Movie Night (Bob, John, Toni, Josh)

[Bobby Drake]

(( OOC: Other folks can join if they want, too, long as they have a reason to be wandering the Institute. ))

What’s weirdest about all this, Bobby decides after a few minutes, is how normal it is. He’s lying on his bed, his back propped up against the headboard, watching a movie with his date.

Admittedly, the whole date-is-also-mortal-enemy-and-oh-yeah-he’s-a-guy thing adds a level of oddity to the evening. The latter more than the former, apparently; they haven’t tried to kill each other in some time now, but they’ve both been jockeying for the “guy” position since they settled down with the remote. At the moment John has the upper hand, with his arm around Bobby’s shoulders and Bobby’s head leaning against John’s shoulder. Which, despite knowing how unPC it is to even have such a thought, Bobby can’t help but think makes him the girl.

Which isn’t actually as disturbing a thought as it might be, come to that.

Toni hasn’t arrived yet, but is no doubt on her way with – and this, also, is both normal and extremely odd – drinks. They haven’t actually held the movie waiting for her, but Bobby figures they can rewind when she gets here. Bobby wants to commit that opening speech of V’s to memory anyway, so seeing it a few more times sounds like a great idea.

Meanwhile he’s experimenting, wondering how closely he can get John to huddle against him by subtly lowering the temperature on the other side of the bed. It’s been working pretty well so far.

[Pyro]

So this is what normal feels like...

... and what it feels like is... good. No. Scratch that. Fucking amazing

Okay, so it’s not totally normal. The fact that they’re both guys is one big strike in the *odd* column. As is the whole mortal enemies thing, and by extension the fact that he’s just had to sneak in… which isn’t really that odd until you remember that this place has jets which come out of the swimming pool and an underground VR chamber, which makes the whole slyness gig feel like a bad spy movie.

The weirdest part isn’t any of that, though. It’s being back here. Because this is still his room… only… not. For one thing it’s not searingly hot (a fact he corrects as quickly as possible, because the cold is just wrong…). What used to be his side of the room is the *tidy* side (which makes him laugh, because Bobby used to be so anal about everything being ordered and neat…) and quite clearly belongs to someone else, though it’s equally clear neither he nor to some extent Bobby can quite accept that when it’s like some ghost of him is clinging, the lighters still stashed inside a slit in the headboard, the half-empty bottle of JD’s under the loose floorboard Josh apparently hasn’t yet found (and Bobby hasn’t enlightened him about)… weird.

But it’s hard to concentrate on any of that when Bobby’s this close. It’s definitely the best part of normal, the way it’s all so easy all of a sudden, so natural and easy, none of the extremes of dark passion and darker denial. Like all the rough edges have been taken off, so he can just lie there with Bobby all soft and smooth next to him, and have it feel like home (and it’s a person, not a place, which feels like that… which is odd but still neat, gives him some hope that it doesn’t matter what happens between them when it’s not about the outside world or anything other than having Bobby within touching distance). In keeping with the film, he being P, the proximity is perfectly and pleasingly pleasant. Or something. Whatever.

… yeah, neither of them are that normal really. Take Bobby’s weirdly adorable and oh-so-subtle attempts to make this more than a casual clinch. ”You don’t have to do that” he grins, planting a small hot kiss on Bobby’s forehead (tasting cold and boy and new and clean and Bobby and mine and somehow love which somehow tastes of all of those only better and more unknowable though he’s allowed to be in on the secret now) and brushing back a few strands of fringe from the Iceman’s forehead as he shifts in according with his very clear wishes. ”Seems sort of counterproductive, freezing my nuts off. S’cute though.” The next kiss is on the lips, and he trails a thumb across Bobby’s jaw as he pulls back and smiles before returning to watching the film.

Yeah, I can get used to normal.

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

Josh walks up the staircase, levitating a pile of textbooks and papers absently.

