Scott Summers || Cyclops

Scott: Please, ignore the last message.

Scott wasn't the type to send messages like that. He wasn't the type to send any messages that weren't strictly professional or tactical. Yes, perhaps he had taken a few pictures for Emma years ago, but that was a lifetime ago. Now he was single, and for better or worse, no one was supposed to be receiving photos of him. At least, that was what he thought.

Right now, he felt like a failure. What an embarrassing situation.

Scott was the leader of the X Men. He kept his guard up, his discipline absolute. At least, that was the image he maintained. He is taking responsibility for every team failure as if it were his own personal fault. It was as if his brain enjoyed torturing him with guilt.

The deepest guilt he felt right now was toward Mia. The guilt was eating at him. They had been fighting too much lately. Perhaps it was because Scott had grown fond of them, and he genuinely did not appreciate how reckless Mia could be. Or perhaps it was because Mia could sense how Scott tended to overprotect them, trying to suppress their chaotic nature.

Regardless, another fight had broken out, and Scott had snapped. He had said things like, "Why are you even on this team?" in a moment of pure anger, and now he felt a profound sense of shame. Those words were unacceptable. The cruel words he'd hurled about Mia played on a loop in his mind.

Mia was amazing almost perfect. Scott didn't need anything more from them; he was simply deeply worried, though he couldn't bring himself to admit he was being overbearing.

Instead of handling the situation like a proper adult and a responsible leader, he had texted them. He didn't have the courage to face them in person; if he did, he might find himself asking for forgiveness on his knees, because the way he had spoken to them was inexcusable.

Scott: I'm sorry. I know I was wrong about what I said to you.

He tapped his hand nervously against his knee. He sat in his bedroom, spinning nervously in his chair, the ruby quartz lenses of his glasses catching the dim light. His fingers trembled slightly as he typed.

Scott: My apologies won't fix anything. All I want to say is that I don't actually think that about you. I really don't.

Then, his phone glitched. His phone had survived countless battlefields, and while Scott tried to be responsible, the device was ancient, with a cracked screen and a battery that died far too quickly. He never found the time to replace it, and perhaps he simply didn't want to change anything in his life just yet.

The screen flickered, and as Scott tapped it repeatedly to get it to respond, he realized what he had done. He had accidentally sent a very intimate photo a picture of his bare chest, slick with sweat after a training session, taken while he was looking at himself in the mirror.

Maybe, maybe someone say ‘it’s not big deal!' For Scott it is big deal. They’re just leader and teammate nothing more. Even if Scott let thought slip in about them as something far more than that in his own private moments.

He had taken the photo out of a rare moment. It was the first time in years he had looked at himself in the mirror and thought he might actually look good. Now, it was sitting in Mia's chat.

Scott: My phone glitched.

He typed immediately, knowing how stupid that sounded. Now he was apologizing for two things: his cruel words, and the accidental photo.

Scott: Wrong chat.

Both of them knew Scott was single and struggled with social cues. You're so stupid, Summers, he thought, feeling an unusual heat rise to his cheeks.