Paige Guthrie feels horrible. She hasn't spent one on one time with her best friend in ages. The other day she tried to figure out exactly how long it had been and stopped trying once she realized it was over a month. This needed to be rectified.

She didn't bother to bring anything but her own charming company. If Jubilee needed some help with Cati then Paige would happily lend a hand and if not hopefully they could have a good old fashioned gossip session.

She was definitely out of the loop.

Once again, open to all. :)

And in the air...

Open to any and all!


Paige Guthrie was determined. She would do what she had to in order to make sure her brother's team did not get to the flag first. He could not win, he would not win. Sibling pride was at stake and damn it she was going to show what a little sister could do!

She surveyed her crew and smiled. Oh they were going to win this. They were most definitely going to win this. How could they not? She had flight, speed, strength, shielding, and not to mention Kurt Wagner, pirate extraordinaire. What did Sammy's team have except a whole lot of old people, and Tabby and Sally but those girls just didn't count. At least not right now.

"Come on people, let's get that flag!"

Paige Guthrie was nearly speechless as she entered the Stark residence with her boyfriend. Nearly. Which meant she was quietly pointing out different decorations to him as they walked around, her voice getting higher and girlier with each announcement. It was an impressive display, not that there was any doubt in her mind. Ms. Frost was nothing but impressive and the whole reason Paige had even dragged Jono to this affair was to show their former headmistress support.

Plus she wanted to dance. And wear her pretty new dress. What better way to accomplish both of those than at the Frost/Stark charity ball?

Somehow she would make it up to her boyfriend for dragging him along. She had a list of ideas that she'd try out after the party but before then she wanted to dance.

It was always times like this that Paige Guthrie wished her siblings could see her boyfriend. They always missed the brilliance to him, the way he shined when he did something as simple as try and cook supper for her which turned into drawing a bath and plans to escape for a few days. She'd nearly fallen asleep in the tub, her exhaustion trying to take over and force her body the rest it desperately deserved but each time she closed her eyes she kept seeing Sammy laying dead in front of her.

Maybe Cable was right. Maybe she did need his help in taking the images away so she could finally rest. Paige didn't want that to happen though. She didn't want that man in her head, didn't want him messing with her mind. She knew Sammy wouldn't like it and she didn't think Jono would approve either. Paige needed to figure out another way to finally get some rest. Hopefully Jono's idea of a roadtrip would help.

Paige wasn't sure where they were headed and truth be told once he started the car and they exited the mansion grounds she didn't care. It was almost as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders by that alone and she curled up on her side as best she could in the passenger seat.

"Thank you," she murmured, and closed her eyes, hugging her stuffed dog tightly. This just had to work.

Paige had been a mess of emotions since Cable had returned them to the homestead. Up, down, sad, angry. The only thing she hadn't been was happy. She had a feeling that emotion wouldn't be experienced by any of them for a long time.

Sammy was in denial. Tabby was her own variety of a wreck and Paige didn't want to cause Jubilee anymore stress. She couldn't go back to her room either. Jono knew something was wrong. Jono would eventually ask questions and she didn't want to deal with those. He'd get her to sleep and she didn't want to do that either. She had to keep moving, even more than usual.

And then Cable had gone into her mind again and wanted to meet, to alleviate his damn pain or something. She wanted to hit him, to scream, to exact on him as much pain as she was feeling right now. That was the only reason she'd gone to the boathouse. The only reason why when the annoying blue glow began shimmering around her and lifting her into the air she didn't scream for help.

Her features hardened as she sailed through the air. This wasn't like when Sammy or Jay took her up into the sky. She didn't care for this kind of flight at all. Didn't care for the man she was about to see either.

Paige crossed her arms as she began to descend, glaring the entire way down. She was scared and she didn't even try to mask that. He'd know anyway. Her anger outweighed it. If this was the only way she could let go of the anger eating her up inside then she was ready to show exactly what she'd learned in the Danger Room.

RP for ticktabby, littlepaffs, hayseed_sam, warmersummers and guthrie_jaybird

Thursday Morning


Paige woke up at five thirty because of a constant poking in her side. As much as she loved her baby sister it had taken a lot of energy not to smother the little girl who had tried to look innocent as she hopped out of bed. A quick glance showed Jubilee and Tabitha still sound asleep. They looked peaceful. Paige wanted to go back to looking that peaceful.

"Mama's cookin'!" Hannah whispered, her voice still too loud for that early in the morning. "Can ya smell it? Ain't it great?"