Stupid project is sucking my life away. It wasn't really stupid. He and Toni had been working together in the medical lab on some research together on mutant genetics. The awesome part was that, because of all their expensive equipment, they could actually discover something, as opposed to doing something stupid like inserting genes into bacteria. The down-side was that some of their tests had been eating up far too much time lately. Fortunately, it seemed like things were finally going to slow down for awhile.

The two of them had been working with samples of their own DNA. Each was rather unique, because his mutation was psionic - primarily in his brain - whereas Toni's mutation had affected her entire body structure.

He arrives at their room, and pushes the door open.

His research falls to the floor with a thud, and he's vaguely aware that his jaw has pulled off the same maneuver.

John? John Allerdyce? Here? He struggles to wrap his mind around it all. There was that uncomfortable sworn enemies bit floating around threateningly, but he takes a breath and shoves it far, far away. This is seriously a huge step for John... this is a good thing. I think. And the look on Bobby's face... I want to support this, not blow it out of proportion.

So, after a short pause, an infectious smirk spreads across his face. "Well, it looks like you and I are even now, Bobby. What was that suggestion about a tie on the door...?" He looks to John. "Hey."

He waves a hand and his texts reassemble themselves on his desk. "If you want, I can get lost, guys."

[Toni Craft]

Toni hurries herself up the stairs, desperately trying to hide the liquor store logo that adorned her bags. If she was caught bringing this much alcohol into the Mansion, let alone knowingly 'ignore' John's presence, Ororo was going to use her as a lightning rod.

She was lucky though, most of the kids were out and about, doing their own thing, including Matty. Toni's younger brother would no doubt scrap John himself.

She contemplates jogging the rest of the way to the room, in hopes of lessening her exposure, but opts not too. She'd rather remain inconspicuous instead of making the whole place shake with each step.

Toni's thankful that Bobby offered to have the 'get-together' in his room; it would decrease the suspicion even further. Since they had begun their little project, Toni and Josh had been ducking in out of each other's regularly to chat about their findings.

Finally reaching Josh and Bobby's shared room, she uses her free hand to turn the knob.

"If you want, I can get lost, guys."

"Now why would you want to do that, Josh? Especially when there are drinks to be had for all!" She grins, kicks the door shut behind her, and sets the straining bags on the desk.

"Right, who wants glasses? Or do you prefer to drink straight out of the bottle?" Toni pulls a half-used stack of plastic cups out of the first bag and hands them to Josh for distribution. "The six-pack's for me, so no touchy." She helps herself to the first can of beer, tearing it from it's plastic holder. "John, Bobs, have some cokes," She tosses each a can of Coca-Cola. "And the rum to match." A 40 oz of dark rum flies through the air after the two cans. "And Josh, I figured you be here and get mad if I didn't bring you anything, so are you partial to Mike's Hard Lemonade?" She sets the box of bottles next to the telekinetic's texts. "Now, this puppy's for later. John, I seem to remember that it's your favorite, right?" Toni grins and holds up a fresh bottle of Jack Daniels and wags it teasingly.

Then with a loud pssht and a brief spray of foam, Toni seats herself on the floor, back against the bed and takes the first sip of her Mooseheads. "Awww...you guys started without me!" She whines as she watches V run around on the screen.


[[ OOC: I do not support underage drinking, but I think Bob and John deserve it. ]]

[Rogue]

_{(Muahahaaa...)}

Heading down the hall, notebook in one hand, pencil in the other, being twirled absently between her fingers, Rogue moves towards Bobby and Josh’s room at a fairly slow pace. The psykes, constant talking aside, refuse to help her with her math homework – considering it “cheating”. Since when they would care about something like that is beyond her, but they refuse to help, and now she’s stuck trying to find someone else. And pretty much the only ones she talks to anymore are Bobby and Josh, so their room is the obvious place to seek help.

There’s noise from inside – sounds like either the TV or the radio – so she knock, but pushes the door open, figuring they might not hear her over the noise. As the door opens, she pokes her head inside –

And freezes.

Is that…?

Are they...?

Wait...

...What?

She simply stares, blinking several times, as if to try to comprehend what she’s seeing.

Shock number one – John’s in here.

