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Aftermath; [continued from Mall Crawl](Jean, Scott)
Topic Started: Sep 26 2007, 06:40 AM (360 Views)
Jean
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Telepathy, Telekinesis
Hi gang,

It has been nearly two weeks since there was any movement on this thread and (from what I can determine) two players have flown the coop: Geoff (Jamie Madrox) and Star (Meltdown).

I'm all for a big team battle to give people practice in working together and using their powers (it could be just a plain woot)... but something isn't clicking here... this "simple training exercise" has dragged on for nearly two months.

Any suggestions to get things going? Should we call it quits and make up a quick way to CLOSE the thread?

Is there anyone (part of ANY team group) that wants to participate in a big Team Combat Training exercise?
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Ari Boyd
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I'd be interested in doing a big training thing since there aren't that many Paragons around at the moment. :ninja:
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Alix
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well, you can give their characters a little 'shove' you know, have it to where they both are called out to leave for some reason, and just move around them
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STRIKE ME DOWN SHOULD HAVE HELD IT ALL ALONE
WASH THE QUESTION OFF MY HANDS I'M THE FATE IN NO ONES PLAN
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Jean
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The drive back to the school seemed long in the silence: Scott was cut off from her, Rosie was exhausted and sleeping. Scott’s hands and jaw were clenched but the kiss on her hand before they left told her she wasn’t the direction of his thoughts. But still, he looked like a spring ready to snap… although, Scott Summers didn’t snap, not usually anyway; he internalized it and gnawed it, like a dog with an old bone. It would be a miracle if he reached 35 yrs old without chronic ulcer problems.

They drove through the gates a touch too fast but nothing Scott’s driving skills couldn’t handle, and slid to an easy stop that didn’t even wake Rosie. Jean unbuckled the little girl and floated Rosie easily into her arms; she briefly stirred but only rubbed her face and fell asleep again. Jean reached out and took Scott’s tense hand. “Come up to my room,” it was a simple sentence that so many undertones: a question, an offer, a request; it was whatever Scott wanted to take it.

She saw him nod and head for the trunk. Without waiting, she took Rosie up, knowing Scott would follow in his own time.

Once upstairs, she laid the three yr old down and soundlessly, a large folding screen Jean had made only a few days ago, moved across the floor to block the view between Rosie’s bed and her bed.

When Scott arrived with the bags, she soundlessly retrieved new pants and a shirt they had just bought for him and tilted her chin to point to the attached bathroom.

When Scott emerged, Jean had also changed out of her dusty clothes, into something soft and casual, and lay on the bed waiting for him. When she held out her arms to him, it wasn’t the come-hither of lust but an unspoken offer to comfort and be there.



OOC – Scott’s actions were approved by his player.
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Jean
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Sure, I'm okay with keeping the same one going. And I have PMed people to keep it going, but I don't want to keep doing that if they might not be really interested in keeping it going.

I want to use this as a forum to see who wants to keep going or bail out ... or if someone new wants to join, and then we'll figure out a way to switch some characters out and bring others in.

I hope everyone will speak up and let their thoughts be known.
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Cyclops
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“Come up to my room,”

He nodded, and said nothing still, almost afraid of what was going to come out of his mouth. He was not angry at her and she knew it. He was not angry at Rosie and he would tell her so when she woke up. He was not even mad at Alex. He didn't know what he was feeling, to be truthful. His emotions had been bottled up for so long, his way of protecting himself from the world, and stopping himself from turning his sights on doing things that would make things worse.

Jean took Rosie up to their room, and Scott, not quite ready to go up yet, went to the garage, and threw on a work shirt to replace the one his brother's powers had ruined. He paused a moment to examine the shredded article of clothing, noticing that the cotton fibers were singed, and the polyester ones were melted. That heat... His brother's powers and his were the flip of each other. Scott's all concussion and no heat, Alex's all heat and no concussion. Scott tore the shirt along the shreds, tossing it into the rag bin.

He brought the dust vac out to the car, and went over the seats and floor, sucking up every last grain, before he even considered going to shower. It itched and made him cough, but he didn't stop, until it was completely done. Then, he put the dust vac away and walked around the building, looking up at the mansion until he got to the window that he knew was Jean's, knew by heart. She'd picked a room overlooking the gardens. He'd spent a lot of time standing in the middle of the flowers, looking up at that window, wishing things had been different. She was waiting for him... Because she loved him. The same reason she did what he had asked her to do today to cover up what Alex had done...

Because she loved him, and so she had done something that neither of them believed in, using her powers to an unfair advantage. It had been the only way...

