Basketball practice (Open)

[Warren Worthington III]

Warren nods slowly at Matthew’s story, not even noticing whether the ball makes it into the basket.

"Wow. That’s…" he trails off, not knowing what he wanted to say. Warren can’t begin to imagine what it would be like to have something like that on his conscience, but he suspects he wouldn’t be dealing with it anywhere near as well as Matthew is. "I mean, it’s not like it’s anything you did on purpose or could have prevented, it doesn’t make any sense to blame you for it. But even so, that’s quite a load to carry around… you might well win the Sanity Olympics, at that. "

He pauses for a moment, unsure if he should change the something to something lighter or let Matthew continue to talk about it. He settles on a compromise tactic: "So, how’s your training coming along? You seem to have the power under control…" He makes a successful effort not to back away from Matthew… if there had been any danger, no doubt he’d have mentioned it by now.

[Matthew Craft]

"Wow. That’s…I mean, it’s not like it’s anything you did on purpose or could have prevented, it doesn’t make any sense to blame you for it.”

“You’re exactly right. There never was anything I could have done. Actually, I lie. If somehow I had stopped myself from doing the Fat Man in front of everyone, then what would have happened? The truck would have blown and probably would have taken a couple of people out with it.” Matthew stares off at the discarded basketball. “As terrible as this is about to sound, let me ask you this: Do you think it’s better to sacrifice a baby to save a crowd? ‘The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few’ as Spock would say. Of course, no amount of Star Trek could ever make me feel better about the whole ordeal, but like you said, there was nothing I could have done, and I realize that.” He shoves his hands in his pocket and smiles distractedly. “I’m sorry, I’m being all depressing.”

Warren’s quick to change the subject, much to Matthew’s relief. “So, how’s your training coming along? You seem to have the power under control…” He notes the moment of discomfort. It was something he had grown used to. Most people like to shy away from him when they hear about his powers, thinking that they could be exposed to the harmful radiation simply by standing next to him.

“Yeah, I don’t really have to worry about in a relaxed environment. If you took one of those radiation detectors to me—you know, the ones that go clicky clicky?—you wouldn’t get a thing out of me. I’m normal on outside, Hiroshima on the inside.” Matthew grins, amused by his own analogy. “There’s something about a layer of lead imbedded in my skin or muscles…or something to that effect that protects everybody else around me. The moment I get kind of anxious or excited though, things get a bit more interesting; I get a little firework show going.” He looks down at his hand briefly. “The training’s really been helping. I can pretty much make the charges on command now. It’s stopping it when I don’t want it that bothers me. But as long as things stay calm around here, I should be fine until I get this thing mastered.”

Matthew walks over and retrieves the discarded ball and dribbles it at his side as he makes his way back again. “What about you? Are you here for the training? I mean, those wings didn’t come with an instruction manual did they?” He tosses the ball over to Warren, interested to see if he’d like to continue their one on one.

[Warren Worthington III]

> " As terrible as this is about to sound, let me ask you this: Do you think it’s better to sacrifice a baby to save a crowd? "

Warren thinks about the question for a long time, missing much of the rest of Matthew’s comments. Not that it’s a new question, but in Matthew’s case it cuts to the heart of the tension between superpowered mutants and normal humans. Matthew killed a baby with his mutant nuclear powers, and that’s awful. People get killed by runaway trucks every day, and that ought to be just as awful, or worse, but somehow it doesn’t seem to be.

It’s the novelty, more than the headcount, that gets factored into people’s judgments… which sounds cruel and insane when Warren puts it that way, but it’s the truth. A mutant with the power to shoot bullets out of her fingers just doesn’t feel the same as some guy with an assault rifle, even if the results are exactly the same. And as long as that’s true it’s no surprise the law won’t treat them the same, which makes Warren’s self-appointed job tougher than he even wants to think about.

None of which has anything to do, really, with Matthew’s question. "In the abstract? Yes, absolutely. In practice? I’m more thankful than you can possibly imagine I’ve never had to make that choice. Do you think you could have done it, if you’d known what was going to happen in advance? I think I might have fainted, or something, just to avoid having to face up to it."