Shock two – he and Bobby are…kissing?

Shock three – there’s a teacher and Josh in here, and neither are making a move to discourage it, or acting shocked or surprised in any way whatsoever. Not to mention the fact that there appears to be alcohol on the premises – in the presence of said teacher.

“Um. Hi?” Her words are in a tone that sounds somewhere between a mental reboot and confusion. At the moment, she feels nothing but shock, but she’s sure there’ll be something else…eventually…maybe. If she can get her mind around the scene enough to comprehend it properly, anyway.

[Bobby Drake]

> " Seems sort of counterproductive, freezing my nuts off. S’cute though. "

At first Bobby’s a little sheepish at having been caught out, but John’s reaction more than compensates for that. It’s still a surprise every time he does that, just touches or kisses or smiles at him like… well, like they’re lovers. Bobby imagines he’ll get used to it eventually, but right now he’s enjoying the perpetual surprise, like it’s suddenly his birthday over and over again.

This can’t possibly last, says a little voice in the back of his head. He’s still part of the Brotherhood and that’s not going to change no matter how adorable he thinks you are.

Shut up, he replies. I’m busy. He’s been getting better and better at that lately. He grins up at John – it’s weird, looking up into his eyes, but Bobby thinks he can get used to it – and adds with a smirk "Isn’t counterproductive if I get to warm --" he’s cut off by the door opening and Josh dropping a collection of books and papers all over the floor.

To give credit where it’s due, Josh recovers pretty quickly.

> " Well, it looks like you and I are even now, Bobby. What was that suggestion about a tie on the door...? "

"Not hardly, Josh… we’re not naked. Though, if you want to wait a few minutes and come back in… "

> " If you want, I can get lost, guys. "

“Nah, we’re just watching a movie, join us if you want” and “Well, actually, if you could give us about half an hour?” compete for a moment before the choice is taken out of his hands – er, mouth – by Toni’s energetic arrival and Marie’s significantly more restrained greeting. It occurs to him suddenly that he never did get around to telling Marie about him and John, and he feels guilty about that, but… well, she knows now, and he tries to seem matter-of-fact about it.

"Hey Miss Craft, hey Marie… come on in! We’re watching ‘V for Vendetta’ – if you haven’t seen it you totally should. And, wow," he adds, watching Toni pull bottles out of bags. "When you go out to get drinks, you go out to get drinks!" He makes a mental note to take it easy with the drinking: the last thing he wants to do tonight is get clumsy or pass out or anything. It’s a weird little milestone in their… relationship (which it really actually is one, he realizes, like one they’re telling people about and everything, which is just… wow!) that they’re cuddling together like this without an excuse, just because they feel like it, and he doesn’t intend to ruin it.

> " Awww...you guys started without me! "

"Um… what? We didn’t – oh!" he interrupts himself, realizing suddenly she meant the movie. "No problem… we can rewind." Which he does, putting his can of Coke down to get the remote control out of his lap.

Looking around the room, it occurs to him that this is something like the perfect group to help him deal with the mission he has to plan. Granted, when Storm told him to pick his own team she probably meant from the Institute… but inviting John along seems suddenly appropriate. He’d suffered more than any of them from the government’s illegal actions, he deserved a chance to be involved in getting back at them.

"Though, actually, before I do there’s something else I wanted to talk to you guys about." Rapidly, he summarizes the information Jake extracted from the government using Cerebro, most especially the offsite storage location where all the top-secret files about their activities are kept. "I’ve got Storm’s authorization to assemble a team, go in, extract that info. Once we have it, Hank can press official charges – military courts-martial, U.N. sanctions, criminal charges against the officials who wrote the orders. He says the President is on board, as long as the initial investigations themselves aren’t started by the White House – I don’t get that part myself, really – but anyway the important thing is we can shut down the damned Camps and put the bastards who’ve been abusing mutants there behind bars."

He looks around the room. "I can’t think of a better team to take with me. Who’s in?"

