The X-Project

They indulge in some sun worship by the pool, and sound each other out a bit.



After lunch, Angelo wandered out to the pool area to spend a while catching some sun on his favourite lounger. As he walked through the gate, he realized someone else was there already, someone he didn't recognise, which meant it could only be one person. "Hey. Mr. Beaubier?"

Paul opened one eye sleepily and glanced slowly toward the sound of the greeting. A handsome hispanic boy with a towel over one shoulder was wandering in his general direction and Paul recognized him from the icon on his journal. "That would be me. Angelo, right?"

Angelo nodded, laying his towel out on one of the loungers. "Yep. Looks like you're settlin' in well. All moved in now?"

"Absolutely." Paul settled his sunglasses up the bridge of his nose a little and reached for his water. "I move around a lot so I have a good system for getting myself unpacked as soon as possible. You didn't see Delphine on your way over, did you?"

"Delphine? Oh, your cat. No, can't say I did. She's out here too, then?" Angelo looked around, trying to spot her.

"Yes, she came out with me, but wandered off when I wouldn't let her use me as a pillow." Paul sighed and shook his head. "Silly girl."

Angelo chuckled, sprawling out on his sun lounger. "How long've you had her?"

"Three years this August," Paul said fondly. "Feels like longer, though."

Delphine chose that moment to appear, quite possibly knowing she was being talked about, and made a beeline for Paul, rubbing her head against his dangling hand. Angelo grinned down at her. "Hey, Delphine."

"Attention whore," Paul said, grinning and scratching her behind the ears. "I have no idea where you get /that/ from." He looked over at Angelo again, tipped his sunglasses down to look over the rims, and then pushed them back into place without comment. "So, are you one of the various pet-owners around the place?"

"Not yet", Angelo answered, blinking once at Paul's lack of reaction then shrugging it off. "Hopin' to get a puppy for my birthday though."

"When's that?" Paul grunted slightly as Delphine leapt onto his belly. "Watch those claws," he murmured, rolling her over onto her back and letting her gnaw on his fingers and kick at his wrist.

"Next Thursday, actually. Gonna be eighteen."

"Eighteen? I'd have guessed at least twenty. Shows what I know." He grinned as Delphine made mock-fierce spitting noises at him. "So what do they do for such occasions around here?"

Angelo perked up noticeably at the probably deliberate ego boost. "Well, there'll most likely be some kind of party here, an' I think maybe a group of us'll go out somewhere on the actual night."

"Eighteen. Does that mean you're going to college in the fall?" Paul did the math in his head. "You Americans only go to the twelfth grade, right?"

Angelo shook his head. "Not this fall. I'm old enough, sure, but I'm gonna stay back a year. Need to get my credits up. Next year, maybe."

Paul nodded. "You'll be around for the fall then." He scooped Delphine up, interrupting her 'savaging' of his hand, and kissed her on the nose. "You're a bad, bad kitty," he said, dripping with insincerity. "Stop biting Papa. I do get to pay attention to people who aren't you." He plunked her down on the patio next to his chair and she wheeled and dashed into the shrubbery. "Can I expect you in any of my classes?"

Angelo looked interested. "Maybe. What're you gonna be teachin'?"

"French," Paul said, making a dire face at the thought and pushing his sunglasses up to take stock of the progress of his tan. He was going to have tan lines due to the reasonable swimsuit, he realized, and sighed internally. "Mutant Acceptance in Society, Post-colonial literature, and Human Sexuality."

Angelo nodded. "They all sound pretty interestin'", he allowed honestly. "Probably will take at least one of 'em."

"I advise skipping the French." Paul gave up trying to brush cat hair off of his skin and stood, tossing his sunglasses down on the lounge chair. "It's going to be tedious. Wouldn't recommend it to anyone." He reached the edge of the pool in two strides and dove cleanly into the water, then doubled back. A moment later he surfaced and held the side of the pool with one hand while smoothing his hair out of his eyes with the other.

Angelo sprawled out lazily, watching him. "So, Shinobi told me you were in the Olympics, back in the day. What events did you do?"

"Alpine skiing was my thing." Paul crossed his arms on the side of the pool and rested his chin on them. "All four men's events. Downhill, slalom, giant slalom, and super-G. It was almost unprecedented to win them all, except for Anton Sailer of Austria winning the first three in fifty-six and Jean-Claude Killy winning them in sixty-eight, back before they brought in the super-G." He shrugged and shook his head. "People thought that I'd decided to hide being a mutant to win. They can think what they want."

Angelo nodded with a faint scowl. "Yeah, you know you didn't, I figure, so it doesn't really matter what they think. What's your power, by the way?"

"A few things, mostly all stemming from energy manipulation. Flight and light, mainly." He held out his hand and gathered a sphere of light in his palm where it burst in a shower of sparkles. "Took me forever to learn how to do it that small," he said with a pleased smile.

Angelo grinned, enjoying the display. "You an' Jubilee could do a rockin' firework show together, with things like that. You met Jubilee yet?"

"Not yet," Paul replied after taking a moment to think about who Jubilee was. "I think she's probably more fun than I am. My powers tend strictly to the practical."

Angelo blinked, trying to figure out what practical application could need the pretty burst of sparkles he'd just seen. "She does this thing with plasma bursts from her hands. So she's our resident firework girl."

"I noticed that in her profile. So Charles lets you all play with your abilities as you please, I understand, as long as you don't cause deliberate harm?" Paul nodded approvingly. "And in your profile, it noted that you were able to manipulate your dermal layers, if I recall correctly."

Angelo nodded. "'s right. It stretches. Can pick things up, even, if I concentrate."

"Diversity," Paul said, pulling himself out of the pool and stretching languidly, "is a lovely thing. Have you taken Mutant Acceptance in Society yet?"

"Yeah, I did it last semester, with Ms. Braddock", Angelo answered simply, choosing not to go into the whole complicated Kwannon issue.

Paul nodded. "I'll have to talk to her soon," he said thoughtfully. "Thanks for the reminder." Delphine came romping back, sneezing vigorously, and rubbed against Paul's leg, leaving a yellow streak of pollen in the water droplets there. "Delphine... you've been in the marigolds again. I understand that Monsieur Marko is a very large and scary man and he won't like cats who roll in the flowerbeds. Look at her, she's a mess," he said to Angelo. Delphine was, indeed, liberally dusted in gold powder.

Angelo chuckled. "Long as she hasn't done any permanent damage, he shouldn't mind too much. Anyway, I think he likes animals."

"I can't believe her." Paul scooped Delphine up in his towel and wrapped her up like a baby. "You're a messy girl and I'm disappointed in you," he said almost-sternly. "You know better. I think we're done being outside for the afternoon, Angelo." He picked up his water and sunglasses. "It was good to meet you, though. I'm sure I'll see you around."

Angelo nodded, waving a lazy farewell. "Sure thing. Good to meet you too."

"Enjoy the sun," Paul said in parting. He headed off for the house, talking to Delphine in French that sounded suspiciously like baby talk.