Paige wiped the sleep from her eyes and pulled her hair into a messy ponytail. "Uh huh." She needed coffee if she was going to be anywhere near coherent. Her little sister didn't seem to notice and tugged, pulling Paige out of the room.

"We're gonna make pie an' potatoes an' green beans an' sweet potatoes an' salads an' corn an' turkey!" Hannah's voice rose in volume with each word. "But Ma says this turkey ain't got a name an' I'm supposed ta tell ya that. It's just a turkey. Wasn't no one's pet."
( Read more... )

Technically it was still her room so Paige didn't know why she was bothering to knock. But some ingrained sense of manners told her that she should knock and wait for her best friend to open the door. That was if Jubilee was even in the room. She could always be over in the room she was now sharing with Lorna. Paige was trying really hard not to show her feelings about that, to mask the annoyance and jealousy she felt.

Jubilee was her best friend and Paige's schedule was jam packed so that the time she did get to spend with the girl she didn't want to be encompassed by her envy. A small part of her missed being Jubilee's roommate but Paige also knew she wouldn't go changing her current sleeping accommodations for anything. She was simply going to need to figure out a way to schedule in more time with her best friend and not worry about Lorna taking her place.

Paige hoped she could be at least semi-successful.

Paige Guthrie has no clue how to seduce a man. Suddenly she wishes she'd paid attention to Ms. Frost more when they were at the Academy. Wasn't her former teacher supposed to be the expert at that? Paige was certain she had been taking notes on the wrong thing. Calculus, physics and advanced English Lit were absolutely no help in this arena. She could buy a million sexy little pajamas and high heels and still have no idea what she was supposed to do while actually wearing them.

Obviously she was the world's worst girlfriend.

Not that she was even trying to seduce her boyfriend. God. When had everything become so complicated? Though, really had it ever been simple? And where was her best friend when she needed her around to talk to and get some advice? Off with Wolverine. Typical. Paige needed to have a talk with that man about him taking Jubilee away for long periods of time. It was never allowed to happen again. Three days maximum or at least phone service!

How Jubilation Lee was handling being away from working cell service was beyond Paige. She had a feeling Wolverine wouldn't be doing that again. Not when the girl could talk his ear off at the best of times. Without anyone else around to chat up he would be Jubilee's main target. Paige almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

Paige took her time making her way to Jono's room, organizing her schedule for the next day in her head. She was trying to figure out exactly when she had to wake up in the morning. Maybe she'd skip out on her five-mile run in the morning. Everyone deserved a break.

Contemplating the ups and downs of missing one day of exercise, Paige knocked on his door and waited for an answer.

Paige Guthrie loved having her older brother at the mansion. Usually. Most days. It was just those few hours every so often when he irritated the hell out of her that she wished he'd go bother someone else. They had eight other siblings. He should share his lectures with all of them as well. She was pretty sure Jay was not privy to the same talks that she had to endure. Double standards seemed to be his forte.

And if she heard 'Life ain't fair' one more time she was gonna slug him.

Apparently today was one of those days she was finding him to be irritating and Paige wasn't even sure why that was. He hadn't actually done anything in a few days, or at least, nothing that she could be angry with him about. She had a feeling it was her unease with his obvious dislike of her boyfriend. It almost felt as though she was disappointing him by being with Jono and Paige hated disappointing her older brother. This was one thing she wasn't going to budge on and somehow she had to get over the internal guilt.

Ice cream seemed like a good way. Which was why she was in the kitchen, rummaging through the freezer so late at night.

Paige hated making others feel bad. She hated even more when she somehow upset someone close to her. When she'd began dating Jono she'd promised herself that she would still make time for her friends and family. Somehow she'd fallen short with Jubilee. She hadn't meant to but when she went from late night talks with Jubilee to late night make out sessions with her boyfriend spending time with her best friend had definitely decreased.

She just needed to find a better balance. That was all because she wasn't losing either of them. Not to something as simple as time.

Paige grabbed her dog off the bed and after wrapping her robe securely around her, she bounded over to Jubilee's room. She tapped once and inhaled quickly. Hopefully Jubilee wasn't too hurt.

It took Paige twenty-four minutes and thirty-three seconds to be ready. Twenty-four was closer to twenty than thirty so she was counting it as a victory on her part. Did men just not understand all the intricacies that went into getting ready? There was picking out an outfit and fixing your hair and then picking another outfit because the shoes that you really wanted to wear didn't work with the first chosen one. Which of course meant doing your hair a different way. Men had it infinitely easier.