[Pyro]

*THUD*

Oh, yeah, John remembers with a totally uncharacteristically sheepish grin, this is Josh’s room now. After the moment it takes him to recover – and the split second more it takes Josh – his smile changes to something nearer self satisfied (yeah, I’m here, and I’m doing this, and I’m okay with that. How are you?) and he stretches and settles back into a position which is almost the same but somehow shouts MINE a little more loudly…

< we’re not naked
”I could recti…” he starts before realizing that Bobby’s mind is working on the same lines… ooh, that’s a nice thought, that not only are they a *couple* but they’re thinking like one, starting to properly understand each other rather than coming at this from totally different angles and just hammering away in the hope that it’ll work out okay. Which makes him fairly sure Bobby’d go along with the suggestion he’s too nice to make – that yeah, maybe Josh could get lost, and they could get reacquainted with John’s old bed and… now that’s a plan, and there’s something just totally delicious about the idea of finally taking this hunger beyond frantic hasty devouring and into properly savoring here of all places… but Toni puts the nix on that one (and he tries to tell himself that he’s pleased with that, because obviously it was a stupid idea…) and holy shit!

Again Bob manages to articulate exactly what he’s thinking because this is drinks and then some. He considers whether he can get away with skipping the coke in the Cuba Libre, but since this is on their turf he sort of has to show willing and play by the rules… and besides, this isn’t a normal drinking night and he doesn’t want the alcoholic haze to steal even a fraction of a moment. The appearance of another guest – the ever present Jack’s – raises another smile. ”Guess that makes it an official date, then” he grins to Bobby, and that’s another wow moment, because they have private jokes and everything. Just like a real, normal couple… which is what they are. Wow.

< Um.. hi
The sheepishness returns as he snaps his head round and spots… Rogue. Or Marie, or whatever she’s calling herself now. Whatever, she doesn’t know, and there’s that mad rush again at being together, just like a normal couple, and watching everyone else come to that conclusion, because seeing other people see it like that, what else could it be? (of course, this being John, justification isn’t the whole story – truth is he still likes to make people look – but it’s still an important factor).

It’s almost like old times. So when Bobby starts up talking about how they could run a mission together the way he used to talk about when they were all grown up and on the X-Men, or grown up and away at college, or whatever the dream was that week (the one thing that kept them all the same being that it was first John and Bobby, and then John and Bobby and Rogue, and then Pyro, Iceman, Rogue and, um, As-yet-uncodenamed-kid). And so it feels only natural to let that enthusiasm infect him again, and to go to say yeah, sure, and…

… only it’s not like the old days at all. Because now Bobby really is leading the X-Men – or at least it’s junior division. They could really be going on that mission. And John… well, he’s not really John. He’s Pyro, and he’s working for the Brotherhood. So there’s no way he’s in on it, regardless of how much he wants payback, how brilliant it would be to believe that in some twisted way Bobby’s doing this for him. Obviously he means the others – his *team*, a team which (and it stings, really really stings) John is not, and never will be, on.

”Maybe I should leave, Icicle, if you’re going to start talking X-business.” He tries not to sound hurt by having to make that suggestion, to brush it off, and he being John the dispassion sort of works. ”Don’t want the other side listening in”

[Bobby Drake]

Bobby is looking around the room, trying to will everyone into going along… after pushing Jake over whatever his hump was there’s just no way he’s going to accept “No” as an answer. He’s a bit startled by the voice from just behind his head, though.

> " Maybe I should leave, Icicle, if you’re going to start talking X-business. Don’t want the other side listening in "

Bobby turns back to John, who was the last person he’d expected to turn him down… which, he realizes, was more than a little stupid on his part. He wants so much for John to be a part of the team again he keeps forgetting about the whole Brotherhood thing. Which is little like going for a stroll and forgetting you’re standing on a rooftop.

Not that he intends to let little things like gravity and working for a supervillain stop him… not when he’s already gotten this far. "Howcum everybody’s offering to leave, all of a sudden? I showered! Anyway… far as I know, Johnny, everybody in this room wants those camps shut down. Who’s the other side?"

[Toni Craft]

“Um. Hi?”

