ax_main | Simon and Warren, early morning Dec 7

Warren invites himself along on Simon's morning run for more than just head-clearing reasons. Simon agrees to be there for the Q&A, but only after finally getting some things (partly and discreetly) off his chest about Lil.

When Simon got up that morning, Warren rolled over and begged to be allowed to run with him. Simon relented.

Huffing in the chilly air, at first Warren wondered what the hell he'd been thinking. What was the point of running if there was no ball to kick? Flying, okay, but this earthbound stuff wasn't that great. But after a few minutes, just working to fit Simon's rhythm, the soft padding of their shoes on the path and the quiet of the not-quite-frosty morning, Warren's mind finally stilled.

Oh right. This was why he'd wanted to do this. And Simon was good motivation. For a lot of things.

Though it wasn't really his chosen form of exercise--not any more, Warren kept up just fine. When they came to the end of the jog, Warren put his hands on his thighs and said, "Okay, yeah, that was what I needed. Thanks."

Simon took a sip of water, then passed a second bottle over to his friend. "I find it helps most days," he agreed, letting his breathing even out.

Warren took a sip after giving Simon a grateful look. "Even more now, I'm guessing. I might crash on you every now and then. Shit is just getting realer."

"More real," Simon corrected without thinking.

"Yeah, I know, Dickens," Warren said with a fond grin. "I was trying to maintain the integrity of the phrase while being ridiculous at the same time. You're so cute when you're pedantic." He brushed a kiss over Simon's forehead.

Simon rolled his eyes, a little smile on his lips as he took another sip of water. "It's not pedantic. One can only very rarely maintain integrity and be ridiculous at the same time."

“Unless you’re this guy.” Warren pointed a thumb at himself as he took another sip too. “Sadly, not everyone finds me super charming anymore. Life was easier then.”

Life was easier because he’d been rich and not out. But easier didn’t mean better.

"I'll have you know that I find you more charming now," Simon pointed out.

“Yeah?” Warren’s grin was blazing as he draped an arm over Simon’s shoulders. “How much more?”

Simon shook his head with a smile. "I'm fairly sure you know how much more. Would you like to tell me what's on your mind? Enough that you would get up at this ungodly hour to go running with me when you have a perfectly good pair of wings?"

“I had to try,” Warren said with a squeeze. “Apart from the usual demands from the internet for interviews and/or that I acquire a pair of cement shoes—I’ve been trying to put together this whole Q&A moment. It’s more stressful than the goddamn press conference was.”

Simon stilled a little under his arm, his features sobering. He took another sip of water, then pulled away from him, leading them both up the stairs to the back patio. "Right. The Q&A that Crawley requested."

Warren followed, aware that the ice was already thin. "Technically, the only thing she requested was that I go door to door offering to listen to people like some kind of mutant Mormon hybrid. And that was after I made a joke about knocking on doors--because that's idiotic.

"The Q&A was my better version of that. Which, I admit, I was kind of meh about at first, but after talking to Shen I think it could actually be important."

Simon snorted softly. Shen too. Shen and Lil both hated him. Admittedly, most of the student body wasn't fond of him, but Shen and Lil actively had a bone to pick. "Well, I wish you all the luck, truly. Let me know if you would like me to help prepare material."

“I... need more than that,” Warren admitted, looking apologetic. “It’s a big ask, but just hear me out, okay? Over breakfast? I’m starving.”

"Request," Simon muttered under his breath, because oh god did he hate the corporate world using 'ask' as a noun. Nevertheless, he opened the door into the sitting room, holding it wide for Warren's wings.

With another little smile—seriously, how was Simon so adorable?—Warren led the way through and toward the kitchen. The cafeteria would be quiet at this hour, but not quiet enough. “You want a smoothie? I make an awesome smoothie. Blueberry banana.”

Simon started to complain about how much sugar was in a smoothie, but if Warren was going to start making 'asks' of him this early in the morning, he was going to need something to wash it down with. "Sure," he agreed, moving to take a seat on one of the barstools at the counter. "Thanks."