She'd settled on black boots she'd borrowed from Rogue the week before to go with the jeans that hugged her curves a little too perfectly and a black and white hooded long-sleeved shirt. Silver bangle bracelets from Tabby completed the outfit. Her room was in a worse state of mess than when she'd started and she tried kicking the clothes into the closet before realizing that she was now over thirty minutes.

Dang it.

She was never going to be able to live this down. Not that it mattered, not really. The part to focus on was that she was going to be having drinks with Jono, not the fact that he'd guessed correctly how long it would take her. The 'with Jono' part of the equation was causing her to grin rather stupidly and she tried to calm herself as she made sure to stuff her keys and cell into her purse.

Now all she had to do was wait for him to arrive.

He was right. The waiting was painful.

Popcorn? Check.

Soda? Check.

Old home movies that would completely embarrass her older brother? Check.

Now all that was missing was her partner in crime for this viewing. For a turn of events it was even Jubilee that Paige was waiting on. It was Sam's teammate--former teammate, he wasn't part of X-Force anymore--Tabby, and Paige loved Tabby and not just because she could happily rub it in that she'd saved her life before. Tabby was like the older sister Paige didn't really have; someone she could talk to about boys and clothes and the various other things that she couldn't discuss with her brothers. She couldn't talk with her younger sisters about them either since she was supposed to be their expert on it. In Paige's mind Tabby filled in the older sister role beautifully. Even if the discussions they had usually eneded in Paige turning bright shades of red.

Paige popped the video in and plopped down on the bed, waiting for the older girl to arrive.

Paige Guthrie had never run from anything in her life. She preferred to meet problems head on and figure out a solution. Problems involving people were harder and needed to be dealt with in a more delicate matter than when she fixed a computer error but she used the same philosophy to conquer both. In her opinion there was never any point in beating around the bush and that was why she was standing outside of Jono's new room.

It was best if she got the "hellos" and "how are yous?" done as quickly as possible so she knew where they stood. Of course with Jono she never really understood where she stood. Paige was determined that was not going to happen this time. She would be strong, she wouldn't back down. She was going to make him talk if it killed her.

None of that determination could explain why she'd fussed with her hair for nearly an hour and changed clothes more times than she wanted to mention. Her bed was covered in discarded clothing, none of them quite what she'd wanted. Then, after she'd slipped into a slinky little dress she'd bought with Jubilee on a lark she'd been so disgusted with herself that she'd changed into a pair of old gray sweats and pulled her hair into a ponytail.

And so that's how she was when she knocked on his door and then crossed her arms, hoping her heart wasn't pounding as loud as she thought it was.

Back at the Guthrie farm the roof had been the place to go for peace and quiet. If you ever needed to think it was where you escaped to. Paige thought the same about the roof at the Mansion. This one was definitely higher than the one back home but she was an adapt climber and heights were not one of her fears. Besides, she wanted to escape the hustle and bustle of the students down below.

What she really wanted to do was talk with her big brother. It had been some time since she'd last seen him for more than a few hours and she missed him. If she was honest with herself she'd been missing him since the day their father died and Sam had taken on that role. She loved all of her brothers and sisters, and was ecstatic when Jay began attending school at Xavier's, but her relationship with Sam was different than with the others. Most likely because he was the only older sibling she had and he'd always been looking out for her. She didn't have to look out for him (though she tried) the way she did her other siblings.

So here she was, sitting on the roof of Xavier's and hoping he'd get the hint that she wanted to talk.

Paige was exhausted. She'd been up since nearly dawn upgrading the Mansion's server and then, as part of her punishment for the Jell-O prank, she was at the service of any student with computer trouble. The amount of fur, feathers, and other body parts somehow ending up lodged into various computer consoles was still mystifying, not to mention she still hadn't quite figured out how Karma had managed to demolish the motherboard. Who knew bringing Jubilee a few boxes (okay nearly twenty) of Jell-O would result in so much trouble? Technically, Paige should have. They were best friend's after all.

Which was the only reason Paige was even waiting in the foyer of the Mansion instead of soaking in a nice long bubble bath. Jubilee needed her so she was there. Paige was a Guthrie and they were pretty damn loyal.

She was ready, bag slung over her shoulder and carrying the notebook and research she'd done on environmentally-sound hybrid cars. She didn't really want Jubilee to see the papers. They were already color coded based on various criteria and she knew her friend would tease. Not that Paige minded too much. She simply didn't want to start the ball rolling.

Paige tried not to glance at the nearby clock and smirked. How was it that she took less time than Jubilee?