"Rogue, babe! Come to join the rockin' party we have rollin' in here?" Toni asks, tipping her beer upwards in a toast to the young woman. "Help your self to the many a beverages I have so willingly bestowed upon these gentlemen. Oh, and don't tell Ororo...iron and lightning have never mixed well."

"Hey Miss Craft, hey Marie…

"Woah woah woah. Hold'er there, buddy! What be you thinkin', callin' me 'Miss Craft'? Only my students have to call me that. Last I checked, you decided to skip my class." She said with a knowing smile. Naturally, Toni knew of Bobby's other 'arrangements' within the Mansion, so he was immediately forgiven, not that she was mad at him to begin with. "If you're gonna call me anything, call me Toni or God. Preferably God."

Toni cranes her head back to look up at Bobby and listens to him talk about the mutant camps and their information extraction mission, her interest officially piqued

"I can’t think of a better team to take with me. Who’s in?" This was her chance, and damn if Toni was going to let it fly.

"Ooo! Me me! Oh me I'll do it! Me me!" With the beer in her grasp she waves her hand around frantically like an excited primary student. "Me! Pick me! Memememememememe!!!!" Of course, maybe that was a little over kill...but it couldn't hurt, right? "Me!" Toni squeaks out one last time, just for extra measure.

Toni had never been on an X-Men mission, or had even been an X-Man before, so this was all very exciting. But she had always expected the invite to come from someone...higher up on the foodchain, so to speak. To be given the invitation by Bobby really surprised her, but her choruses of 'Me!" had no doubt solidified her position in the matter.

”Maybe I should leave, Icicle, if you’re going to start talking X-business.”

"Yeah, John? You leave and you're not getting any JDs, you got it? It'll just be wasted on someone who can't even get drunk, and I know you wouldn't like that." Toni points sternly at the pyro and gives him another one of her famous glares.

"Howcum everybody’s offering to leave, all of a sudden? I showered!"

"I'm not tryin' to leave...and I think you smell great today Bobby. Much better then that funny dead rat smell that was in here before..." She scrunches her nose and sniffs the air to verify her statement. "Yes, definitely like this new 'sexy-man' smell much better."

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

>"Not hardly, Josh… we’re not naked."

"I suppose not. But hey, I guess that means I still owe you at least one more badly-timed arrival..." He smiles wickedly at that.

> "And Josh, I figured you be here and get mad if I didn't bring you anything, so are you partial to Mike's Hard Lemonade?"

Josh is thrown slightly off by her whirlwind entrance. The two of them had been getting to be pretty good friends (which made chemistry class slightly odd, and their genetics project a lot more fun) but she'd never supplied him with alcohol before. Wow, this night is pretty much full of strange experiences. He takes it in stride, though, and his slightly disbelieving look disappears.

"Toni, I thought I was the one with the telepathy here. I love Mike's!" So he levitates a bottle across from his bed and plops onto the floor next to Toni.

Rogue's awkward entrance makes the already-promising night threaten to hit some sort of deviation-from-the-norm limit. Looks like Bobby hasn't had a chance to sit down and chat with her lately... Josh successfully keeps from laughing his lemonade out through his nose.

>"I can’t think of a better team to take with me. Who’s in?"

Josh clinks his bottle against Bobby's cup. "I'm in; someone has to watch your ass on in the field - though maybe that's John's department." He waggles eyebrows in the latter's direction.

"What about you, Toni? I know you've been wanting to get out and ---" Josh looks over at her in interest. He's abruptly cut off by a chain of shouts.

> "Ooo! Me me! Oh me I'll do it! Me me!"

"Well, it looks like you've got two, my friend." He squares a mock look in Toni's direction. "Just don't expect me to levitate you too much..."

[Bobby Drake]

> " I guess that means I still owe you at least one more badly-timed arrival... "

"I suppose. ‘course, if you make it too badly timed I may have to make change, and that could get confusing. Maybe we’ll schedule a shower you can walk in on, later." He still can’t quite believe he’s bantering like this about him and John… like they’re just any other couple, doing the cutesy couple thing. He especially can’t believe he’s doing it in front of Marie, with whom the cutesy-couple thing had never quite seemed appropriate even when they were dating… and he wonders now whether that’s because of him, or her, or if it was just a thing.

