Scott and Warren, May 7

[ax_angel]

During Scott and Jean's impromptu road trip, Warren has a mild freak out. When Scott returns, he has some half-assed explaining to do. Warren's easy.


5/5

Text from Warren: You okay? Just woke up and you're still not back. From... wherever.

This is weird. Where are you?

Text from Scott: I left. I'm fine. I'll come back in a few days.

Warren: A few DAYS????????

Scott: A few days. Why, is there an emergency?

Warren: an emergency?

Really???

I don’t know man you tell me!

Scott: I'm fine. I'll see you when we get back. You can yell at me then.

Warren: Just tell me you’re not running off on your own and doing something really stupid?

Scott: I'm not doing something stupid.

Also Jean is here.

Warren: I wish you’d led with that info. Cool.

Okay have fun. Text if you, idk, need something.

----

5/7

Once back at the school, and back in his room, Scott dropped his bag on the bed and began methodically picking his way through it. Most of the stuff in there would stay in there until replaced or restocked - it was a bug-out bag, after all - but not everything. Now he just had to do the work of fishing the stuff that didn't belong in there full-time out.

Warren poked his head in first, then fluttered his wings before tucking them. “I knew Jean would keep you from dying.”

Scott snorted and rolled his eyes behind his glasses. "Your faith in me is noted. Thanks for the compliment." He pulled his goggles and visor out of the bag, and set them on his bag as he kept digging.

“I was worried,” Warren said, slipping inside and closing the door after him. “When you disappeared. I mean, people get kidnapped around here all the time. To be fair.” Like, you know. His boyfriend.

Scott paused, and felt a spike of guilt and shame. He sighed, and then turned to actually look at Warren directly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you. I just needed to get away. I....honestly didn't think anyone would notice," he admitted. "But still. I'm sorry."

Warren slumped slightly, but nodded. "I'm sorry I kind of freaked out too. But of course I noticed, idiot.

"What happened?"

Scott kept his answer bland and non-specific. "Got some bad news. Fought with the Professor over it. Had to go clear my head," he offered.

This did not make Warren feel much better. He moved to his desk stool and sat, leaning forward with interest, watching Scott as best he could. The shades made it hard to read him, more often than not, but Warren had been his roommate long enough to figure some things out. "Fought, huh? So, it had to be catastrophically bad. Can you talk about it, or...?"

He shook his head a little. "Fought might've been overstating it. Just...disagreed. And no," Scott said seriously. "I don't want to talk about it."

For so many reasons. He didn't want to rehash it all. It had been hard enough to tell Jean, and she was Jean. Besides, talking about it made it start to play on loop in his head. He didn't want to get into the Essex shit. He needed to be sure he got to Essex before Alex did. Period. Because finding Essex was dangerous as fuck, and because even if it weren't he didn't want Alex making a murderer of himself. But he couldn't tell anyone about it - Jean, again excepted - without running the risk it would get back to the kid somehow.

So he guessed he had nothing to say.

"Cool." Though it made him twitch inside a little, Warren kept his disappointment off his face and just nodded. He thought for a second, quiet, and then finally asked, "So, where'd you and Jean go?"

"Camping, mostly," Scott said honestly. "Last night stayed in a hotel."

Warren raised his eyebrows, a small smile pulling at the corners of his lips. "Reeeeally? Well, that sounds like good medicine for what mentally ails anyone."

The pink in Scott's cheeks would have been unnoticeable to anyone who wasn't looking closely. Unfortunately, he had the sneaking suspicion that Warren's eagle eyes would catch it. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Worthington," he muttered.

Warren held up both hands and made his most innocent of faces. "Hey now, I'd never imply anything dirty! Not about you and Jean--I love you guys! I'm just saying, I can imagine how helpful the company of a brilliant, beautiful, and overall charming young woman was to your state of mind..."

Scott snorted. "You would never imply anything dirty," he repeated back in utter disbelief. "Liar."

Warren laughed. "Well, I would about you, but not about Jean. Except obliquely. As in, 'Wow, Scott, you're in a good mood today...'. That kind of thing."

Scott rolled his eyes, exaggerating the motion so Warren would know.

Still laughing, Warren shook his head. "Is she much of a camper? She seems like more of a glamper."

"She took everything pretty well. Considering." Scott was inclined to agree, would have been even before, and all the more so now that he knew she'd never been camping until he'd taken her on an impromtu survivor jaunt. Still, Jean hadn't complained, not even subtly. "Though I suspect I am banned from all vacation planning duties forever."

"Probably for the best," Warren said seriously, before breaking into a smile again. "So... there are going to be more vacations? I mean, I get that was a hypothetical but, I mean, it must've gone well..."

"To hear Jean tell it, we've never been on vacation; this was a work trip," Scott said dryly. "And I'm not sure me flaking the fuck out will ever be 'gone well' by any stretch."

"It's not flaking the fuck out. It's taking a break," Warren reasoned. "But she's not wrong."

Scott snorted. "Same difference. But she didn't dump me, so I will take the win." Oh, and she'd changed his life and offered to be an emotional lifeline, but telling Warren one of those things seemed violative of Jean's privacy and the other inched too close to a topic he was still uncomfortably avoiding on the day to day.

"Definitely a win," Warren readily agreed. "She seems like she's one of those people that, like... you know she won't take any crap, so her wanting to be with you is always real." Like his boyfriends.

Scott nodded thoughtfully in agreement. "Pretty much. Which is nice."

"Yeah. I got a pair of those." Warren's smile went dopey. "I'm proud of you. For letting her come with you. Not that I think you could've stopped her, but I'm sure you thought about trying every trick in the book at one point or another."

"Getting into a knock-down, drag-out fight with her seemed unwise," Scott agreed dryly. Because he had no doubt Jean would win.

"Still. Full credit to her for getting you to accept help, by any means. And to you for accepting it. For once. You big jerk."

Scott snorted. "Geez, such love from a guy's friend and roommate."

"I know you and I love you anyhow. That's love." Warren grinned again.