But that made it no less wrong.

He went upstairs where she was waiting for him, and took the new clothes, a pair of dark jeans, and soft grey and white shirt and went into the bathroom. Slipping off his glasses, he stepped into the shower, bathing in darkness, as he had trained himself to. It was the only way he knew how to do it, but he was used to it by now. The darkness helped though, to focus his mind, to calm him.

Scott had learned many ways to cope with his issues. He couldn't open his eyes for fear of killing someone so he learned to do everything blind. He overcame his fear of flying by mastering planes, cars, motorcycles. He could not show his emotions, so he fell hard for a telepath who would always know them anyhow.

How do you cope with your only relative hating you? How do you cope with knowing that he was miserable because you had failed him? How do you cope with him being a walking timebomb?

He slipped on his glasses, and dressed, combing his hair with his fingers. It was short enough to do so. Stepping into the room, he peeked behind the screen, making sure Rosie was asleep, delaying looking at Jean for a few more minutes, expecting her to hate him for dragging her into all this drama, ruining what should have been a fun family day.

He turned and found her waiting, laying on her bed. He opened his mouth to say something but there were no words to say what he wanted to say. She opened her arms, and he knelt beside her. She folded her arms around him, and he rested his head on the mattress, miserable, ashamed but thank God, not alone.
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Aingeru
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Sorry about that, Jean. I feel like it's kind of my fault the training thread ground down to a halt, since everyone waited for my post with Al. All of my pending threads are suffering. I'm just getting a bit bogged down with classes on this side of things. And a stressed Jara is an uninspired Jara.

Anywho. If Geoff isn't coming back, we can simply shuffle off his characters as NPC for the moment. My concern isn't so much with Jamie as it is with Erik, but we can definitely work around that.
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Jean
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Jean waited patiently for Scott to arrive in her room. He was taking his time, holding himself together by his iron-will, but it something he had to do… for himself. Through open window she heard the whir of the vacuum and didn’t have to look out her window to know that Scott was somewhere working off the edge of whatever he was feeling. If any student or friend saw Scott, he would put on his normal solemn face as though nothing was wrong. She didn’t begrudge him any of this time, it was his way; he had to put everything in order … get all his duties over and done with before he’d allow the spring to release.

Her heart sank when Scott walked in; his face was impassive, not the serious expression he habitually wore but the stone-like mask of a man trying to hide engulfing emotions. When he emerged from the shower and knelt at the side of her bed, it tore at her heart to see the misery he’d been keeping at bay, finally seize him when he leaned his head against her mattress.

She knew that Scott didn’t want pity, from anyone and especially not her… and he’d never get it from her; she respected him too much to pity him.

Jean leaned over Scott, kissed his wet hair and rubbed her hands lovingly along his back. After a long moment, she whispered into his ear, “Come up here with me…” She guided him up onto the bed next to her. She wrapped her arms protectively around him, comforting him with gentle caresses as he released all the stress he’d been holding in and began rebuilding his self control.

He would come back to her when he was ready.
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Cyclops
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“Come up here with me…”

Scott allowed her to pull him up into her bed, and he realized that this was their first time in this bed since they had become lovers. He'd been in it before, of course. When Jean had nearly broken her ankle the first time she had tried to fly with her powers, he'd spent hours up here with her, watching an all night marathon of Fred Astaire movies. He'd teased her the whole time, telling her she should get her lazy bottom out of bed and dance along with Fred. She'd nearly smothered him with her pillow.

But every time they had been together as adults, as a couple, which he wouldn't lie, had not been alot of times, it had been his room. He'd seriously thought about asking her to move into his room. There were larger suite rooms up on the third floor, master bedrooms, mostly vacant at the moment since it tended to get hot up there and might seem a little scary if one was to be in there alone. But he could easily work on the air conditioning, take one of the suites, set up the other room in it for Rosie, a nice little nursery...

He lay in her arms, not ready yet to speak. She was so patient with him, how could she possibly last a life with him? He would burn her out, his undeniable neediness flaring so hot until it consumed them both.

He closed his eyes behind his glasses and whispered, "I'm sorry for making you do that. I'm sorry for putting you in the middle of my drama. I'm sorry for endangering Rosie in all this." He sighed deeply and said, "I'm sorry for being so... Scott."
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Jean
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What could she say? It wasn’t your fault? You couldn’t have known?

Somewhere inside him, he knew that. He had no control over Alex showing up, nor did he have control over that moron blowing off the roof; it was an unkind thought but she didn’t care. She knew that all of these points would fall on deaf ears. As logical as Scott usually was… this wasn’t about logic, it was about emotion.