> " What be you thinkin', callin' me 'Miss Craft'? Only my students have to call me that. Last I checked, you decided to skip my class. If you're gonna call me anything, call me Toni or God. Preferably God. "

Bobby flinches a little at that, despite the obvious lack of rancor in her voice – even if she’s not mad at him for flaking out on her, he still feels increasingly guilty about it.

"God it is, then. "

> " Ooo! Me me! Oh me I'll do it! Me me! Me! Pick me! Memememememememe!!!!... Me!"

He startles a bit at her enthusiasm, then looks skeptically at her, wondering if she’s mocking him. After a moment he decides that she’s sincere, albeit goofy. "So, not really interested, then? OK, I guess I can accept that… next time, maybe." He grins playfully to make clear he’s being ironic.

> " Yes, definitely like this new 'sexy-man' smell much better. "

Bobby blinks, not quite sure how to respond to that. Did she always flirt with everybody like this? He’s not certain, anymore… it was different back when he was a real student, he might not even have noticed. "Um… OK, then. Glad to hear it?" He’s pretty sure that last part should not have been a question… but oh well. Strong personalities are useful in the field, as long as she’s willing to be a team player. Which is seven types of absurd coming from him, but… well, it’s his ass on the line if the mission goes south.

> " Well, it looks like you've got two, my friend. Just don't expect me to levitate you too much... "

Bobby nods, rushing ahead with the details before John can make good on his threat to leave. "So here’s what I have in mind: the trick to this is getting in, getting the data, and getting out without anyone knowing what we snatched… we want Hank’s presentation of the evidence to catch them with their pants down. I’m thinking we get Storm to hit them with a hurricane for an hour or so, then pull a Zeus on their primary transformer. They fall off the grid, takes three seconds for emergency power to kick in. Our heavy hitters use a handful of trees to smash one side of the building open, so it looks like wind. " He pantomimes a heavy object smashing into a wall.

"All goes well, they don’t even notice with their cameras and alarms down, and we bring John down into their basement level. Backup generator is conveniently next to their furnace, which blows up, and the fire spreads to take out the generator. No sign of tampering with the furnace or the generator, just the flame itself going out of control – freak accident, you know, one of those things. " He grins at John.

"After that, well, they’ve gone dark and all we have to do is get into their storage facility, grab the units we want, leave replacements behind. We time it right, it takes them three weeks before they check those units; before then Hank will already have leveled charges. " He spreads his hands in satisfaction.

"If it goes south and security gets wise, the tank division becomes a diversion – a big, bold, roaring, bullet-proof diversion – for long enough for the sneaky team to do the extraction. Then their security “chases off” the tanks with their superior firepower, congratulate each other, and get on with repairing their generator, and they still never know what happened."

He looks around to the room. "Sound good? Anything I missed?"

[Pyro]

< Who’s the other side?
John looks down on him (yeah, still can’t quite get used to that) with an erm… duh kind of confused glance, which fades away fairly quickly because somehow Bobby makes it all sound so simple… and maybe it really is that simple. None of that can touch them, right? The listen to Bobby note he made earlier back at the video store nudges its way in and… okay, maybe he can go along with this, try seeing things the way Bobby does. Because that way things just tend to… work.