He shakes his head to clear it as Matthew retrieves the ball and tosses it, and starts looking for another angle of attack on that basket as he dribbles the ball.

> " What about you? Are you here for the training? I mean, those wings didn’t come with an instruction manual did they? "

Warren grins ruefully. "Well, no… my first few flights were a fiasco, and I’ve shattered my legs in more places than I want to think about, but I did most of my practicing long before arriving at the Institute. I’ve only been here less than a year, since the big blow-up at Alcatraz. Before that, I was under the tender care of Worthington Industries… that is, my father. And he mostly wanted to find a way to get rid of them, rather than teach me to use them. "

He’s surprised by the lack of bitterness in his own voice… he’d been avoiding thinking about his father pretty much since he arrived at the Institute, expecting it to hurt more than it actually seems to. He’d hated Warren Sr. back then, almost enough to let him hit the ground… now, he can almost understand where his father was coming from.

Almost.

" He succeeded, too... if the heir to the Worthington empire hadn’t sprouted wings along with a beard, you might never have heard of the Cure." Which is nonsense, really; someone else would have had the same idea sooner or later. But it wasn’t someone else, and that matters.

" I guess you could say I’m here because I needed a home," he adds, deciding at that moment on a surprise blitz approach to the basket, running directly at Matthew and leaping up more or less into his face, leveraging powerful leg-muscles and lightweight build, hoping to startle him long enough to get a shot at the basket, and hoping he doesn’t crack anything when he bounces off of Matthew and hits the court.

[Matthew Craft]

"In the abstract? Yes, absolutely. In practice? I’m more thankful than you can possibly imagine I’ve never had to make that choice. Do you think you could have done it, if you’d known what was going to happen in advance? I think I might have fainted, or something, just to avoid having to face up to it."

Like Warren had done a few moments before, Matthew mulled over the question.

"I honestly don't know. The trick with this whole situation is that no one knows that I was involved. Only my parents and my doctor know about it. The only thing the public knows is that there was a large amount of radiation afterwards, and that led to a huge federal investigation because they thought the truck was carrying illegal radioactive materials. As far as Tracy's parents are concerned, the truck company was responsible, not me. The only person I've had to live up to is myself. Everyone else that knows about the incident knows that I didn't mean anything by it, and that it was unavoidable. If I had known what would happen and was given the chance to stop it, I think I would just freeze up. It's a hard choice to make; deciding whether to let a baby suffer or to let 4 or 5 people die." He crosses his arms and lowers his head to his chest as he thinks. "Someday, I'll confess what happened. I can't do it now, not with all this tension regarding mutants. If I told everybody that I just happened to be a walking nuclear power plant, I don't think things would go over too well. Forget weapons of mass distruction in Iraq, they have one living in their own country."

"And he mostly wanted to find a way to get rid of them, rather than teach me to use them. "

"Why the hell would he want to get rid of your wings? I think they're great! My parents would have been overjoyed to have a kid with big fluffy wings. Mind you they ended up with a chunk of iron and a rod of uranium instead and they're just as happy. Not to badmouth your dad, but some people don't appreciated elegance when they see it." He says, motioning to the flowing white feathers.

" I guess you could say I’m here because I needed a home,"

"Certainly looks like you've found one---" Matthew jolts back in surprise as Warren runs at him, leaping up to cover his field of vision. Instinctively, he ducks. He knows full well that if the other man hit him, he'd be fine, but perhaps ducking was the best way to prevent any injury to Warren, by letting him jump straight over him. Of course, Matthew doesn't have any time to think about this before he preforms the actions involuntarily.

[Warren Worthington III]

> " The only person I've had to live up to is myself. [..] Someday, I'll confess what happened. I can't do it now, not with all this tension regarding mutants."

Warren nods sympathetically. "Must be hard carrying that around. " Privately, he muses that at least Matthew’s family is supportive about his mutation, which is better than nothing… but he doesn’t say that out loud, not wanting to sound like he’s playing the “my angst is bigger than your angst” game. The truth is, he wouldn’t trade for a minute.

