8451/Rules Break Like the Dawn

Rules Break Like the Dawn
Date of Scene:	22 July 2019
Location:	Dazzler's room, the X-mansion
Synopsis:	Dazzler and Cyclops confront a difficult choice and step into something new.
Cast of Characters:	Cyclops, Dazzler

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Cyclops has posed:
When Alison wakes up, she can just feel there is no body beside her. A feel of the sheets finds them already cool. When she opens her eyes though, Scott is sitting on the end of the bed. He is dressed, resting with his arms on knees. He looks over when hears Alison move.

"Good morning," he says with a wry smile. "You were out like a light."

Alison's clothes are folded neatly on the end of the bed beside him.

Dazzler has posed:
Alison smiles and stretches, then sits up in bed, swaddled in sheets that she wraps around herself. She draws her knees up and wraps her arms around the sheets that cover them. "Morning, Scott," she murmurs with a sleepy smile. "I think that was mostly your fault," she chides playfully, her face more alight than it's been in some time. "I must've been worn out, for some reason."

She peers out the window, noting that the sun is already up and brightening the room cheerfully. "How long have you been up?" She asks, sliding a foot down beneath the covers to rock gently against his hip where he sits. "I'll make some breakfast if you're hungry. We never did eat last night..."

Cyclops has posed:
Alison's foot finds him. He reaches down to rub it through the sheet with one hand. He massages the bottom of Alison's foot with his thumb.

"An hour or so," Scott replies with a shrug. "I can't stay for breakfast, but I didn't want to just go."

"Ali... Last night," he says and his smile broadens a little before he catches himself. "It shouldn't have happened. We're supposed to be just teammates."

Scott keeps massaging Alison's foot gently.

Dazzler has posed:
Alison nods thoughtfully, but the smile fades. "Well...right, I mean. You were just blowing off steam, right? I won't...won't tell anyone." She tilts her head for a moment, watching him. "Is that what you want? Just teammates?"

Cyclops has posed:
"I wasn't blowing off steam," he says firmly with a frown. "This wasn't. That."

Scott is quiet for a while. The only sound is their breathing and the faint rustle of clothing as keeps needing Alison's foot. He turns a bit more so his arm is at a more natural angle.

"We've got rules for a reason," Scott says, as if that explains everything. "I'm the team leader, I can't just ignore them. I'll lose the respect of the team."

Dazzler has posed:
Alison nods thoughtfully. "But...last night happened. And no amount of forcing ourselves apart is goin' to change that. And it won't alleviate the problem that the rules are there to eliminate." Alison frowns slightly. "Rules can't change or dictate how someone feels."

Cyclops has posed:
"It was one night. That can't mean much," Scott ventures. It is something between a question and statement.

"We can be the way were before last night. Friends," he says. His thumb slows to a stop but he does not let go of Alison's foot. "That's allowed."

Dazzler has posed:
"If we were just friends last night, this wouldn't have happened," Alison observes quietly. "We're not the way we were. We're the way we are."

Alison moves to flip herself around, so that she is lying on her stomach beside Scott, still draped in the sheet. Her knees are bent up, ankles crossed in the air behind her. She takes his hand in both of hers. "It was just one night. What did it mean to you?" she asks, probing.

Cyclops has posed:
Scott's eyes roam across Alison's form, outlined by the way the sheet drapes across her. He works his jaw and then looks down to meet her eyes and squeezes her hand a bit.

"I don't know. I wasn't blowing off steam," he repeats himself.

"It was just a cover at first," he insists sincerely, oblivious to all else that suggested otherwise. "Then it was what I wanted. I wanted more of you. What did it mean to you?"

Dazzler has posed:
"It was...surrender. I didn't know how I felt. You were...my Scotters. Always there and always safe. And after that first kiss....well everything flipped upside down. And it was like trying to hold back a flood with a paper plate." Alison ducks her head down a little, resting her lips against the back of his hand. "And it was like it was always there but somehow hidden," she says more softly against his skin.

