om_main | Lydia, Scott, and Lil, Backdated to JP's Party

This is no one's idea of a "good" threesome.

Before dinner started, Lydia made it a point to say hello to everyone--even Noriko, who at least worked the boy look for all it was worth, even if she was an ungrateful brat--before paying closer attention to her actual friends among the little group. Top of that list would be Scott Summers, who was side-by-side with Lil. Which suited Lydia just fine.

She strolled up beside Lil, who towered over her even with the huge heels, and said conversationally, "Hello, there, you two. Enjoying Jean-Paul's poshness?"

"Um, yeah," the giantess replied, looking a little startled by Lydia's appearance. The two probably hasn't said three words to each other outside of class work or the journals - and even that was a stretch! - and here she was, gliding over to them like... well, like the ego-centric princess Barbie Lil thought her to be.

The taller girl inched slightly closer to Scott but managed to keep a polite (but forced) smile on her lips. "I like your dress," she even offered as a compliment.

He couldn't figure out Lydia's game tonight. She'd been eyeing he and Lil earlier, and aside from trying to fuck with him with her oddly knowing glances, he couldn't see a reason why.

Of course, Scott also couldn't figure out why Lydia sashaying over to he and Lil made him nervous, either.

"You know me," Scott offered dryly. "I live for poshness.

Seemingly oblivious to any awkwardness or ill will, Lydia simply shot Scott a "yeah, right" look, complete with the pursing of virulently red lips, and returned her attention to Lil. Whose dress was... well, in a word, trashy. At least she had the body for it, though.

"Thanks," Lydia replied. "That's a really good color on you. Brings out the green in your eyes."

Lil returned the gratitude and ran her hand over her hip. She'd taken a lot of time picking out the dress with lace, floral applique at the sides, and a cutout back and considered it quite tame compared to the other ones she's considered.

Lydia's dress, on the other hand, made her look like she had fins.

Dresses. Yeah, that was a conversation Scott had nothing to say much about. At least, not where the dressed women could both hear him.

He was male, not stupid.

God, weren't they both just conversational geniuses? Lydia really hoped that the sex was good, because she couldn't imagine what the hell else these two did. Still, they did seem to fit together well, to almost form a single unit against the rest of the small crowd.

What, like it was a crime to scope out a friend's significant other to see how well they operated? Hell, she planned on grilling Mr. Jinadu over dinner, and from what she could tell, he was just a sweet little crush, if anything.

Anyhow, this was normally where she'd split, because yawn, but she still had a little more poking to do. "Interesting crowd His Poshness has gathered. Should we lay bets on whether Simon and Josh end up throwing drinks in each others' faces before the night's over?"

Ugh, why wouldn't she just go away? The tall brunette shifted her weight again, anxious energy making her feel like she couldn't keep still but even she knew it would be rude to turn her back on Lydia no matter how much she wanted the other girl to wander off to wherever she'd come from.

Still, Lil's brow drew slightly at and she looked from Lydia to Scott and back quickly. "Why would they do that?"

"Because even Tam is human," Scott replied. Not that he and Simon had ever talked about the (literally) Golden Boy, but Scott watched stuff. No real secret, there.

"I was actually wondering how many stray comments about him and Jean-Paul it'll take before his head explodes."

"Professional competition at sixteen--so ahead of their years. Josh and Simon are a barrel of laughs in the lab," Lydia agreed with a tiny, satisfied smile-that-wasn't-a-smile. That was as much for the topic as for Lil's body language. Lydia wasn't specifically trying to make her uncomfortable--nor was she able to pinpoint the exact source of it, but she was amused by it all the same.

She went on, "You're right, though, that might be an even better bet. It's so cute that Simon thinks he's being sly."

Lil chewed on her lip as she listened to then both; fingers brushing against Scott's hand to remind her of his solid presence there even if she couldn't feel the warmth of his flesh. Whatever they were saying wasn't quite adding up in her brain... but rather than embarrass Scott by making it even more obvious that his girlfriend was a moron, Lil pushed her long, straight hair back over her shoulder and changed the subject.