"You’re right, though… this just isn’t a political climate where you’d get a fair trial, and you going public with your powers would probably make things worse for other mutants. That’s part of why I can get away with being as public as I am; I’m basically harmless, and my mutation is a lot of people’s wish-fulfillment fantasy. Course, they never think about landing…" He grins.

> " Not to badmouth your dad, but some people don't appreciated elegance when they see it."

"Oh, go ahead and badmouth my dad all you want… if you come up with anything I haven’t already thought of, I’ll add it to the collection in case we ever start talking again." He shrugs tightly. "He’s one of those parents who wanted a clone, you know? I suppose I can’t entirely blame him, Grandfather Worthington was the same way. Heck, they looked sideways at my Uncle Jon for being born a brunette. So, you understand, having a mutant kid wasn’t entirely on the agenda."

Warren shrugs again, and adds "And to be fair, I went along with it myself, until the very end... it’s not like I gave him a lot of incentive to change his mind. First time he saw the things was walking in on me trying to pluck them out, after all. So, I don’t know… maybe if I’d had a bit more backbone to go with the wings when I was a kid he’d have turned out different."

He’s not sure why he’s defending his father, all of a sudden. If it were anyone else there’s no way he’d be implying that it’s a thirteen-year-old kid’s responsibility to handle the onset of his mutation more maturely than his parents, and he doesn’t really believe it about himself, except for how he actually does.

"Anyway," he adds, deliberately lightening the tone, "I’ve heard them called a lot of things but I think ‘elegant’ is a first… thanks for the compliment!"

Warren’s surprised by Matthew ducking, but it plays out as if they’d coordinated it… instead of smashing into the giant’s defense and probably cracking a rib, he clears Matthew’s suddenly-lowered shoulders with a running leap and sinks the ball neatly in the basket. " Yes! Finally!"

He grabs the ball on the rebound and tosses it to Matthew, knowing that trick won’t work twice but feeling smug anyway.

[Matthew Craft]

"That’s part of why I can get away with being as public as I am; I’m basically harmless, and my mutation is a lot of people’s wish-fulfillment fantasy. Course, they never think about landing…"

"I don't know if harmless is the right word... How big of a rock can you fly with?" Matthew muses, remembering a scene he saw in The Chronicles of Narnia. "But for the wish thingy, yah, totally. I'd love to have wings. Not that I don't like my mutation, it's just that'd it'd be a lot less to worry about." He scratches his head in thought.

"I’ve heard them called a lot of things but I think ‘elegant’ is a first… thanks for the compliment!" Matthew shrugs casually.

"No problem. As a musician, I'm trained to notice many things in life, including elegance, which you seem to have in abundance. I mean, those wings must be awfully hard to carry around all the time, but you handle them quite well."

The tremendous leap over his head had caught him off guard, but in mid-squat Matthew started to laugh.

" Yes! Finally!" The ball fell through the net, bouncing next to his head.

Once Matthew was sure Warren had landed, he stood back up and grinned.

"Nice shot. Have to admit, I wasn't expecting that." He compliments. He catches the ball as it flies back in his direction. "I suppose this makes it round two. Let's make it a little more interesting." With that said, he dribbles the ball and darts off down the court, knowing full well that when running, he can cover twice the distance than most, in just as many steps.

[Warren Worthington III]

> " How big of a rock can you fly with? "

Warren grins. "Bigger than a coconut. And, sure, I can handle myself in a fight, but compared to truck-stopping powerhouses like you and Pete and Josh and, you know, everybody, I’m really not the sort of mutant anybody worries about… not a tactical resource, you know? "

> " I'd love to have wings. Not that I don't like my mutation, it's just that'd it'd be a lot less to worry about. "

He nods. "Exactly. Looking back on it now I can’t imagine what I was thinking… I can’t imagine living without them. Flying is... well, it's not better than sex, but it comes awfully close sometimes."