Cyclops has posed:
Scott looks down at Alison with a slight frown. He sits not moving for a long time. There is just that slight frown and a tiny movement of the jaw that shows in his cheeks. He exhales finally.

"This wasn't supposed to happen," he says quietly. "And now, I don't know what to do. We can't tell the others. I /just/ told them this can't happen. And I can't hide it, not with Jean and Rachel and Emma around. Jean especially. We've been friends a long time, she's used to just 'checking in'."

"I've never tried to hide anything from her before," he muses to himself.

Dazzler has posed:
Alison is quiet this time, for a few moments. "That night at the factory," she begins quietly, "I resolved to take my leave of the team. I canceled a tour to come home and help. But I felt like it was wasted. That night was my darkest experience with the team. I didn't feel like I belonged. Or supported it anymore."

Alison reaches over the edge of the bed with her free hand, and pulls a many-times-crumpled sheet of paper from beneath the mattress and unfolds it. "I wrote a resignation. But I couldn't leave you with it alone. So I hid the letter away."

Cyclops has posed:
"You what?" Scott asks, shocked and bothered. He grips Alison's hand more tightly.

"Ali, Daz... I know that was bad, but we've had bad missions before. The team needs you there. I want you there," he says, concerned. He looks toward the letter. "You're serious, you almost left..."

Dazzler has posed:
"In as close as I could let myself get, without knowing I couldn't just take off and leave you alone with it," Alison replies. "But I couldn't. Because of you. And now? Well, now I'm in this situation. I can't stay for you. I can't leave. I don't even know if there's a right answer anymore..."

Cyclops has posed:
Scott looks out the window. He is conflicted and it is written all over his face.

"You only stayed because of me? Ali... How long have you..." he searches for the words. "Wanted this."

Dazzler has posed:
"I stayed for you," Alison echoes quietly. "But as for how long I've felt this way? I couldn't say any more than you could answer that question. You were my friend. I cared deeply for you. But you were...kind of taken, you know? I couldn't let myself..."

Cyclops has posed:
A scowl flashes across Scott's face. He turns to Alison and climbs on to the bed beside her. He lays on top of the sheet next to her, under it.

"I was never taken. I just wasn't seeing clearly. That's over though... And whatever this is," he says. "It feels good."

Scott rolls over on his back and looks up at the ceiling.

"If you were staying for me... Would you leave for me?" he asks. "I don't know what this even is, it was one night. I want more though."

Dazzler has posed:
"I would leave for you." Alison seems matter-of-fact on the matter. "But it would be the hardest thing I've ever done. Because I want to be there to protect you. But then we're back to where we were. The rule is there for a reason." She scrunches up her nose. "This sucks."

Cyclops has posed:
"It does... What the hell did I do? It made so much sense yesterday."

Scott rolls back on to his side. "We could just...." he cuts himself and shakes his head. "No, we can't. We'll figure it out. I can cut the rule, just not right now. It would look bad, but later, I could."

Dazzler has posed:
"No. We couldn't," Alison replies, as if reading his mind. "I will leave the X-Men. I'll focus on my concerts, and the protests. I can't promise I won't try to help when I can. But the rule stays in place, until such time as it makes sense to remove it. We'll figure it out. It'll be okay. I promise."

Cyclops has posed:
Scott puts his hand in the small of Alison's back.

"That's serious. You can still come on some missions, especially with the others. But it's still serious. They will want to know why, and what's going on. And it was one night...." Scott says and tilts his head. "Are you /sure/?"

Dazzler has posed:
"I'm as sure as you are. I don't want to give /this/ up." Alison regards him quietly for a long moment, reaching up to touch his cheek. "Besides, they might not have to wonder for long. It might be kind of obvious."

Cyclops has posed:
A slow smile creeps across Scott's face. He leans down to his lips against Alison's.

"You're probably right," he says quietly. Then he kisses Alison slowly and gathers her toward him.

Dazzler has posed:
Alison wraps her arms around Scott, and holds him quietly for awhile. "Maybe I can quietly leave the group before anyone knows what happened. For now, at least we're the only ones who know."