"So, um, are you having fun here, Lydia? At the party, I mean. Seems like the kinda thing you did a lot before coming to the school."

If he wasn't really sure of why Lil seemed so uncomfortable now that Lydia was here, Scott was at least pretty sure that she was. He caught her fingers as they brushed by, surruptitiously lacing them with his own. Best he could do for now.

Well, they were a little bit adorable, even if Lydia still didn't get it completely. Then again, the couples who made sense on the outside were usually the ones that were the most fucked up on the inside. (Jackson. Always fucking went back to Jackson. Ugh.)

"Mmm," served as agreement; Lydia wasn't sure if Lil was quick or mean enough to imply anything about it, but it was a fact, and Lydia treated it as such. "I met Jean-Paul at a party, actually. But the company was far less interesting; which is how we found each other. I prefer this one.

"Though New Years" --she kept her eyes on Lil's-- "and Valentine's Day weren't so bad, either. Shame I missed Halloween."

"I didn't go to the Halloween party," Lil admitted. Her shoulders had relaxed a little when Scott had taken her hand, helping to settle her - and shut up the annoying little voice in her head that told her boys didn't like to make themselves look unavailable when it came to pretty rich girls like Lydia and freaks like herself. "And the other ones weren't really like this..." she added a bit more quietly. New Years, really the days following New Years, had sucked for her and Scott. And Valentine's Day, well, that made a light shade of pink stain her cheeks when she thought about what had happened after she and her date had left the party.

This little celebration was definitely different - and not in all the best ways given how uncomfortable the giantess felt in upscale settings and around girls like Lydia - but she couldn't help but hope that when it was over, she and Scott would spend some alone time in his room.

Scott shot Lydia a warning look when she mentioned New Year's, only belatedly realizing it could hurt his case as much as help it. Brainiac he was, he'd just communicated to her that she had some information of value to him.

Great. Moving on.

He squeezed Lil's hand both in comfort and sympathy. He wasn't huge on the overly pretentious parties either. It was a good thing he actually liked Jean-Paul. "I think the ambiance is skewed by the lack of people that are shit-faced."

Lydia caught Scott's look out of the corner of her eye, almost too late, but just filed it away for later and stuck to the subject at hand. She was still more interested in Lil, whose body language was even more telling. "Welcome to Jean-Paul's idea of a good time. Not that I disagree, for so many reasons." Then she sent a little smile Scott's direction, implying that the lack of drunken teenagers was part of that.

Though Damon Salvatore with a bottle of bourbon was never a terrible sight. She guessed Lil knew that too, though.

She was about to ask her something-or-other about food--mainly wondering why Scott was so uneducated in the ways of anything food-like that was interesting and if Lil suffered from the same defect--when a passing server carrying a tray with something that looked like a (virgin, obviously) cocktail with some kind of cola and a large lemon slice in a Manhattan glass-- passed. "Mmm, that looks good. How do we get some of those?"

Meaning: How can I get one of those without chasing after that server like a puppy. Alternatively: Scott, why don't you go get us some of those?

Scott sighed. Turning to Lil, he promised, "I'll get us some, too."

With a last squeeze of Lil's hand and a look telling Lydia to play nice, he headed off after the wait staff.

For a moment, Lil looked like a giant Canadian deer in the headlights; eyes wider than normal with a mix of surprise, fear and utter unhappiness shining bright in them but as Scott pulled away and she was left alone with Lydia, she forced herself to take a deep breath and regain her composure.

"Uh..." Yeah, this was going to go well. "So. Um. How are you liking the school?"

Utterly ignoring both Lil's awkwardness and Scott's parting glance, Lydia smiled just enough that it would seem real. She had to wonder if Lil even realized her boyfriend's potential for training, though; he was halfway there already.

She made sure there were no unfriendly ears nearby before replying, "It's definitely not what I'm used to, but I think we can all say that. First time I've ever been asked to choose a code name, though. What'd you end up with?"