“My pleasure. I can’t cook for shit, but I can make beverages, apparently.” Warren got out the plain almond milk, protein powder, and fruit and went to work. “So basically I was shrugging off Lil’s ideas that some other students might’ve been afraid to approach us with questions—even though I still thought it worth checking out just in case. And Shen pointed out that as three well educated and rich—previously rich but no one knows all that—white guys, we might present a more intimidating front than we realize even to our peers. Which is fair. And makes this whole idea even more useful.

“And that’s one reason why...” Warren finished measuring the almond milk and set to breaking up bananas. “I think all three of us should be at the Q&A. Along with Tam, and possibly Kurt.”

"So that...we can be more intimidating to them?" Simon suggested wryly.

Warren lowered a wing to grin over his shoulder. “Cute.” He turned back to the blender. “So we can show we’re making an effort to be available, as a courtesy to our peers.

“And if there are nerd questions, we’ll need you for those.” Warren’s grin was evident in his voice.

"There are plenty of nerds here that are not me," Simon pointed out. But at this point, he was sliding his head down into his arms, eyes only barely visible over a forearm. It was clear. Warren was making a play for him to be there, and it would be such a bad idea. For more reasons than Simon could honestly reveal.

“Exactly, which is why there will be nerd questions.” Warren dumped a box of blueberries into the blender, then glanced back again. Oh god, he was faceplanting. This was gonna be rough. “Of the kind only you are qualified to answer. You can coach me and JP, but we can’t answer questions about what direction you want to go with your work, whether you could use help—and we definitely can’t gauge interest there, either.”

"Warren," Simon sighed and raised his head. Time to get real. "Shen hates me. Lil hates me. Most of the student body isn't exactly that fond of me. This is not a good idea. Why do you think I've been staying out of the nonsense so far?"

Warren turned, wings rustling. “Shen does not hate you. And Lil hates everyone. Especially me. And Jean-Paul. If she hates you too I’m not surprised.”

"No, it's not. She. She has reason to," Simon told him.

Warren forgot about his smoothie. That look... he moved nearer to the table. “She’s touchy. If you said something....” Surely an apology would work?

Simon shook his head, looking down at his hands rather than look at Warren. "This goes beyond that. Nothing I could ever say would make up for it."

Oh shit. Whatever happened, Simon felt guilty for it. Warren came around the table and slid into the seat next to him—after spinning it around so he could straddle the back and let his wings hang off behind him. “Hey. Look, I know you. All you ever want is to help people. It’s your life.

“So whatever happened—it had to be an accident or a misunderstanding.” He settled a hand on Simon’s back. “Of course you can make up for it.”

"Accident or misunderstanding," Simon breathed, "There's no taking that back. I can't. I can't talk about it. It would be a breach of her privacy, but it's not something I can fix, Warren. I screwed up."

“Okay,” Warren said with a nod, rubbing Simon’s back. The problem was that Simon obviously needed to talk about it. How long had he been carrying around mega guilt? “Did you tell her that? That you screwed up? Say you were sorry? I mean, I’m sure you did, right?”

Simon huffed softly, looking at him. "Of course I did. I did, yes. But it's...it's not enough."

“For you? For her? Or both?” Warren curled up his fingers, using his nails to gently rake through Simon’s shirt.

"For...everyone," Simon told him, though he found himself leaning into the touches. Just the sensation of touch through his t-shirt calmed his nerves a little, forcing his breathing to slow.

Warren kept up with the rubbing and scratching. That was pretty much the answer he’d expected. Not knowing what had happened made this hard, but he was firm in his belief that Simon was incapable of willingly harming another human being. Like, ever. Therefore, there must be a way to make it right.

And... it possibly explained why Lil had been so annoyed/curious about Simon answering questions on the post. Not her total aggression, but parts of it.

Okay. Okay, Warren could work with this. First things first. “How long has this been sitting on you, man? Weighing you down?” he asked quietly.

Simon sighed. "It happened right before the press conference. While Jean-Paul was gone."

"Oh, babe..." Warren wasn't usually big on the terms of endearment. Dude, man, bro, yeah okay. But that one just slipped out and it seemed appropriate, so he went with it. He leaned in and pressed his lips to Simon's temple, over his hair. How had he not known? Jesus, Jean-Paul leaves for like two days and he completely drops the ball? "I'm sorry. I mean, I know you couldn't have talked about it then any more than now, but... this much, at least."

