Summers Lovin'

Alex Summers || 29 || Havok He's a Summers. And a mutant. What other kind of childhood would he have?

[wreakhavck]

wildcvrds​:

Scott was so ready for push back from Alex, but it doesn’t come. At a lost for words, Scott rubbed his eyebrow and just stared with a puzzled look on his face. Was this a dream? It had been so hard to convince him before, what changed? Forgive Scott for being skeptical, but he’d been waiting for this for so long he didn’t think it’d actually happen.

“Wait, really?” he finally managed to ask, “You’re going to stay?”

Scott’s surprise shouldn’t come as a shock. How many times had Alex argued back? How many times had he just gone again anyway? Especially before Scott had been at the Institute? Too many, if his brother was begging him just to stay. And yet, Alex did feel a twinge of surprise.

“Yes. Really. I’ll stay.” 

[wreakhavck]

phoenixrisex​:

For some reason his response just bothers her more, Jean huffs a dismissive laugh. “No, he’s definitely bad,” she says offhandedly but keeps walking before he can respond. John had some fiery tendencies, ones that her father and Hank didn’t appreciate very much, but that wasn’t Alex’s business.

She was only kidding herself though, Alex would make it his business and she was already mentally steeling herself for that. In the meantime, he could be distracted. “Wanna test it out?” she asks in response, smirking as she shuts the door. The lights around them dim as the room prepares for training and she points towards a moving target making its way towards him with a sort of glee no one should have about his power set. 

***

“Alright, he’s bad then.” Alex was almost amused by Jean’s insistence that her boyfriend was that bad. Almost. God, he always missed a lot while he was away, didn’t he? He had this realisation every time, and every time he felt it as if it were new. And yet he still left.

He shoves those thoughts away with a smile and nods. “Sure.” He raises his eyebrows as the lights dim, but lets her direct his attention to the target, firing off a blast towards it. He’s a bit rusty, having not used his powers in a while, but that only seems to have built up the power. The target is incinerated. Oops.

[wreakhavck]

phoenixrisex​:

Jean isn’t oblivious to how annoyed Alex is but she definitely misconstrues it. She was sensitive about all of his emotions that way, taking them to mean something negative about her and not the situation itself. She huffs, pushing her hair behind her ears. “He’s… Yeah, I’m allowed to date, Alex, I’m not twelve,” she gripes, perhaps too defensively and ends up blushing heavily because of it. 

She manages to just barely hide the desperation that he’d understand that very important fact. She wasn’t a child. She didn’t want to still be a child to him. Rubbing the back of her neck, she looks forward and then gestures largely to the corridor ahead. “Brand spanking new training room, huh? Let’s focus on that.” She keys in a code on the pad beside the door and it whooshes open dramatically. Hank had a bit of a flair for that sort of thing when building rooms like this.

***

Alex held his hands up as if in surrender. “I know you’re not. It was just a joke. And he can’t be that bad anyway. Hank hasn’t killed the poor guy yet.” He gave her a tentative grin, hoping that she wasn’t actually angry. It seemed he’d hit a sore point though without meaning to.

The new training room was certainly flash. Hank’s work, no doubt. He gave a low whistle as he stepped in, looking around. “Reckon this place is as indestructible as that bunker Charles’ paranoid granddad built?” 

[wreakhavck]

phoenixrisex​:

“You can take it,” she jokes back but he really can. The man was pure muscle and she’d done much worse to him in training or even when rough housing. Once they’re standing, she drops his hands and gestures for him to follow. They ought to make an amicable appearance after he yelled after her with the door open moments before. Or Charles would be sticking his nose in where it didn’t belong.

Jean shivers at that possibility, loathing the idea that her dad would discover her far from platonic feelings for Alex. Her hand itches to take his again but she ignores it and she’s glad she did as they come upon John around the corner. She perks up as he glances between her and Alex before taking the back of her neck and leaning down to kiss her. “Mm hi, I’m just showing Alex the new training room. I’ll catch you later,” she says as they part and then looks awkwardly sideways at Alex as they continue on.