"Diamond Lil," the taller girl answered shifting her weight back and forth from one foot to the other. "Or, Diamond for short, I guess. Scott helped me come up with it. It don't sound real creative, I know, but there's a World War II bomber with that name and, well, the city I'm from had diamond mines so, with my powers making me unbreakable and all, we thought it worked. What about you? What did you pick?"

Lydia looked Lil up and down as she spoke, measuring her name against her person, and ended with a kind of satisfied look on her face. It seemed appropriate. She was pretty sure Lil's power was some sort of invulnerability--and that she could do some damage. "Sad how often WWII references are necessary lately, but I like the name. Not that you require my approval." The little smirk was more wry than mean, since the sentiment was genuine. (Though that dress was really, really awful.) "I went with Panax. I've been on an Ancient Greek kick lately and it means heal-all. Plus, it's the genus name for ginseng, which is supposed to do wonders for immunity--which is my thing. Voila."

Oddly enough, their powers weren't completely dissimilar, now she thought of it. Nothing much could get through to either of them. Hmm.

'Panax' really sounded like some kind of drug to mellow a person out to Lil but she didn't say it out loud. Instead, she just nodded back and gave another little smile - that was surprisingly more sincere than any of the other ones she'd given Lydia that evening. "It's kinda cool how everyone is really putting thought into their names and not just like, picking stupid ones to make some kinda point."

"I'm sure some asshole did, but most people seem to be using their brains." Lydia hadn't actually considered that before, but it was an interesting point. Also, said something about how Lil's brain worked. Interesting. She admitted, "A little warning might've been nice, but then everyone would just overthink. Probably for the best."

And Lydia'd had Toph there to help with hers... which had turned out for the best for both of them, oddly enough.

"Warning or not, I still think it's good people are taking it seriously." Yeah, they were all still kids and needed to still act like it, but sometimes shit got real and well, they needed to not goof off. As far as Lil was concerned, their protection was one of those times. "But yeah, just another day at Mutant High, right?"

Lydia murmured a sound of agreement at the "taking it seriously" idea, and then, "Apparently so. When things are a little more calm around here, it's not half bad." She glanced at Jean-Paul, who was even more in his element than he usually was at parties--because he actually liked the people at this one, rather than just basking in their professional adoration. Currently talking to his sister, who was, as usual, looking ridiculously cute. "The company's not terrible, either."

Lil couldn't help but snort once at that. "It's the same company as always," she pointed out. Her hand moved to the bullet necklace hanging around her throat and started to fiddle with it absently since Scott's hand was no longer an option. "I mean, we see these people everyday. Yeah, it's cool to get outta the school but it ain't like we're hanging out with anyone different."

"I was talking about the school in general." Lydia glanced first at the necklace--a bullet casing? Had she owned it before she'd got shot, or was that a post-shooting memento?--and then around the room. "I'm betting there's a much higher concentration of both weird and intelligence, not to mention good looks and talent--at Xavier's than at the average North American High School."

The "weird" was not an insult. A blue furry teleporter and a golden boy who could heal anything were weird occurrences. But certainly not bad ones. "Though, this is an interesting sample, being Jean-Paul chosen, yes."

Looking over at Jean-Paul for a moment, Lil turned her attention back to Lydia and shrugged. "I don't know him that well so I don't think I'm onna the 'chosen'. Scott got the invite and asked me along. But Simon tutors me and I'm friends with Jeanne-Marie," she explained.

Lydia considered it, but there was no advantage in cutting Lil down.
Instead, she said, "I know Scott invited you. But Jean-Paul would veto if he wanted to. He didn't." She glanced at Paige and the Shaw brat and smirked a little. "Your roommate's plus one is an interesting addition, too."

She glanced over at Paige. "Yeah? I don't know anything about him." Lil didn't meddle all that much in her roommate's affairs... mostly because she didn't really have any. Ever.

"He's a preening little kitten who doesn't like playing serious." Lydia's smile went a little bit unpleasant, there--not because she disliked Shinobi, because in her way, she did. He was useful and intelligent and he did what he was asked. He would ask her for something someday, and that was all right too. She might even give it. Who could say. "Which is why it's an interesting match up.

