The X-Project

Lil shows up at Lex's door and takes him on a tour of the Mansion.



The Canadian giantess wasn't quite sure how she'd been selected to play Tour Guide for the mansion's newest resident. Only that, even with a house full of teachers on break and idle X-Men alike, an email had arrived in her inbox asking for her assistance which lead Lil to believe either her name had been picked out of a hat or Scott was somehow behind the request.

Neither inspired much confidence.

Dressed in a pair of dark jeans and belly-baring red t-shirt proclaiming 'I Fucking Love to Cuddle' across the chest, Lil knocked on the door of the visitor's suite she been directed to. "Hello? Xavier Institute's Guided Tours looking to pick up a Mr. Lexington," she called, popping her hip to the side as she waited with both hands shoved back deep into her pockets.

Lex turned away from his rucksack, putting his copy of I and thou onto the nightstand. "Yeah, I'll be right out," he said running his hand across his chin. He wondered if she was pretty, and then decided it was best not to get his hopes up. After all, she did sound Canadian, and they were supposed to be all husky and masculine. Either way, she was going to get to see one of his many grey army shirts, as that was all he possessed at the moment. He put it on and walked towards the door.

The giantess continued to slouch as she waited, blowing a lock of blonde hair from her eyes. At least her charge was another adult and not one of the ankle-biters; it meant she didn't have to censor herself and could put him in his place if she got any lip back.

Amusing images of pinning the new guy to the wall were replaced with equally amusing - and for more erotic - images of pinning the man to the wall as soon as the door opened.

"You're Lex?" Lil asked, straightening up to her full height; an impish smirk coming to her lips. God Bless Scott Summers or the hat her name was pulled from.

Lex cleared his throat, "That I am." He gaped at her with a shocked expression. How in the hell had he been lucky enough to get this beauty as a tour guide. "I'm definitely Lex." He looked her up and down, and almost whistled with excitement.

A soft chuckle and the blonde woman extended a hand to him. "I'm Lil," she said by way of introduction, adding her own blatant study of him that went from head to toe and back. Much better than any ankle-biter. "Welcome to the mansion. I got an email saying you needed a tour of the place?"

Lex shook his head and smiled. He took her hand and squeezed it gently, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lil." He turned towards one end of the hall and then the other, a look of confusion growing across his face. "I'm afraid your email is correct, however, I have no clue where anything is around here."

Warm, slender fingers returned the pulse briefly before Lil slipped them back into her pocket. "I think I know my way around enough not to get you lost," she joked then jerked her head toward the staircase. "It's easier to start down by the main entrance. Landmarks to work off of and alla that." Not that she wouldn't mind standing there, just talking to - and ogling - Lex but she had been asked to do a job.

"You're very hot." Lex said without thinking, he meant it about the touch, but upon realizing it's double meaning he blushed. "I mean your skin is very warm to the touch. Does that have to do with your mutation?" He spoke and then looked down the hall, slightly embarrassed. "You said we should go this way, right?"

Her laugh was both delighted and amused. "Right on all accounts," Lil told him as she started to guide him away from his door. "I'm what alotta people around here call a Brick. Invulnerable with enhanced strength thanks to a bio-aura around my skin that my cells produce. Kinda my own personal force field," she explained with another smile, making sure to stick close to his side. "What about you?"

"There's really no easy way to explain that... I, uh, I don't really know much about my power... never had proper training and the like. I guess that's neither here nor there, and the short version is that I have limited control over electrical systems, and I can send out a burst of electrical energy." Lex looked at her to see if she understood what he was saying. He'd never really thought about it before and now that he was talking it seemed completely incoherent. So, he brought himself into sync with her steps and marched next to her.

Her steps slowed considerably as he described his powers and it was almost impossible to ignore the way her stomach twisted. "Control over machines?" Lil asked, her smile faltering even as she struggled to keep it in place. Another technology based mutant? Life wasn't that cruel. She gave her head a little toss, trying to clear it before picking up the pace again. "You talk to Forge yet?"

"Um, Forge?" Lex wondered if Forge was one of the people who worked in the garage. If so, he might be the ideal person to go looking for when the tour was done, as he definitely wanted to help fix some of those gems he saw on his way in. He turned to say something more to Lil and realized that something had upset her. "Wait, what's wrong?"

Lil shook her head again and even tossed in a dismissive wave. "Nothing's wrong," she answered though she knew it probably wasn't very convincing. "There's a coupla people around who got powers kinda like that or at least, work in the same area; Forge being one of them. The others are kids but you still might wanna talk to them if you haven't had much in the way of training. I've heard they can be surprising helpful at times." A half smile was flashed at him while she continued to lead him back to the main hall.

Lex knew he had no right to pry into her personal life so he decided to drop the subject. He coughed a little, "So, Forge... Is he the head of the tech-based mutants or something?" He kinda tilted his head to the side and gave her a playful smile, "Cause his name kinda seems like somebody on a power trip." Lex imitated a blacksmith with an overly serious expression, hammering on a giant anvil. He looked up, hoping his absurdity would cheer her up.