> " I mean, those wings must be awfully hard to carry around all the time, but you handle them quite well. "

Warren laughs. "Well, I’m glad to hear it! Actually, they’re no harder to carry around than my arms are. Sure, I’m probably a bit more topheavy than I would be otherwise, but they’re hardly dead weight… at least not when I get to wear them free like this. Back when I kept them harnessed it was more awkward… then again, I was more awkward in general back then. " He chuckles. "It’s also funny how many people think they’re fragile!" He lifts himself off the ground, balancing carefully on his extended wings as if they were stilts, before lowering himself back down. "Heck, they’re way tougher than my legs are. Which, granted, isn’t saying too much, but it’s still funny. The hard part is resisting the urge to use them instead of my arms most of the time... especially now that I'm learning "fingers." Freaks out the barristas at Starbucks when I pick up my change with a wing. "

> " I wasn't expecting that. "

Warren grins, clearly proud of himself. "Well, you know how it is… us 100-pound weaklings have to be clever when going up against you muscle-bound monsters." He smiles to make clear that no insult is meant as Matthew catches the ball.

> " Let's make it a little more interesting. "

The other boy moves way faster than Warren had anticipated in someone so massive, and he’s caught off-guard… by the time he recovers he’s already lost his lead. He laughs and gives chase, hoping to intercept a rebound if Matthew happens to miss.

[Matthew Craft]

"...not a tactical resource, you know?"

"I don't know about that, I'm sure you'd be great at reconnaissance. Scoping out the enemy must be a breeze from the air...assuming they don't have a way of hitting you with anything...you know, dangerous." Matthew nods his head toward the rocky side of the court, indicating the jaggedly shaped gravel.

He watches, genuinely surprised and impressed, as Warren lifts himself off the ground with his wing tips, demonstrating the durability of his feathered appendages.

"The hard part is resisting the urge to use them instead of my arms most of the time... especially now that I'm learning "fingers." Freaks out the barristas at Starbucks when I pick up my change with a wing. "

"Neat, so you can use your wings like an extra set of hands...I'm sure that's far more useful than you let on. In a fight they'd make for a great 'secret weapon' type advantage. You could whip them out in a last ditch effort sort of thing; surprise the bad guy by showing them they your wings are good for more than just flying." Matthew would be the first to admit that he has studied battle tactics a little more than expected, but in the current day and age, it didn't hurt to be prepared.

"Well, you know how it is… us 100-pound weaklings have to be clever when going up against you muscle-bound monsters."

"Oh! So now I'm a monster, eh? Well then, this monster is about to whoop your winged ass in one-on-one." He notes Warren's moment of shock as he whisks away, running down the court. An instant later, his opponent gives chase.

Taking the opportunity as it arises, Matthew makes the shot, which is astonishingly on target. Now he just had to wait and see if Warren would intercept the flying ball. He really needed the point, especially after making such a bold claim...he wasn't even that good at basketball!

[Warren Worthington III]

> " I'm sure you'd be great at reconnaissance."

Warren nods. "True. Better than you might think, actually: sharp eyes come with the package, and I’m harder to spot than a stealth plane. By eye, anyway… no radar stealth capabilities, sadly. Though I’ve been told most radar installations are programmed to ignore low-flying blips with my signature – resembles birds too much. Never tested it in practice, though. Granted, I can’t compete with spy satellites… but most private armies don’t have access to spy satellites, and I can operate just as well on a cloudy day, unlike a satellite. "

He grins wolfishly for just a second, remembering his discovery a few months earlier that weather patterns in the Greater New York area have an unusual tendency to keep Westchester under cloud cover when overhead satellites are scheduled to do scans of the Institute’s general area, and the occasional exceptions tend to coincide with Institute-wide internal events. He doesn’t know that this is deliberate, and he’d rather keep it that way, but given that the Institute retains a weather-witch, a world-class telepath, and more eerily competant computer hackers than MIT, he doubts it’s a coincidence. He’s just glad they’re on his side.