"But then, an old... friend once pointed out that sometimes, the combinations you think could never work are the ones that work best." Her gaze flicked up to find Scott walking back to them, just on cue. He really was trainable, wasn't he? "Like orange and blue. Mets colors."

If Lil could look any less comfortable, Scott wasn't sure how, and he he felt guilty about leaving her there alone. Of course, Lydia was actually okay company - at least in his experience - so he supposed it could've been worse, but still. Bad boyfriend.

He handed Lydia a glass, "your highness," and then offered the second one to Lil with an apologetic quirk of the lips.

"Thanks," she murmured and taking a large sip, wished it was alcoholic. Oh well. At least Scott was back. Glancing at Lydia, Lil leaned in to give her boyfriend a quick peck on the cheek.

Lydia still wore a faint smirk from the 'your highness' as she sipped at her drink. That was good, actually. She would've said thank you, but he was clearly getting thanks enough--and judging by that look, he was being marked as territory, too.

She had been about to bail, but no. Perhaps not.

"What about your code name, Scott? We were just discussing ours."

"Cyclops. I've got a thing for eating Greeks," he said, shrugging. He smirked at Lil and snagged the glass, taking a sip himself before returning it.

Turning back to Lydia, he asked, "what'd you end up with?"

"She picked Panax," Lil cut in, eyes pointedly avoiding both their gazes, "because she is on a Greek kick." And no, she wasn't going to think about Scott eating Lydia in any context.

Oh, Lydia had so many questions about the choice of Cyclops, for so many reasons. But presented with this opportunity, her best option was clearly just to smile as sweetly as possible and ever-so-slightly raise one eyebrow at Scott.

"A Greek kick, huh?" He asked, smirking. "I would've guessed Chinese, since you've named yourself after ginseng."

Amused as he was, though, and as much as he enjoyed this part of their game, even Scott could feel Lil wound tight next to him. Had something happened? Or was he just imagining stuff? He took her free hand again, since he wasn't sure and figured he couldn't really go wrong with that, at least.

Lil gave his fingers a squeeze back. Thank god he was there and he knew she needed that connection. "Only you, Tam and Paige would know that meant ginseng without asking," she robbed her boyfriend playfully.

Lydia couldn't decide if Lil was doing it on purpose or not, but if she was, it wasn't very smart--not to mention tugging in two different directions. First connecting the dots between Scott eating Greeks and Lydia's Greek code name, and second the territory marking--like a dog with a fire hydrant, really. She could only assume that Lil was either panicking, almost panicking, or had smoked too much weed in her relatively short life. Interesting.

But not for use just now. Lydia filed it away and smiled. She didn't know the Cantonese word (she'd have to ask Toph), but it still worked... ish: "Mmm, I could've gone for rénshēn--but that would feel cultural appropriation-y. And my roommate would've mocked me even more."

She glanced around and stepped back, giving all the physical cues that she was bringing the conversation to an end; partly because she'd learned what she'd wanted to know, partly because she wanted to see how quickly it'd change their demeanor when she left.

"I guess panacea would've been too on the nose," Scott decided as she glanced around. "Not your style."

He smirked. "Are we boring you?"

God, Lil hoped they were boring her. So so much. So much that she'd go away. It was fine that they were friends (okay, 'fine' may have been a stretch but she could accept him having female friends) but the big words and smiles were making the giantess uneasy. She squeezed Scott's fingers again and took a loooong swig of her drink. Maybe she could grab a cigarette in a bit... that would calm all these ridiculous, stupid, incredibly annoying things she was feeling.

"Oh, never," Lydia said, her smirk still in place from the panacea comment (she'd tell him later--maybe), gaze fixed to Scott's--at least, once she noticed Lil's fidgeting. "But I don't want to neglect our host. I'll go and pay homage. Don't have too much fun without me."

Not fucking likely, was what she didn't say, of course.

Scott snorted. "I'm involved. I doubt excessive fun is a real concern here. Though I'm moved by the sentiment."

Lil blinked at Scott's words, a little slow to process what he'd meant by them, then cuddled up a little closer to her boyfriend. "It was nice talking to you, Lydia." Lies, lies and more lies but at least, she was being polite?