The comfort from Warren should have made him feel better, but somehow it just felt wrong. Maybe because Simon didn't think he deserved it. He sighed and gently pulled away. "It's not for me to talk about. And we've had more pressing concerns - a lot of them. Not to mention yours and Jean-Paul's issues with her. I just didn't think I could say anything."

"You can always say something. I'm so sorry." Warren let him go, obviously, and nodded. He flattened his hand against Simon's back, mind churning. "Lil asked if you were there, ready to answer questions on the blog post. She was pissed because we didn't do the announcement in person, which was stupid, but... now I think she wondered if you, in particular cared. I wasn't gonna say anything because I thought she was just being bonkers." But with this information...

"I think you need to do the thing. Maybe--maybe it'd convince her to give you a chance to make things right?"

Simon cringed a little, but after a moment, nodded. "Fine. I'll do the thing."

Warren raked his nails gently through the shirt again. "We'll be there with you.

"And--whatever happened, Simon... I know you only have good intentions." He debated his next words carefully before deciding he had to. "And--Lil. She's scared of her own shadow and everyone else's. I'm not saying it wasn't bad, but I am saying there's gotta be a way. Try to be nicer to yourself, man."

With another sigh, Simon turned and slipped his gloved fingers around the back of Warren's neck, leaning in for a slow, grateful kiss.

Eyes fluttering shut, Warren tilted into it and let go. Some of the tension he hadn't noticed he'd been building--seeing Simon beat himself up was rough--bled out and let him enjoy the kiss. Simon had great lips... great everything, but yeah. That spike of adrenaline, just from the contact, from knowing he wanted the contact. The taste of him, familiar but exciting. "Mmm..." He tried to pour some kind of comfort into it, too. He wasn't sure how, but he tried.

When Simon eventually broke the contact, he shifted to simply press his brow and nose against Warren's, tilted off to the right, just breathing him in. "Thanks," he finally breathed after a moment, quiet and slowly relaxing along with the rhythm of Warren's heartbeat.

"You know I'm yours whenever," Warren said quietly, never moving, just feeling. His mind was trying to articulate something else, something about doctors, nurses, EMTs, all healthcare professionals, but it wasn't quite there yet. "You're welcome."

Simon took another deep breath in, then finally pulled away. "You were going to make smoothies."

Warren nodded, kissed Simon's cheek quickly, and stood, feathers ruffling thoughtfully. He moved back to the fridge to grab some ice. "Sure. And--okay, I don't know what happened, but I'm assuming it's medlab stuff since you can't say. I'm pretty sure there's not a nurse, doctor, pharmacist, EMT--anyone who works healthcare who doesn't have these situations crop up, the ones that just make everyone... uncomfortable as fuck."

"It's...yes. Something like that. But the problem here is that I did screw up. I didn't think to inform people of how my powers work, even though it's not an easy thing to describe. This nebulous data intake..." Simon took a deep breath. "I'm just...I'm not sure I can even continue helping people the way I thought I was doing. I thought it was a good thing, and yet I may have hurt so many people. And you know how I am - my thought processes are sometimes channeled in one direction, and I don't notice when I hurt others."

"I get you." Though that still left a lot of things vague, it did at least give Warren the direction of the problem. As Warren blended the smoothies up, he considered, and then as he poured, he finally said, "You're still figuring stuff out yourself, is the thing--and you're as transparent as you can be considering that.

"But I'm sure you've helped more people than you've hurt. And I'm sure we need you--and your powers. You're gonna see things people don't want you to see. You can't know they don't want you to see until they tell you. I mean, it's like... if we were all born with x-ray vision, how would we know that could be upsetting to someone without it? How else would it work?" Simon's power was a sort of much more physical and deep x-ray vision, after all. "So once you know, okay, you can add that to the disclaimer. But before then..." He shook his head and brought the glasses to the table.

Simon frowned as he took the glass. "But should I even be doing any of this without knowing everything I can do and how it works?"