***

“Not the point, Jeannie,” he shot back with a fond roll of his eyes. It was true, without good technique Jean was unlikely to really hurt him. Not without her powers anyway. He followed her, knowing she was right. This house was hardly one for privacy. Much more for gossip and he didn’t need people gossiping about him yelling at Jean.

He wasn’t expecting the guy who approached them, but he recognised that kind of look. The possessive back off look. Alex looked away as the guy kissed Jean, feigning giving them privacy and ignoring that strange flicker of annoyance in the back of his mind. Once John was gone, Alex raised his eyebrows at Jean. “Who’s that? Charles finally letting you date huh?”

[wreakhavck]

wildcvrds​:

“Then don’t reenlist! The Institute could use your help, and now even the Professor is asking you to stay. How many more people do you need to convince you?” Scott didn’t need to repeat himself. It’d been said several hundred times already, but he couldn’t contain it. “I want you here, Alex. I need my brother despite what you may think.”

Scott mimicked his brother’s motion and shoved his hand through his own hair, “Please, Alex. I’m fu… I’m begging you.” It wasn’t that he thought Alex would be safer here. It’s just that he could at least see any danger Alex might be in with his own eyes. It wouldn’t be unknown. He wouldn’t have to sit waiting, praying for Alex to be okay because he could see it with his brother physically here. “Stop running away from me.” he added quietly.

Alex didn’t reply for a bit, letting Scott say what he needed to say. And maybe what Alex needed to hear. Because hearing his brother so upset was enough to tug at him. But it was his last quiet remark that pushed it over the edge. It was never about running away from Scott, and his first instinct is anger. Defensiveness. But... Maybe Scott was right.

“Okay. I won’t. I’ll stay.”

[wreakhavck]

wildcvrds​:

“Maybe?” Maybe wasn’t good enough for him. If it wasn’t clear in his body language, Scott’s jaw was clenched and his eyebrows were drawn together. How could he come back after all this time and say only maybe?

He stared at his brother for a good minute before finally sighing. “Fine. It’s nice seeing you around Alex. Hope it lasts longer than a week, but I’ll take what I can get.” Scott wasn’t a hugger, except he was but he really didn’t feel like hugging his brother right now. So right now, he wasn’t a hugger. It was hard to relax his jaw when he talked, but he managed, “How was your trip back?”

“Scott.” Fuck. Alex could see that his brother was pissed off, knows that he wanted Alex to give him a far more definitive answer than that. He had for a long time. Alex ran a frustrated hand through his hair and stood up quickly before Scott could go anywhere.

“I haven’t reenlisted yet,” he told him. “Alright? And Ch--the Professor offered me a job here.” He hadn’t formally said yes yet, but he hadn’t said no either. Teaching wasn’t something he’d imagined himself doing when he was studying, but mutant kids needed somewhere safe they could learn. And Alex, despite what people often thought, was qualified in science.

[wreakhavck]

phoenixrisex​:

Jean feels her heart skip a beat, like she didn’t already know that. But he had a way of saying things, and it wasn’t manipulative on his part which is what made it worse. He really meant what he said, that she wasn’t alone. That he was here with her, and she supposed he meant Hank too, but it felt sometimes like even when she was alone in a room, he was there somehow. Inexplicably. 

“Neither are you,” she reminds him, because she can feel it when he feels alone in a crowded room. It happens too often, and sometimes she’s close enough to touch him. Just a little tug on his sleeve, or a smile for him to catch like he’d done for her so many years ago. Leaning up on her elbow now, his hand starts to slide off her face but she catches it. “Come on,” she tells him, moving over him, all elbows and knees, to get out of bed and urge him to stand up.

***

Alex smiles at that. “I know.” And he does, really. He knows he’s not alone. He has her, and Hank, and his brother, and Charles. He has a family. It’s not something he takes for granted. Nor something he forgets, despite what his brother or Jean might think when he left. And more and more he was finding that he didn’t want to leave as much.

He frowns momentarily, confused, as she pulls him to his feet--elbowing and kneeing him in the process. “Careful,” he jokes, but he stands anyway, looking at her curiously.

[wreakhavck]

phoenixrisex​:

Jean looks down when she gleans that last thought of his, even though she doesn’t mean to. Her powers were growing, that’s what Hank and her dad said, like it was nothing. Like there wasn’t something terribly wrong with her, but she could feel their fear. But Alex? He wasn’t even remotely afraid of her, and she knew it for a fact. 