Lydia shot Scott a knowing look for the 'I'm involved' comment, but refrained from commenting aloud. For Lil, she offered a small smile, not quite genuine, but not the hollow and mean one of which she was full capable. "You too, Lil. It was about time we had a conversation. See you two around." She raised her eyebrows and moved away smoothly, in the general direction of Jean-Paul, sipping gently at her drink.

"Well, seems like the two of you got along extremely well," he commented dryly as Lydia sashayed off, full of attitude as always. Scott offered Lil a slightly apologetic look. "Sorry for abandoning you."

"You should be," she replied, poking him in the side. "But I know she's your friend and all," though Lil couldn't for her life figure out why, "so I tried to stay on my good behavior."

Scott squirmed slightly away, laughing softly - he was ticklish, so sue him. "What'd you two talk about? Mutual love of shoe-shopping?" He teased. "Next season's fashions? Latest society gossip?"

She gave a little shrug. "Just the school and the kids there. You know I don't go for all that fluff kinda shit with conversations." Though, she would have taken that over feeling lost and confused during some of the back and forth between Scott and the other girl.

"So what was making you so uncomfortable?" He wondered.

"I ain't good with other girls, okay?" Lil grumbled softly. "Especially girls like her. At least, not when I can't hit 'em. They make me, I dunno, feel more like a freak." Never mind that she was Scott's friend and pretty and smart and rich and everything Lil wasn't.

He took her hand again and, after a surruptitious look around to see if anyone was watching them, he brought it to his mouth quickly. Scott kissed the back of it, and promised, "you're not a freak. Not compared to Lydia, or anyone else. Okay?"

"Yeah. Six-foot-four. Can toss around a grown man like he's a rag doll. Not a scrap of femininity. Not a freak at all," she murmured, refusing to meet his eyes.

"Lil." He looked at her seriously, her hand still in his. He stepped a little closer - idly noting that they were the same height - so that he could meet her eyes. Or, at least, Scott hopped he she could. See his eyes, that was. And looking at her like this, it always fucking sucker punched him...she was so beautiful and so oddly vulnerable, and she was...

Well, she was important.

"You're not. You're beautiful, and funny, and sweet, and maybe that means you're better than normal, but it definitely doesn't mean you're a freak." He was pink by the end of it, but she'd needed to hear it.

There was a soft sniffle as she forced back the tears that had threatened to fall - like hell she was going to cry in front of him about this while everyone else was around - then looked up at him. "You're too good for me, you know that?" Lil whispered, leaning in to nudge his jaw with her nose, nuzzling sweetly. "I mean, you know what to say when I'm feeling like crap. Girls like her, they throw me off. Back home, they were the worst to me when I started getting tall. Called me names and shit like that, and they were the ones the boys liked. She just brought back all those bad memories even though she didn't do anything. Really."

"They were idiots. And I'm not too good for you." Another quick glance around before he kissed her cheek. "C'mon. Let's have some fun and then, if you ask real nice, you can pull from your stash and I won't even look at you disapprovingly. Much."

That caused her to smile and though the grin was small, it was still sincere. "See? Too good for me. But I like the way you think, Summers."

Scott tugged at her hand. "C'mon. Let's go find somemore of whatever that drink was. And then, that balcony seems like it's calling my name."

"Yeah? You ain't planning on jumping off it, are you?"

"Well, seeing that many forks per place setting does give me violent urges," he said, completely deadpan. "But I think I can hold off for now. I was actually thinking, again if you're nice to me, that I could pretend that you aren't smoking if you want."

The smile grew as she slid her arm around his. "Mm. Well, maybe, when we get back to school, I can pretend to get lost in the halls and wind up in your room and be really nice to you for being so kind to me."

Scott swallowed and hoped that the heat he felt in his ears wasn't as visible as he suspected. "I'm not sure how you shake on it - and don't feel a need to find out - but deal. C'mon, Diamond Girl. You get yours first."

Lydia, Scott, and Lil, Backdated to JP's Party

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