It worked. Her smile blossomed and another amused chuckled slipped past her lips. "Power trip sounds about right. So does head of the techbased crew. Basically, anything you see in this place that's got wires, he designed and built. He's usually in his work-room or the garage," Lil explained then came to a stop at the bottom of the flight of steps. "Right, so. We start here and we're gonna hit the basics: kitchen, pool, gym, med labs and so on and then I'm taking you to the local watering hole."

"Well, I've been to the kitchen so we can skip it, but the rest sounds good." He smiled and pointed every which way in a mock attempt to figure out what was where. "I like the idea of the idea of a good stiff drink too, that'll be a pleasant way to end the day."

"I can think of more pleasant but it will do for now," Lil replied with her tongue peeking out between her teeth for a fleeting moment before she turned her back on him and made a flourishing gesture. "I believe the standard greeting is, 'Welcome to the Madhouse.'"

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Lex and Lil move locations to the local bar, where Lil spills the beans.



It was a twenty minute walk to Harry's from the mansion and with the tour complete, Lil lead her charge down the well worn path and into her place of employment. A smile was given to the proprietor as well as a wave before she snatched up a spot for two near the pool table. "Sit tight and I'll be back with a pitcher," the blonde woman instructed then headed over to the bar only to return with the promised alcohol and two glasses. "I put in an order for wings as well. Hope you like them suicide; it's the special.

"Sounds good to me," Lex replied. He poured a drink for both of them and raised his glass. He didn't really have a toast in mind but he was hoping something would come out. "Here's to the first of many." He drained his and set it gently on the table. It had been a long time since his last drink and he was looking forward to letting loose.

He waited patiently for her to set her glass down and rolled over what he could say in his head. Only then did he realize he hadn't been to a bar with a girl in almost two years, and he began working himself into a knot. He decided to ask her something open ended, in hopes of covering his frayed nerves. "So, Lil, what brought you to the mansion?"

"Training," she answered, filling her own glass again. "I'm working with Professor Xavier on some shielding techniques to keep hostile's outta my brain as well as getting back into shape so I can make a program back in Canada." The amber color liquid was swirled in the cup before Lil took another sip. "Hand to hand, different situational stuff on toppa trying to beat some improved teamwork skills into my hard head. How about you?"

"I've been remanded into Charles' custody," he said with a grin. "I was discharged from the military because I used my powers, now I'm here and I've got no idea what I'm going to be doing to keep myself busy." He filled up his third glass, and then realized what Lil had said. "Wait, you said training, training for what?"

Her nose wrinkled at the mention of the discharge as the military's response to a mutant in their ranks and she swallowed down a healthy gulp to drown her distaste. "Training for Alpha Flight. It's sorta like the X-men but back in-"

Lil's voice trailed off when she realized her slip then cursed violently, putting her cup back on the table. "Fuck."

Lex caught the tone of Lil's voice and watched her closely. "I take it you weren't supposed to let that slip?" He tried to put on a 'I swear I won't tell anyone' smile for her and filled up her glass. "Is it something I can know about or should we just switch subjects again?"

Green eyes flickered over the small crowd that was assembled in the bar. "You'd find out soon enough anyway," Lil sighed then dropped her voice as she leaned in a little closer to him. "I can let you in on a few secrets but you want full details you gotta talk to Scott Summers or Ororo Monroe, got it?"

The wings arrived and Lex took one of them between his fingers. He hadn't realized how being interrogated twice in one day had made him so hungry. He bit into it and winced with surprise. "All right, how about over these delicious suicide wings." He crinkled his nose and smiled at the same time, trying to make her feel better. "I promise I won't tell anyone, besides this, uh what did you say his name was again, Scott something or other?"

Picking up a wing of her own, Lil seemed to debated the topic between another smile spread over her lips. "Scott Summers," she repeated. "And if you're worried about having nothing to do around the mansion, he's the one you're gonna wanna talk to anyway." She look a little breath and after another glace around the bar, leaned in closer in what would like like a lover's pose to anyone who happened to see them. "The mansion is more than a school. It's also the headquarters for a team of mutants who are trained to handle various situations."

He smiled as she moved in, if only this were a purely social call. "Hmm..." He said, though it probably sounded more like 'mmm...' through the wing. "That sounds like my kind of work. So, what does this team do, fight evil from the shadows?" He chuckled a little, it sounded like something straight out of a comic book.

"Something like that," Lil chucked, licking the hot sauce from her fingers. "So far, I've fought slavers, terrorists, and one bad blonde bitch in Hungary who likes to get into people's heads then fuck with them. Hence the lessons with the Professor."

"Definitely my type of work. Do they take mutants with any powers?" he asked, perfectly serious. Then he smiled, "Cause I wouldn't mind spending more time with you." He downed another glass of beer and set it down on the table. He smiled at her with a self-satisfied grin and offered her more beer.

"They do," she said returning the smirk before polishing off another wing. Her eyes flicked from the dish back to his face with the admission and her smile turned softer. "Good thing we live in the same house. You wanna spend time with me? Gym, kitchen, smoker's porch and here are my haunts. I bartend most nights."

"Well, I'll definitely see you at the gym, and I love cooking so I'm sure we'll have plenty of opportunities to eat together," Lex laughed, "and as for joining the team. I'm definitely going to talk to Scott as soon as I see him." He downed the last of his beer. It was getting rather late and he decided he should walk Lil back before he got too drunk to walk.