> " In a fight they'd make for a great 'secret weapon' type advantage "

Warren grins. "Got it in one. Nailed a whole street gang once that way with one hit… morons thought they could sneak up on me. I’ve never understood it, really… what do they think these things are made out of? Though in serious fights they’re hardly a ‘secret’ weapon, they’re my only weapon… we can schedule a Danger Room combat sim one of these days and I’ll show you what I mean. "

He shrugs self-deprecatingly. "Of course, it does cut both ways – serious fights have a way of injuring me. Hollow bone structure, and all. Fortunately I heal pretty quickly." He grins again and adds " I probably would’ve cracked a rib back there if you hadn’t ducked… thanks for that."

“ Anyway, don’t get me wrong, I’m not gratuitously putting myself down… heck, I wouldn’t trade if you paid me, I like the wings, and not just for practical reasons. I just meant, technically, I’m not a tactical asset the way some of our heavy hitters are. As you say, more of an intel asset… though really, these days I’m more valuable as a diplomatic resource. We’re not at war, and if I do my job right it won’t ever come to that."

He frowns for a moment, lost in thought, then adds in a deliberately lighter tone " And there I go being a downer again. I thought Josh had trained me out of that by now. So tell me, Matthew, how does a musical genius such as yourself come to be so familiar with principles of military tactics? "

> " Well then, this monster is about to whoop your winged ass in one-on-one."

Warren laughs, having gotten so caught up in the conversation he’d forgotten about the game. Without “cheating” he stands no chance of catching up to Matthew in time to intercept the ball, but he gives it his best shot anyway, dodging around the mountain of muscle and diving towards the basket. When the ball goes through he lets himself hit the ground on his wings, curving them to cushion the impact and rolling to his feet as he recovers the ball.

"That’s the other nice thing about the wings… no bones to break! Nice shot, by the way." He indulges himself briefly by dribbling the ball rapidly up the length of one wing and down the other and spinning it on one wingtip -- "Sadly, too white for the Globetrotters or I could have made a career of this!" – before looping around to the back of the court, dribbling in a more traditional fashion.

Warren frowns thoughtfully, contemplating his approach to the basket. Matthew’s big, but he isn’t musclebound at all, and the in-your-face trick won’t work twice. On the other hand… small does have its advantages, and Warren isn’t half-bad at hitting targets from awkward positions. He lets his wings flare up to maximum volume as he dribbles his way toward Matthew, dodging and weaving from side to side, hoping to lead the other boy into widening his stance to block more of the court… then, at the last second, he dives under Matthew’s legs onto his back, compressing his wings to a much smaller cushion, and rapidly takes an underhand shot from the ground toward the basket.

[Matthew Craft]

"...they’re my only weapon… we can schedule a Danger Room combat sim one of these days and I’ll show you what I mean. "

"Hey, yeah! I'd love that! I've only been to the Danger Room a few times, but it's amazing down there." Matthew's emphasis went on amazing, exaggerating it way out of proportion.

" I probably would’ve cracked a rib back there if you hadn’t ducked… thanks for that."

"Oh really? Jeez, that kind of sucks. Now I'm gonna have to take it easy on you 'cause I'd feel awfully bad if you busted yourself up just for a game of basketball." Matthew offers an apologetic smile.

In all honesty, he really couldn't imagine what it would be like to be so...fragile. Matthew was always big, and he was always tough. The last time he had been in the Danger Room, he had gotten flung across the room, smashed into the wall and was then buried under the wreckage of a burning car. After all that, the only thing that had come to his mind was; Wasn't that supposed to hurt? He cringed at the thought of the same thing happening to Warren. The poor guy would probably have to be carried out on a stretcher, if he survived at all.

"So tell me, Matthew, how does a musical genius such as yourself come to be so familiar with principles of military tactics? "

"Heh. It all started with my mom. She's an ex-marine and when she found out about my powers, she told me one thing that I've never forgotten. 'Nuclear warfare is the first step in preventing nuclear war.'" He pauses for a few moments to let Warren think about it before continuing, "I thought she was nuts, but then I looked it up and found out that it was true. It's not a very pretty truth, but I suppose that it makes a reasonable amount of sense. Eliminate you're enemy before they do it to you. Not that I readily engage in preemptive strikes or anything, but I just found it really interesting. Ever since then, I've been researching different types of battle strategies, but mostly focusing on the use of nuclear weapons. I suppose you could say that I'm a little addicted." Matthew shrugs and grins. "Who knows, if I ever decide to get on with the X-Men -- and they accept me for that matter -- maybe all this tactical knowledge'll come in handy."

