10/19 Instance: Packing Heat

[fourpawsonthefloor]

Packing Heat
Current timeline

Tessa walked nervously down the hallway gripping the box that held Sean's gift. She was a little nervous about asking Forge to do it, wondering if he'd turn her down.

Forge sat in his office in front of the computer screen. He kept flipping through the camera's making sure nothing was out of the ordinary. He stopped on the camera outside his door as he saw someone coming up the hallway. "Hmm... Not entirely unexpected..."

She let out a long breath as she came to the doorway, rolling her shoulders and running a hand through her hair. She smoothed down the front of her shirt and knocked resoundingly on the door.

Forge hit a sequence on his remote control, and several locks could be heard unlatching. The door swung open and Forge swung around in his chair, "Come on in... What can I do for ya?"

Tessa raised an eyebrow at the number of latches she heard freeing themselves and presented the box. "Can you bore out a leaded barrel?" She ran her tongue over her lip, waiting for his answer. She'd decided to be blunt as she'd heard this guy didn't like people to beat around the proverbial bush.

"Well, not chit chatting small talk huh? Yep, wont be much of a problem. May I ask why you want me to bore out a leaded barrel for you?" Forge tapped the fingers on his left hand on the desk in front of him as he spoke.

Hmm. She could hardly say so she could shoot someone with it. Tess decided to play it coy...as much as she was able. "It seems a waste to have a perfectly good gun be simply a display piece." She opened the lid of the box and set it on the desk. "It looks in good condition, save the blocked barrel."

"Well, yeah. Desert Eagle .50, this one was made of a design I drew up back in ... what... 1964.. or 5... I don't remember too well..." He scratched his chin for a moment with his bionic right hand.

"Where did a little thing like you get a gun like this?"

Tessa clenched her teeth and smiled pleasantly, forcing herself to ignore the comment. "It was a gift. I enjoy guns. They're effective when used correctly."

"Well yes... You know of course, that personal weapons are forbidden on this campus by Xavier right?" Forge raised his eyebrow to see her reaction.

Tessa felt the corners of her mouth lift in a genuine smirk. "I do. I don't own another...ah, personal weapon of this sort." She tapped her temple. "With a minor exception, of course."

"But I fail to see why that should reduce this to a glorified paperweight." She set the box lid down on the desk.

"You could put an eye out with that thing, you know." He grinned. "If... and it's a big one, if I fix it, will you promise not to run around shooting all of our students?"

"I've been told." She gave him a grin in return that could best be described as both calculating and deceptive, leaning forward to rest her hands on the edge of the desk. "Now why would I do that?"

"I'm going to take that as a rhetorical question, myself knowing that you know that I am head of security on campus and know everything that happens to everyone." He said with just a bit of a grin as he leaned back in his chair.

"Oh, so it was true. You do spy on us through the cameras." She chuckled softly. "I won't shoot anyone with it. But I'd like to be able to at least shoot with it, even at just paper targets."

"It's not really spying, more like... monitoring, yeah, that's the word for it. Toss it here." He held out his hand.

Tessa picked up the heavy piece of metal and held it out to the professor, barrel first, with a smile. "Monitoring. Say, anything interesting going on in the showers lately?"

"Sadly Xavier looks very unkindly on cameras in the showers..." Forge took the gun with his left hand and his right hand whirled for a second and was replaced with a diamond tipped drill.

Tessa laughed at that. "Pity, isn't it." She watched his hand change and was momentarily fascinated by it. There was a mutation she hadn't seen before.

He held it tightly, and swiftly drilled a clean hole into the lead. His hand whirled again and a small micro-torch appeared. He placed the flame in the hole and looked up to talk while he worked. He caught her glance at his hand. "Ha! bet you can place that mutation, huh? I'll give you a hint since you weren't here... but that's just robot parts, lost my real one a long time ago during 'Nom... or was it WW2?... Anyway, was really tragic.

"Oh, don't underestimate me. Your mutation, specifically, is a tendency towards mechanical creation, and an understanding of the energies involved therein." She ran her tongue over her lips and smiled.

"Impressive, smart and pretty, keep it up and I'll have to make you my new lab assistant." Forge turned the gun over behind the desk and let the lead pour out into a metal bin. His other hand whirled again and became a buffer equipped with steel wool. He thrust it in to clean out the excess.

"Why thank you. That happens to be my ability." She patiently watched him clean out the newly-unblocked barrel, and smiled. "I'll have to practice with that soon....I'm afraid I'm not quite used to, ah, large calibres as this is."

He finished cleaning the gun, and checked the threads inside. Seeing that all was good, he handed it over. "Yep, It's a two hander, that's for sure. If you want any lessons on how to use it, you let me know. May not be what I once was, but I'm still better'en anyone else here. Heh, and I can shoot too." He laughed at his own joke.

Tessa stifled the laugh. "Most everything can be used with two hands if you're inventive." She gave him a wink and took the gun back again, nestling it in its box. "And I hear you are very inventive."

"Heh, indeed. Well, you go play nice with the kids. And if you need anything else, you know where I am." He stood up to walk her to the door.

"Thank you very much, sir. I will most assuredly come see you again." As he stood she noted he was taller than she was...and remembered she was wearing a rather low-cut shirt. She smiled inwardly.

"Your welcome, was my pleasure." He grinned as he looked down at her. Nice .. shirt.. He walked along side her to the door. "Guess it's time for me to head back to work."

"And time for me to put this someplace safe." She held out a hand to shake his, giving him a sincere smile.

"That'd be good, out of sight, out of mind." He shook her hand with his good left one. "Well, you have a nice night, and I'll see you later."

"oh, I will." She exited the doorway and turned back for a minute. "Oh, and just for information, the camera in the kitchen has a blind spot between the door to the rec room and the sink. I'd move it." She strode off with a sweet smile on her face.

Forge watched her walk off with a smile of his own. but the one behind the mirror over the sink doesn't. He thought to himself as he shut the door and went back to work.

[steyn]

Did Tessa just flirt with a faculty member?!?

[wingyding]

...maaayyybe.