Bobby’s enthusiasm always has been infectious, and once it’s clear the others are in… no way he can’t get excited by this. Because the way they’re talking – as if it’s somehow obvious that he should be on board, as if there’s nothing in the way – kind of makes him believe that maybe they’re right, that everything makes perfect sense. It’s not like they’re talking grand schemes and ideological struggles, the sort of world Magneto’s missions inhabit, the one that’s vast and scary. This might as well be them planning a camping trip or something, the way they’re talking…

The image Josh’s comment inspires doesn’t exactly hurt either. Firstly – in keeping with the childlike Bob-view with which he’s squashing his more natural cynicism, and with the general cutesy tone of the evening thus far – he pokes his tongue out at the suggestion (which, it strikes him, is a very Marie thing to do… and yeah, she’s still standing there, looking like her brain has gone into meltdown, and maybe that shouldn’t be as entertaining as it is, given the nature of their respective relationships with her… seems sort of cruel, her ex and her best friend getting all… intimate. But he’s not going to let that bother him), and then grins ”Bobby’s ass? In one of those cute little X-outfits? Damn straight that’s my department…”

< You leave and you’re not getting any JDs[/color]
”Guess that settles it then” he grins, and though it’s ostensibly a reply directed at Toni his eyes are only on her for a second. John’s no telepath, of course, but if willpower can make things like this work Bobby should be getting the Fine. I trust you to pull this off. Love ya, Bobs. message loud and clear just about now.

So Bobby runs over his plan, and John’s fairly sure he should be paying more attention beyond just noticing that shit, it sounds like the Iceman has really taken to this leadership thing… just the way he knew he would, of course. And it’s one part impressive and two parts adorable (and a fourth part terrifying, now that they’re really playing the real game, with proper stakes and lives on the line and stuff. But Bobby’s confidence is reassuring in that department) and yeah, this crazy thing just might work.

[Rogue]

_{[Apologies in advance - I have only been up for about an hour, and the coffee has not fully kicked in yet. This may very well suck, but I can't tell.]}

"Rogue, babe! Come to join the rockin' party we have rollin' in here?" [/color]

She shakes her head slightly – almost imperceptibly, and manages to mumble something about math homework, though she’s not sure it’s very clear, or if they’ll hear her in the first place.

"Help your self to the many a beverages I have so willingly bestowed upon these gentlemen. Oh, and don't tell Ororo...iron and lightning have never mixed well."[/color]

"Hey Miss Craft, hey Marie… come on in! We’re watching ‘V for Vendetta’ – if you haven’t seen it you totally should.

A drink sounds good right about now, actually. Maybe that’ll help wrap her head around…everything. And she’s never seen the movie, and it would be really nice to spend time with the others – a near-normal social-type night. But she’s still got homework, so maybe she shouldn’t stay. Nothing to do with the fact that her brain is shutting down from trying to comprehend the magnitude of what all this could mean – nothing whatsoever…

Then Bobby’s talking about a mission, and she moves inside, shutting the door behind her as an afterthought, as she listens.

…I can’t think of a better team to take with me. Who’s in?"

She hears John speak of leaving, but Bobby talking of having none of it, since it’s, technically, not going to involve the Brotherhood anyway. Then Ms. Craft is screaming
“me”, and both she and Josh are in. Oh, what the heck, she may as well join in too, she reasons, and nods in response to the offer.

And throughout this whole thing there’ the general feel between John and Bobby that’s just…well, it would be almost cute, if she could get her mind around it. She’s got both of them in her head, and neither have ever let on to there being anything whatsoever – even repressed feelings – between them. Yet somehow they’re here, like this, and she was probably the last one to see it coming.

And there’s the odd twinge of hurt, and a jealousy she doesn’t understand, and she hates those feelings because she should just be happy for both of them. Maybe it’s just the fact that they’re so close and touching. Probably, she reasons, because what else could it be? It’s not like she and Bobby are still anything but friends. And she and John have always been friends – best friends, actually, and there’s no reason she shouldn’t be happy that he’s happy. The touch issue is the only logical thing, but even that makes her feel bad.

As Bobby tells of the plan in greater detail, she nods again, noting areas where her “new powers” will come in handy. Sounds good, she muses, and she’ll get the chance to test her limits with this, too, better than the Danger Room, even, due to the unplanned, unpredictable side of it all.