“Scott…” Jean said and kissed the top of his head, as his cheek rested on her chest, “I love you and I want to be in your life: for the good and the bad parts.” She carefully avoided his glasses as she lightly caressed his cheek. “And as for being sorry for being Scott, I think he’s a great guy… and Rosie thinks he’s …kewl,” she pronounced the word the way Rosie did. “And I think we’re pretty good judges of character… if I do say so myself.”

While they’d been curled together, Jean’s hand stroked his back and shoulders, feeling the tension slowly fade from his muscles. In the car, he’d blocked the habitual connection she had to his mind. He was an independent man who needed to sort through his thoughts and feelings on his own, but as the girlfriend of an intensely… self-controlled man… she‘d found the sudden void very disconcerting. Rosie’s presence was giving Scott the opportunity to loosen his ridged self-control among everyone but he was still not completely comfortable showing emotions or vocalizing them, even to her.

She closed her eyes, resting her cheek against the top of his head, she tried the connection again.

:: Scott… will you let me in? ::
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Cyclops
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Cradled in the arms of the only woman he had ever truly loved, had loved since she'd first arrived at the school a few months after his own arrival, he listened to her words and he whispered, "You will never convince me entirely, you know. I'll never doubt you love me, just the reasons that you do. I'm sorry for it, but I won't ever lie to you."

He didn't open his eyes as she caressed his face, and he moaned a sound almost like pleasure at the soft gentle touch. As upset as he was, she was Jean and his body responded to her. She knew this, and on ocassion playfully used it against him. She was not teasing him here though, not trying to excite him. It was just Jean doing what she knew she needed to do.

:: Scott… will you let me in? ::

Scott felt ashamed at the question. She'd linked their minds long before they were a couple, knowing so completely that he required the outlet she was so willing to provide, but not since those earliest days did she ask his permission. She usually knew she didn't have to. He was ashamed she did this time, but somewhat relieved, actually. It showed that his trust in her had been well placed.

The mental door swung open, and Scott retreated further into his mind, which he percieved to be a round room with file cabinets stretching high into infinity. Each cabinet was marked in a precise and orderly system and this was perfection to Scott Summers, who had been known now and then to organize his closet by the number of buttons on the shirt. T-shirts and sweaters to the left with no buttons, dress shirts with 5 or more on the far right next to the pants hung to that the cuffs match completely. He was a control freak, yes, indeed Scott was, and he was right to be so. It kept him alive.

More, importantly, it kept everyone else alive.

If Jean ventured into Scott's file cabinet room, if she perceived it in the same way, she would be able to see his carefully stored memories, and in every one, even those that dated from before his powers manifested, he wore his classes or his visor, a clear sign of what he thought he was... who he felt he had to be.

One side of the room was shattered and black though, a smoking ruin. This section was plainly marked Alex. Scott stood in front of the damaged portion of his life, looking the same was as he did outside his mind, for he had, in adulthood accepted who he was, and had no dreams of himself as a great lover, a great scholar, a great athlete. He stared at the black destruction and said, simply ::He almost killed an entire mall full of women and children.::
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Jean
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Jean’s footsteps echoed on the polished floors as she went from the outer room to the inner rooms. Her steps slowed as she past a prominent section with her name and felt like a voyeur as she paused to look at it. Being a craftsman, Scott’s mind designed most of the other sections for efficiency and organization, but his thoughts and memories of her were edged in silver and gold and polished to a gleaming brilliance. She briefly cast a glance over the labels and a faint smile appeared as she also remembered the all night games as children, helping each other cram for the Professor’s exams, which always seemed to dissolve into prolonged giggling fits as the night wore on, and quiet times when they sat and watched movies, just being together. Her fingers lightly brushed the silver handles, noticing how worn from frequent use they were.

Scott’s mind reminded her of a library, a quiet place, which was why the sound of impish giggles surprised her. In a small section, just being created, a grin spread across Jean’s face as she saw bubbles, like kind they made as kids by blowing liquid soap through a small ring, were bouncing merrily in the air. They were cheery, Rosie pink and red, releasing giggles when they popped. She couldn’t help but smile at the changes little Rosie’s presence and energy had made in Scott; she was their gift from Heaven.

Jean continued further, toward Scott’s deeper memories. The ruined files were a disturbing sight in Scott’s immaculate and precisely organized mind. She walked up to him and for a moment, actually wondered if she should touch him … worried that he would shrug off the contact. She stood at his side and then silently slipped her hand into his as they looked at the smoking ruin of the Alex section. The memories Scott had so lovingly cherished of his last surviving relative were utterly destroyed.