“You were in the desert,” she continues her explanation, keeping his hand by her face like she’s scared to let him go. Like if she did, he’d be back there. “You looked so tired, but you were smiling so big… Because you were excited the connection finally worked.” A small smile flutters on her lips as she looks back up, “But I also remember when I saw you for the first time for real. You smiled at me like that the next morning.” Then she grows serious, letting his hand rest against her face so she can rub hers along his arm as if coaxing him closer. “I was really lonely, huh? Still am sometimes.”

Alex didn’t remember exactly where he’d been. He’d been to quite a bit of desert, and he’d not even seen Jean when he’d called. But she’d seen him, hiding in the background of Hank’s call. He doesn’t move his hand, eyes on her. “The internet sucked out there sometimes,” he recalled. “Lot of the time I didn’t get through.” Every time he had, and he got to talk to his best friend, it had felt like celebration.

He does remember meeting her in person though. He remembered the house shaking, and Hank seeming wary of Jean, like she might break. Like she was fragile. But Alex also remembered how it felt to lose control. To be dangerous. And he’d smiled at Jean because he understood. “You’re not alone though. Not really.”

[wildcvrds]

There were some things that Scott loved his brother for, then there were the other things that made him question Alex’s reasons for doing what he did. On one hand, Alex was and had always been a hero. Not only did he help save the institute multiple times, but he also made it so Scott didn’t have to wonder for years what was happening to him. On the other hand, Alex was gone almost more than he was around. Alex stayed in the military instead of getting out when he had the chance.

So when Scott heard that he was back? Well, that made Scott scour the grounds until he found Alex. “Are you staying this time? Are you done?” There was no niceties this time, just a straightforward question he wanted answers to. @wreakhavck​

[wreakhavck]

Alex always missed his brother. It had been a near constant in his life for years now, since the orphanage and adoption had pulled them apart. That didn’t make it less painful, just numbed him to that. That being said, he was looking forward to seeing Scott again now that he was on leave. 

When Scott approached him, however, Alex could see that this wasn’t exactly going to be a friendly hello. “Nice to see you too, Scott,” he muttered. He hadn’t signed up again. Not... yet anyway. And, for the first time in a long time, he was considering not doing it. Scott had been begging him, Jean and Hank didn’t want him to go... “Maybe.”

[wreakhavck]

phoenixrisex​:

Jean giggles at that, thumb on her mouth, because they both know he wouldn’t but it was still fun to tease. She wished Hank would get out more, but the last time he tried things didn’t end very well. She wondered if he’d told Alex about Talia yet, and her sudden departure that put him in the awful mood he was in now. She turns so she’s facing him better, one cheek smooshed against his pillow, and reaches for his hand so she can cuddle it up by her face. It felt like he’d been gone for way longer than he had, these trips just seemed to stretch. 

“I can promise you that’s not the case,” she murmurs, Hank liked to keep things private and he knew when she was digging in his head so it wasn’t that either. “Maybe it’s just the house, maybe it has memories too.” She says it like she’s trying to be spooky, brows raised as she hides behind his knuckles with her nose nestled against the back of his hand.

Alex hadn’t had a chance to properly catch up with Hank yet. He’d heard bits and pieces while he was away, but Alex was awful at keeping in touch when he was away. But he did know something was up with Hank, something that they’d probably need a couple of beers to talk about properly. 

Jean’s murmur gets a small nod from him, surprised at how sure she was. But believing her nonetheless. He chuckles and nods. “If any house did, I wouldn’t be surprised it was this one,” he replies, raising his eyebrows at her. She didn’t do a very good spooky or maybe it was because Alex couldn’t imagine being scared of her.

[wreakhavck]

phoenixrisex​:

Alex’s confusion makes her smile widen but she says nothing until he’s facing her. His last question makes her laugh, rolling onto her back for a moment. “You could have been an actor,” she proclaims in self defense and then she’s turning back to him with her head on her arm, sighing. “A few of the times you guys were on video calls, I saw you.” The first time she had sworn she’d seen him before. She goes quiet, looking both very sleepy and oddly more aware than she’s been in awhile. “You were really familiar, like I’d seen you in a dream.”