After darting off with the wall in hand and making an astonishingly good shot at the net, he watches as Warren takes off after it, hoping that he won't get there in time.

Swoosh!

"Yes!" Matthew pumps a fist into the air as the ball sails straight through the basket. He watches, quite amazed, as the older mutant lands on his folded wings and catches the ball. "Oh, uh, you okay?" He asks, wincing. He'd feel really guilty if one of his wings was broken. But--

"That’s the other nice thing about the wings… no bones to break! Nice shot, by the way."

"Oh, cool. Thanks!" The dexterity of Warren's wings amazes Matthew as he watches him handle the ball with surprising nimbleness. "I need a set of those for playing the piano!" He laughs and readies himself for the next attack on his net.

He can't help but step back as a pair of bright white wings flare into his field of vision. Instinctively he crouches a little lower and gains a broader posture. He need to be sure that he was ready to dodge to either side so that he could block Warren. Little does he know, this all seemingly plays straight into set plan.

"Wha--?" Matthew jumps, ever so slightly, as Warren folds his wings in and slides down between his wide spread legs. He turns his head just in time to watch the ball land in the net. "Aw nuts. That was a cheap shot." He curses playfully and steps away from the man beneath him. "Get a nice view down there?" Matthew jokes and offers his hand to him. "Looks like we're two-one for you. You're certainly better than I thought you'd be, and you did it all without flying. You're making me look bad! I've got a reputation to live up to you know, being tall and all. It's an absolute necessity that everyone over 6'5'' is good at basketball."

[Warren Worthington III]

> " Now I'm gonna have to take it easy on you 'cause I'd feel awfully bad if you busted yourself up just for a game of basketball. "

Warren shrugs. "I’ve busted myself up worse for less reason… and I knew what I was getting into, believe me. After the twentieth or thirtieth time, it stops mattering so much. Plus I heal fast. " He grins and adds "Not, you understand, that I’m encouraging physical violence to my person, or anything. Just… don’t let it slow you down. "

He nods at Matthew’s summary of the preemptive-strike strategy. "Right. Of course, being perceived as willing and able to initiate a preemptive strike is a great way to encourage your enemies initiate one… it’s a tricky balance." He shakes his head sadly. " Anyway… your mom sounds like quite a woman. I’d love to meet her, if she ever comes up here to visit you and Toni. "

> " That was a cheap shot."

Warren grins smugly as the ball drops through the basket. " A weaker force has to compensate by being innovative... ask your mom, I’m sure she’d agree with me. Don’t worry, though, I’m bound to run out of tricks eventually."

> " Get a nice view down there?"

He lets Matthew help him to his feet, then grins. "Sorry… paying too much attention to that basket," he replies, inclining his head to indicate the basketball hoop. "Besides, I already have a steady boyfriend," he adds over his shoulder as he retrieves the ball again.

"Incidentally… I just had a thought. If you’re really that into the Danger Room, and a tactics and strategy addict… would you be interested in learning to program DR scenarios? I’ve just started getting into it myself for other reasons, it’s not too hard… there’s like a million standard primitives to work with, and most scenarios are just a matter of tweaking and assembling them… and building new primitives isn’t too hard, either. I’d love to have someone to bat ideas around with, if you’re interested?"

[Matthew Craft]

"Not, you understand, that I’m encouraging physical violence to my person, or anything."

"Of course, I'd never think of it." Matthew grins mischieviously but ultimately waves it off, letting Warren know that he was just kidding.

"I’d love to meet her, if she ever comes up here to visit you and Toni." He stares at Warren with an incredulous look and starts to laugh nervously, as if the winged man was crazy.

"No, you wouldn't. You ever see the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding? Imagine the mom in that, only Italian and a million times worse." He places a hand to his forehead and lets out another tired chuckle. "I'm surprised Toni and I aren't insane yet. We ought to be, because not only is there my mom, but then there's her entire family too. Dio mio." Matthew mutters off in Italian while waving his hands around. "Just be glad that when she does decide to show up, she brings lots and lots of wine. Drink about 5 glasses, then she's bearable."

