes? It takes him a moment to get it, and he nearly falls over laughing, the frustrations of the past week completely forgotten.

"You..." he suddenly finds himself without words, and without breath to speak them if he had them, and takes a deep breath and tries again. "Thank you all... this is amazing. I... I don't know what to say."

He sweeps Josh up into a hug and a passionate kiss before he's quite realized he's crossed the room, lifts them both high in the air with a single beat of his wings (hooray for high-ceilinged hangars!) and spins him around for the sheer joy of it before gliding them both to the ground. <You are the best boyfriend ever. Just in case you'd forgotten.> He's not sure if everyone in the room knows about him and Josh, but, well, they know now. And it's not like they were planning on keeping their relationship a secret, anyway.

Somewhat reluctantly, he lets go and greets the rest of his well-wishers. He pauses a second when he recognizes Bobby and Marie now, half-remembering some bit of Institute gossip about them which he shrugs off, and waves Hank off when he asks about his trip. "No good news, Henry... but let's talk about it later, OK?"

He grins at the "Happy 20th" on the cake, but shakes his head, mock-disappointed. "It really should have been XX, you know." Then he grins again and picks up the knife. "So we'll just have to eat the evidence so nobody finds out!"