Out on the Grounds [Open]

[Storm]

The sky was gray and foreboding. Storm was not in a good mood today and the melancholy weather reflected that. Storm was worried about Scott and Xavier, but mostly she was worried about Jean. The two were very close and when Jean died at Alkali Lake, she felt as though a piece of herself had as well. Her reincarnation and return was shocking, but good and Storm felt as though things were looking up. With the creation of the "cure" for mutations and Jean being taken over by the Phoenix, Storm was devastated. She took small comforts in Logan and had grown closer to him in that time, but now, with Jean, Scott, and Xavier returning, and under such peculiar circumstances, Storm wasn't sure she could take any more. Jean wasn't herself, nor were Scott and Xavier. Xavier's whole way of thinking seemed to have changed while he was gone.

Storm wandered the grounds aimlessly, finally resting at a bench looking up at the sky, deep in thought.

[click]

A loud clicking noise sounded on the lawn and a boy in tight black jeans and a black zip-up hoodie appeared seemingly out of nowhere. His hair was gelled, but messy, hanging every which way. He looked rumpled with dark circles under his eyes. He'd stayed out the night before to have some fun in his old neighborhood and things had gotten a little crazy. He didn't have a shirt under his hoodie. He wasn't sure where it had gone.

He was in Storm's world history class in the afternoon, though he didn't show up very often. He suspected she was one of the ones who had sent him to the Professor. He glanced over at her and a grin spread across his face. He waved at her and started walking over.

[Storm]

Storm heard footsteps and looked up to see the boy. She recognized him from his rare attendance in her World History class and smiled, waving back. He was, for the most part, a good kid as much as she had seen him. She'd never felt the need to send him to Xavier, and that was a plus for her. There were plenty of kids that showed up for class that she wanted Xavier to kick out, but he never would.

"Tyler," she started slowly. "That's your name, isn't it?" She smiled at him as best as she could, due to her current mood. The skies were still gray, and a slight thundering was audible.

[click]

"Yep, it's Tyler," he agreed chipperly, though his words ran together just slightly and he seemed a little out of it. He stopped in front of the bench, hands shoved into his sweatshirt pockets and feet set apart to prevent swaying.

He looked up at the sky with a grin. "Wow. Are you doing that? I always thought that was the coolest power." He looked back down. "How are you Ms. Munroe?"

[Storm]

She smiled weakly at his happy demeanor. Something about his happiness was contagious, and she couldn't help but smile a bit.

"Yeah, I am. I've always had a fondness for my power, even if it makes it hard to disguise my moods." She smiled weakly and looked up at the sky then back to him. "I'm...worried. For Xavier, for Scott, for Jean...but especially for Logan. He just got over Jean and now...here she is again. I thought he might have a chance at a normal life once he had gotten over her, but now...," she trailed off, a few tears coming to her eyes. She couldn't help it. Since the three had died, she and Logan had grown much closer to one another. She didn't want to see him hurt, and she didn't want to hurt.

[click]

Tyler's eyes went wide. She was crying? He didn't know how to deal with worried or crying. He felt panic stirring frantically in his chest. If she was any more upset, he would have just run away. Instead, he decided to try and salvage the situation.

Sitting down next to her, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Hey, don't cry. You shouldn't worry," he pleaded. "I'm sure they'll be fine, you know? Logan's tough."

[Storm]

Storm laughed a little at herself. "Look at me, crying like this. It's pretty stupid." She smiled and sniffed back her tears, instead unleashing her sorrow through light rain.

"You're right. He is a pretty tough cookie," she laughed. "It's sort of funny to see him without a bottle of Jack Daniel's or some other liquor though." She laughed again and smiled at Tyler. "Thanks a lot. I feel a lot better." She was lying, and that was probably wrong, but she did feel at least a little better.

[click]

Giving a sigh of relief, Tyler pulled away from her and grinned. "Good. I knew it wasn't anything to worry about." He looked at Ms. Munroe sweetly, though the circles under his eyes and the stink of alcohol and God-knows-what-else took away from it a bit. "You look nice when you smile. You should do it more often."

[Storm]

Storm could smell the alcohol on him and she smiled at him. "You know, for someone who gets sent to Xavier, you're a good kid." She patted him on the shoulder and cleared her mind a bit, the sky clearing up to just a bit cloudy.

"Thank you very much, Tyler. It's nice to have someone to smile with."

[click]

"Well that's what I'm best for," Tyler assured her, looking pleased with himself. He leaned back on the bench and hugged himself, hands tucked into his sweatshirt sleeves.

"The Professor wasn't even that mad, you know," Tyler told her. "Actually, I probably won't go to classes much at all anymore. He's got me doing other stuff."

[Storm]

She smiled genuinely at him, the first in a while. She sighed and looked back up to the sky, then back to Tyler.

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow. "Does this mean I won't get the chance to see you in class at all?" She smiled again a bit. "Well, it's good he wasn't angry. An angry Xavier is a bit of a scary thing."

[click]

Tyler shook his head. "No, he seemed like a pretty nice guy. I like him," he assured her. He fidgetted with one of his earrings and stretched his legs out in front of him.

"And don't worry. I'll come visit your class sometimes. Just tell me when you guys are learning something interesting," he joked lightly.

[Storm]

"I will," she said softly. "I'd like to see you in there sometime."

She smiled again and looked at the grass. "I suppose I should be going back in to check on Jean and everyone... I don't really want to," she said sadly. "I'd love to stay out here... and forget any of this nonsense ever happened."

[click]

"Then that's what you should do," Tyler told her decidedly. For him, avoiding the drama was the best solution to every situation. "They'll be fine. You should stay out here with me."

Of course, he'd been planning to go inside and shower and brush the taste of vomit off of his teeth, but those plans were easily forgotten.

[Storm]

Storm smiled and him and nodded, a little glint in her eye. "Do you want to see something really cool?" She loved to show students what her powers could do. She held out her hand and concentrated, her eyes turning white as she did and slowly, a small tornado began to appear in her hand.

It gained speed and started whipping her and Tyler's hair around with surprising strength for the size of the small funnel cloud.