"Besides, I already have a steady boyfriend,"

"Ah, thats right, Toni did mention something about you and that Josh guy. Then, naturally, she rambled on and on and on about how she was the last to know." He rolls his eyes in exasperation.

"Would you be interested in learning to program DR scenarios?[...]I’d love to have someone to bat ideas around with, if you’re interested?"

"Absolutely! Maybe I'll finally be able to learn something new too. Studying all these tactics is great and everything, but about 95 per cent of them have never been put into practice." Then, with a smug grin, he adds. "And maybe Toni'll actually learn that there are other combat methods besides smashing everything in sight."

Matthew watches as Warren fetches the ball again and smirks. "While we're on the topic of tactics, how's about we get a little more creative. S'my ball isn't it?"

[Warren Worthington III]

Warren chuckles at Matthew’s description of his family and lets the subject drop, though privately he suspects it’s something of an exaggeration.

> " Then, naturally, she rambled on and on and on about how she was the last to know."

He shrugs. "It’s not like we issued a press release or anything. Though I’m told there’s a website. Anyway, you can reassure her that if either of us gets pregnant she’ll be the first person I tell. And anyway, she found out before lots of people! "

> " While we're on the topic of tactics, how's about we get a little more creative. S'my ball isn't it? "

Warren tosses the ball, nodding. " Sure is… though with your build and creative tactics, I don’t stand half a chance, do I?"

[Ororo Munroe]

Ororo wanders along a flower bed, watering can in hand. She could, of course, have conjured up a miniature raincloud to have done the work for her, but there was nothing quite as satisfying as actually doing the physical work. Doing the watering via her control over the weather left her feeling strangely detached, and she tended to avoid it unless she was in a hurry.

She finishes up on some of their herbs, and sets the can down, sitting on the low stone wall hemming in the plants. Warren and Matty are playing basketball on the court next to the bed. Ororo folds her arms and watches them, interested.

She'd originally asked Warren if he was interested in joining the X-Men shortly after Alcatraz, in her flurry of reorganization in wake of the events there. He'd declined, stating an interest in working on his classes, and pursuing a bit of a normal life. She could hardly blame him, after his teenage years. He'd settled into life at the Institute with flying colors, and found a steady boyfriend in Josh. Perhaps now that he's become accustomed to life around here, he'd be more open to the suggestion?

Ororo watches on, content to wait until they've finished with their game.

[Matthew Craft]

"Though I’m told there’s a website."

"I...uh...oh wow. You have that many fans, eh?" Matthew grins and raises his eyebrows. "Suppose I know what I'm going to do the next time I get to a computer. I'd love to see what people have to say about you and Josh." A brief mischievous glint (which could easily pass as youthful enthusiasm) flows through his eyes before being replaced by genuine interest.

"Your build and creative tactics, I don’t stand half a chance, do I?"

Matthew catches the ball and palms it, squeezing lightly between his hands. "You know, you grew wings for a reason. Sure, maybe not for playing basketball, but I wouldn't be opposed if you wanted to use them. I know I do seem to have quite the advantage," He smiles sheepishly and looks down at his massive frame. "But I don't want ruin the game for you." Then, with another moment of thought. "Right, says the guy who's one point behind the '100-pound weakling'."

Matthew dribbles the ball a few times when a flash of white catches his eye. He looks over and notices that history teacher, Miss Monroe, had wandered, watering can in hand, over to the adjacent garden.

"Hey Miss 'Roe!" He waves. "You wanna play or ref...or something? I could probably use the extra teammate 'cause Warren's kicking my butt." Matthew nods his head towards the older mutant behind him and grins widely. "Maybe a lightning bolt or two would slow him down." He teases, and gives Warren a playful nudge with his elbow.

(OOC: Oh dear...Matty's heading down the slash road. I blame you all...gaaaahhhh!! *Runs around in circles, hits wall, falls on the ground, starts twitching* But he's so...innocent! *croak*)