"Sound good? Anything I missed?"[/color]

“Nah, sounds good t’me.” She responds simply, with a slight smile. She’s still standing before the now-closed door, and this feels…decidedly uncomfortable. Almost like being on the fringe of the group. Time to chill, lighten up, and just…enjoy the night. She can ask homework - and other - questions later. She doesn’t like the idea of sitting on the floor with the other two, barefoot and sleeveless as she is, and she’s certainly not going to go join John and Bobby, both for the same reason, and because that would be both entirely inappropriate, and just plain weird. So she moves carefully around those on the floor, making sure she doesn’t step anywhere near them, and sits on Josh’s bed, tossing him a somewhat questioning smile.

”Y’min’ if I sit here, Josh?”

[Toni Craft]

"Just don't expect me to levitate you too much..."

"Mr. Dalton! Are you making a comment about my weight?" Toni asks, mock offended and places against her hand against her chest and gives and overexaggerated gasp. Then, keeping the insulted look, she tips the can back and finishes off her first beer. "You know it's mighty inappropriate to mention a woman's poundage." She grins and pulls another beer from it's plastic ring.

"So here’s what I have in mind: the trick to this is getting in, getting the data, and getting out without anyone knowing what we snatched…"

Toni nearly spits up a mouthful of beer. "Uh, Bobs? 'Case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly the queen of subtley. I mean, have you ever tried playing hide-and-seek with me? I lose, every single fuckin' time." She eyes him carefully, praying that she didn't just blow her chance to be on the team. "'Xcuse my language. I shouldn't be swearin' around the kiddies. How's the rum?"

"Our heavy hitters use a handful of trees to smash one side of the building open, so it looks like wind. "

"Oh good, so I might actually come in handy after all...Guess it's up to you two and I. A regular tag-team we're gonna be. Hoo-rah!" Toni knocks her can against Rogue's and Josh's bottles of Mike's in a cheery toast.

"A big, bold, roaring, bullet-proof diversion..."

"Muahahahaha! But by your tank division...is that just me? Or have you perfected the art of bulletproof vest-ness too, Rogue?" Toni crosses her legs and leans further back against the bed frame, causing the wood to creak under her weight.

”Bobby’s ass? In one of those cute little X-outfits? Damn straight that’s my department…”

"Oh, now I'm definitely going! I forgot about those sexy suits...I wonder if they have one in my size." She tosses the idea around in her head while nursing her can, trying to imagine what she would look like in the tight leather. "But Pete isn't back from Ruskieland yet is he? Damn, he's got the best lookin' butt of us all...sorry Bobs, but there's just no competition." Toni sticks her tongue out at the iceman, but as her can raises to her lips again, she pauses.

"What a sec...is this on Alcatraz? Like...the island Alcatraz? The one that was in that Clint Eastwood film? The one that you guys duked it out on a few months back?" She tries to keep her cool, but knows that her voice is starting to falter. "The one that's surrounded by water?" Toni clears her throat and very uncomfortabley takes another sip. The beer wasn't so appealing anymore.

Fuck.

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

"Bobby... if you're having Storm whip up some weather, how is John going to come along? I mean, she always liked him... but I can't see her exactly ok with this." Josh's brow knits in concentration.

> ”Y’min’ if I sit here, Josh?”

"Sure, Rogue, go ahead." He waves a hand in the bed's direction. "Sorry if there are any feathers in there..." Josh begins to blush madly. "Aaaaah, forget I just said that, okay guys?" He glances around the room with a mock innocent look on his face.

> "Mr. Dalton! Are you making a comment about my weight?"

"Pretty much, yeah, Toni. You know, I run experiments on our DNA daily. It's not like you're big-boned... you've got iron in everything!" He spreads his arms wildly at this.

After a minute, though, he notices her discomfiture with... water? Duh Josh, if you had iron in every single body cell you'd freak out at the thought of the stuff.

"Toni? The location that we've discovered is nowhere near the coast. So I wouldn't worry." He gives her a reassuring punch, which hurts way more than he was expecting. "Ow!! Anyway, if you started sinking I'd be able to lift you out no problem. Sorry to burst your bubble, but you are by no means the heaviest object I've ever lifted."

"That's why I make sure to drink my milk. For healthy... um. Neurotransmission!" He clinks his bottle against hers.