***

“You think Hank would really hire an actor? Have you seen the guy? He’s far more content to hide in his lab,” Alex retorted. Ah, the video calls. Alex checking in from overseas, when he could. He didn’t recall seeing Jean in those, but she could’ve been hiding just out of frame. Her comment made him pause, but he shrugged it off. “Probably just saw an old picture somewhere,” he replied.

[wreakhavck]

accxleratxd​:

Pietro was bored, which was nothing new, and he found his way to the classroom he knew Klara would be in. He pats her head as she passes, watching her go down the hall to her next class before looking at Alex. “Feh, not at all,” he says like Alex was a dumbass for asking. “But that doesn’t mean you are any good at it.” Teaching, he meant. It was clear Alex knew the material, even if Pietro hadn’t been aware he knew how to do anything besides fix cars and stare at the redhead before today. 

“Well, until there’s more of a surplus of mutant teachers, I’m what they’ve got.” Alex shrugged and flashed Pietro a sarcastic grin. “At least I know what I’m talking about.” He’d not ever seen himself becoming a teacher, and he wondered at times what his old teachers would’ve said about the kid they’d known becoming one. “So unless you’re offering...”

[wreakhavck]

phoenixrisex​:

Jean sees it in his mind, the way she looked to him, and his emotions aren’t the same as hers. She thinks she looks goofy but looking through his eyes is like waking up on the first day of summer. She just sits and blinks for a moment, dozing almost as she lies in his bed while he reads. “Yeah…” Reaching up, she brushes some of his curls from his forehead and smiles lightly, “But that wasn’t my first time, that was yours.” Hers had been through a computer screen.

Alex tilted his head questioningly. He didn’t recall a time before that. “When did you see me before that, huh?” he asked, putting his book face down on the bed and turning his full attention to Jean. “And if you saw me before that, how come you still thought Hank was making me up?”

[wreakhavck]

@accxleratxd​ said:  “It’s hard to listen to you with a straight face.”

Alex would normally just shrug Pietro’s comments off with a roll of the eyes or straight ignoring it, the way he had been since the speedster had turned up on their door with Klara in the middle of the night. But today he was a little bit sick of it, especially given that he had been trying to teach a science class when Maximoff had been smirking at the door. “You reckon you could’ve done it better?” he asked once the students had filed out. Not a lot of people here knew that Alex had actually gotten a Bachelor’s of Science, so maybe Pietro’s lack of faith was to be expected, but Alex didn’t care.

[wreakhavck]

@phoenixrisex​ said:  “I’ll never forget the first time I saw your face.”

Alex still remembered too. It had been years ago now, almost a decade, but he remembered the way she’d stared at him, like he wasn’t real. Big eyes watching him from the top of the stairs, Jean even smaller than she was now, covered in more freckles than seemed possible. “Yeah? You thought Hank made me up,” he reminded her.

[wreakhavck]

You'll never be good enough, especially not for her.

“You think I don’t know that?”

[wreakhavck]

phoenixrisex​:

Jean’s nose scrunches at his fake threat and she unclasps the necklace to place it around her neck. She could finish putting it on with her powers, it’s what she did when she was alone, but instead she leaves the sides of the chain hanging around her neck. She keeps the pendant to her chest with one hand and lifts her hair with the other as she turns her upper body in indication for him to finish clasping it. “Mm, there isn’t much to miss. We’ve had a few newcomers, Rogue and Logan have been teaching most of the classes since we’ve been short on teachers. It’s a good thing you’re back, Dad might even let you pick up a class.” She grins, saying it like he’d be eager for the responsibility and not like he’d lament the early mornings he was facing.

***

As Jean turned away, Alex leant in and picked up the delicate chain. Carefully, he did the clasp shut, dropping it back to her neck when it was done. “Oh good,” he replied. Truth be told, he didn’t mind teaching certain classes. But trying to encourage rowdy teenagers who couldn’t control their hormones or their mutations and had generally little to no interest in the science or the combat he tried to teach was... not his idea of fun. “Guess it’s inevitable, huh?”