AN:  This is going to be a casual walk through some of the facets of Ororo's life/roles.  The new student, I promise, won't be a Mary Sue.  She's just needed to better play with the teaching role she has.  

Oh, and if people can't play the guitar because OMG IT SAYS SO IN THE ANNUAL #541875, I don't care.   They can learn.

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Pausing, Ororo smiled as she heard the faint strains of a guitar wafting down the hall and echoing off the cherry wood panels.  Turning to her left, she altered her original intent of getting a drink of lemonade to one of investigating the music.  As she stretched her arms out behind her, she mused that investigating would not be the right term.  After all, she already knew that only one person could be picking at the guitar to a Wallflowers song. 

Bare feet padding along, Storm hummed along to the carefully selected notes.  She always had enjoyed music, and that's why she had started these guitar lessons.  A stringed instrument was much easier to learn in her mind than a wind instrument.  And, there was always the saliva factor to consider.  She had better things to do with her time than sitting down and cleaning old spittle out of an instrument. 

Once she reached the recreational room, Ororo placed her hand lightly on the doorframe, and leaned her body in. With a small smile, she interrupted the music.  "One Headlight.  Very appropriate, given some of your less flattering nicknames."

Scott looked up from his guitar and smiled.  "Yeah, I always did appreciate a bit of dry irony."  Ororo stepped fully into the room and took a seat on the cedar chest next to Scott.  "Here to have another lesson, or just to help me jam?" 

Reaching behind the chest, Ororo pulled out a light colored acoustic guitar.  "I believe I would sorely test your patience today, Scott.  I feel strumming is the best you can hope for."  She situated the guitar astride her lap, and strummed a few chords, strands of her hair falling down over a shoulder.  "You in another Dylan phase?"

Scott began twisting the knobs at the top of the guitar while testing the sound.  "Nah."  He frowned at the echo, and twisted the topmost knob a bit more.  "Just a long, flowing song."  He began to pick out a certain tune, and Ororo began to follow along, casually strumming in harmony to Scott's precise picking.  While Scott had been teaching her well, she was nowhere near his level of ability, and had to settle for following a tune. 

"I believe Jean, Logan, and Kitty have returned from their mission."  She hit a sour note, and scrunched up her face. 

"That's good."  Scott switched over to another song, Ororo easily following.  All the time they had trained together on the guitar allowed Ororo to track his lead easily, but not with anyone else.  "I wonder how this new girl's going to turn out.  It'll be odd, though, to have someone with her abilities around."  Smiling, Scott deadpanned, "At least she won't "accidentally" knock the power out when it's her turn in the Danger Room session with Rogue." 

Ororo playfully smacked a laughing Scott on the arm.  "It was purely unintentional," she countered.  "A side product of a nightmare."

"Right," Scott drug out.  "And your not so subtle attempt to trade off with Logan the night before was just another side product?"

Ororo glanced away, a hint of a smirk creeping its way onto her lips.  "It is hardly my fault that Rogue is very irritable in the mornings."

"And a lightning bolt is the best solution?"

"Well, a simple snow day does not work when we do not have to leave the grounds to train."

Scott laughed, Ororo smiling along with him.  Shifting songs once again, the two leaders sat and calmly played a tune for a moment, the only sound being the harmonizing strings.  After a bit, Scott's rich tenor came out, relatively softly.  "On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair…" Scott continued as Ororo reflected back. It had surprised Ororo the first time she had heard Scott sing that he could do so surprisingly well.  A baritone while giving orders, Storm had expected that his voice would be too biting and sharp to flow through notes.  But, he had pleasantly shocked her a while back when she stumbled upon him singing along to the radio.

…"Welcome to the Hotel California.  Such a lovely place…" 

"I should have known I'd catch the two of you in here, tinkering with your music."  The flash of red hair preceded Jean as she fluidly stepped into the room.  "I leave for two days, and you revert to having teenage dreams of rock-god stardom."  Jean flopped down heavily into the overstuffed maroon chair across from Scott and Ororo.  "Of course, I'd leave you in a heartbeat for Dave Matthews."

"Really?"  Scott quirked an eyebrow over his glasses as he continued to play.  "It's alright, dear.  We all know you're stuck with me." 

"I feel sorry for her," Ororo broke in.

"And the second two females are in a room with one male, the topic will turn to male-bashing.  I know that must be written in some secret book us guys aren't meant to ever see," Scott snorted.  "Maybe us guys should start a book, too." 

"You already have one," Jean chimed in.  "It's called Playboy.  I mean, we all know that guys only read it for the articles, right?"  Ororo and Jean snickered at Scott's playful growl of frustration. 

"How'd your mission go?" Scott asked, suddenly taking on his leader tone.

"Fine," Jean sighed.  "A bit tiring, though.  She was hard to track down.  She's up with the Professor now."  Sighing, Jean snuggled back into the softness and velvet of the chair, her oversized shirt wrapping around her slim body. 

"Mmm."  Scott changed songs again, and Ororo gave a small smile as she quickly picked up on the song he was now playing.  "You've got your ball, you've got your chain, tied to me tight…"  Dave Matthews.  Figures.  Jean smiled, and shook her head at her husband's goofy attempts at showing his love.  Although, he did have a nice voice…

"Ya know, there's just something 'bout someone who can play the guitar."  The occupants of the room glanced up to see Logan sporting his usual wolfish grin.  It was obvious that he had just emerged from the shower moments before, as his hair was still matted down from the water. 

"Gee, Scott," Jean chuckled, "I think you've got an admirer."

Logan's face grew hard, and he shot a withering glare at Jean, who just laughed it off.  Ororo joined in, nodding with her head towards the other side of Scott.  "I believe that there is still room for you.  You could be his backup singer."  Both Jean and Ororo began to break down into fits of giggles as Logan wrinkled up his forehead in displeasure. 

Scott opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Logan growled warningly.  "If anything other than the next line of that song is coming out your mouth, I'm gonna kill you."

Jean rolled her eyes.  "Sit down, Logan.  Even Scott can take a joke better than you." 

"Thanks for the backhanded compliment, Jean," Scott sarcastically said.

"No problem, dear." 

Scott and Ororo continued playing "Crash" as both Jean and Logan relaxed into their respective chairs.  Their mission had been tiring and mentally draining, but they had come out successful. 

"Logan?"  Ororo questioned.

"Yeah, darlin'?" he mumbled back, partially asleep.

"How did you finally manage to track her down?" 

Logan shifted in his chair to keep himself awake a bit longer.  "She got a bit nervous, couldn't control what was blanked anymore.  She's got nothing offensive power-wise, so it was easy to finally corner her and tell her that we ain't gonna hurt her."

Jean suddenly sat forward, eyes tracking up and to the left before closing.  Everyone went on edge for a moment before the telepath smiled.  "Guys, I think the Professor wants you to meet our new student."