"As long as we need you to, I think the answer has to be yes," Warren said, almost apologetically. He returned to his seat beside Simon, settling his own glass in front of him. "The insights you can get--the way you speed up progress, diagnosis, helping people figure out their mutations... We do need you.

"But not at the expense of your sanity. So if you can, like, add to your disclaimers every time something happens and go on, cool. I mean, an apology and doing better is really all anyone can do--and you're good at both. But if you need to catch your breath, take the time for that."

"Once word gets around, I doubt anyone is going to want me to look at them anyway. But...yes, some time off might be a good idea," Simon sighed. "Unless it's dire." Or a case like Nolan's. If Nolan even wanted him to touch him ever again. Which, considering that he was dating Lil was a big question mark.

"Take some time off lab duties, focus on research--and maybe building some bridges. If people think they can talk to you, they'll trust you no matter what you can see," Warren suggested after a sip. "And if they know you, man... they'll trust you. I never met anyone as trustworthy as you--outside of JP. You guys are pretty much on the level." He winked.

"Biased much?" Simon huffed softly.

"You deserve someone on your side." Warren bumped him with his shoulder. "Also more than anyone else I know.

"And I know other people will see that, too. If you let 'em."

Simon smiled sideways, but his gaze was a little glossy. "It's been a...hard month. For all of us. You included."

"That's why we're in it together." Warren bumped his forehead against Simon gently, stealing a small kiss, then went back to his smoothie. "We got your back. A little image rehab and you'll be back on the ball. And by 'rehab' I mean 'honesty'."

"Mn," Simon hummed, "Maybe it's a good thing that Columbia wants me to take more online classes. At least I can be here more often - talk to more of the students."

"Yeah, well, they're still bastards for that, but I have to admit I won't be sorry to keep you around more." Another brief pause. Then, "You talk to River about everything?"

"She's apparently sending a care package. I'm getting a care package from my ten year old sister. That is how pathetic my life is right now. My parents ask me not to come home for the holidays - or my sixteenth birthday - oh and both of my bank accounts are frozen, but my little sister is sending me a care package," Simon huffed a soft laugh. "Besides the two of you, she's the most supportive person in my life right now."

"Yeah, but I know she's worth ten of your parents and I haven't even met her yet," Warren said with a quiet chuckle. He felt Simon's pain though. Acutely. His own parents had let him know he was cut off via their lawyers. He'd assumed that meant he wasn't invited home for the holidays. His own portfolio was tied up in keeping the PR they desperately needed and the sham apartment in the City. He had enough for some small investments, Gilmore among them, and plenty still tied up, but... for the first time in his life, he had to be careful about money.

The parent thing, he just... wasn't thinking about. It was what he'd expected. What else was there to say? His old schoolmates? Silent. Longtime family friends? Apart from Shinobi, not a word. His chuckle went a little helpless. "Bet that's gonna be an awesome care package."

"I wouldn't put it past her to make it out to all of us," Simon pointed out with a small, fond smile. He'd come out to his little sister about more than being a mutant, and she'd been both delighted and mystified that he'd somehow landed himself two boyfriends. He couldn't say he exactly blamed her skepticism. He wasn't sure how he'd managed it either.

"I knew you guys would find a way, no matter what your parents said." 'Parents', at this point, was uttered in the same tone of voice he might've said 'puppy-kicker'. Or 'cum-dumpster'. "And now Jeanne-Marie and Jean-Paul are talking. Thank god. She actually smiled at me yesterday. It was wild."

"Did I tell you that she picked out my clothes for the press conference?" Simon asked.

Warren was glad he didn't have a mouth full of smoothie, because he might've choked, his laugh was so sudden and unexpected. "That's hilarious.

"Shit, does he even know you talked to her? Which, did I tell you that was awesome? That was awesome."

"No..." Simon took a sip of the smoothie. "Was I supposed to tell him? Am I supposed to tell him? Is that a thing I should do?"

"I don't know. I don't think he'd care, at this point," Warren said with a laugh. "The breach is healed and it seems pretty complete.

"I do think he owes you a thank you, but that might be pushing it." His grin, for the first time in a while, approached full wattage.

Simon rolled his eyes. "That's definitely pushing it."