::He almost killed an entire mall full of women and children.::

:: I won’t lie to you either, Scott… maybe you should start seeing him as the 24 yr old man he is and not the idealized 5 yr old he was:: She gave a little shake to her head. :: That’s barely older than Rosie. :: It would an understatement to say that her first impression of Alex was not a good one but she had to be evenhanded too.

:: He did stay and help save their lives too… he didn’t have to… ::
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Cyclops
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:: I won’t lie to you either, Scott… maybe you should start seeing him as the 24 yr old man he is and not the idealized 5 yr old he was:: She gave a little shake to her head. :: That’s barely older than Rosie. ::

Scott nodded, letting her take his hand, holding it loosely, wanting the contact but not really wanting to admit it. He looked at the ruined memories and said, ::He's old enough to know better then, but you're right, you know. I've been trying to see him as an adult but I don't know him. I didn't even recognize him at the mall. I mean we were talking for a few minutes and I didn't even know it.::

He touched the ruined wall, running his fingers through the soot. ::He's powerful, isn't he?:: His voice was unreadable, but there might've been a touch of pride. ::If his power was used for the right purposes...:: He looked away.

:: He did stay and help save their lives too… he didn’t have to… :

Scott looked at her, ::He's not a bad person, Jean, I can't believe that my brother would grow up to be a monster...He'd found Rosie, and she didn't seem to be scared of him. Not until...::

A soft smile came to his face at the memory of the little girl and he said, ::Did you see her section? She's building it, you know, not me. I don't know where the bubbles are coming from.::
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Jean
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Jean stood with Scott over the smoldering section labeled Alex and listened to him condemn his brother for being old enough to know better, but it wasn’t until she heard the pride in Scott’s voice about how much power Alex had, that she started to worry. Normally, Scott wasn’t someone to evaluate another mutant in terms of power – it was how they used it and controlled it that mattered to him. This confirmed that Scott still had several blind spots where Alex was concerned.

She controlled her face, when Scott commented that he couldn’t believe Alex might a monster, he’d found Rosie and she hadn’t been afraid of him. Her face stayed neutral as she recalled that, Albert Fish killed children and ate them and people never suspected him… what about John Wayne Gacy? He was a clown at parties, the kids loved him. Her mind wasn’t suggesting anything about Alex’s character, just that you couldn’t go by how people looked or how you thought they should be. She would watch Alex closely and hoped it would be a waste of time on her part.

:: You’re right, Scott. We just don’t know enough about him either way. ::

When Scott smiled and mentioned Rosie’s section, she thought that the bubbles were his doing, but he just didn’t know it; that part of himself wasn’t one he had much contact with.

:: The mind is a marvelous place, trust me:: She winked at him :: It can do some amazing things. :: She sensed that their time at Alex’s section was drawing to a close and Scott was ready to put this away, at least for the rest of the day but he would revisit it, over and over.

:: I think … :: She looked at the blackened wall. :: I think you should tidy this up before we go and get it ready for the new information you’ll find out about Alex... otherwise, it’ll nag you like a sore tooth… :: She waited ‘til he was done and walked out with him. When they past Rosie’s section and heard the giggles, she said

:: I like the bubbles… :: and winked at Scott :: There’s nothing wrong with a bit of spontaneity and freedom… ::
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Cyclops
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:: I think … :: She looked at the blackened wall. :: I think you should tidy this up before we go and get it ready for the new information you’ll find out about Alex... otherwise, it’ll nag you like a sore tooth… ::

Scott glanced at her and said, ::I'm that predictable, am I? It's not real, Jeannie, none of this. It's how I see it, how I imagine it. I'm sure you've seen so much more in the minds of the people you've touched. Even in my mind, I'm as dull as a math test, aren't I?::

He put his hand up to the ruined memories, plunged his hand into the ruins and brought out one memory that had survived the destruction.

A hazy image of a dark woods, a blue vista above, streaked with smoke strangely, something having fallen from the sky. Hands come up and clutch at strings at the edges of the blurred scene, small hands, a child's hands.

"Scotty..." a voice, a tiny voice, a little boy sounds in his ears, echoing and faint as he begins drifting out of consciousness. Alex appears in his sight, five years old, Valyn Dracoras's age. He's young, blonde, his eyes red with tears, and his face bloodied.

"'Lexy..." Scott's voice, high and young, but filled with pain and choking with grief, "Y''ok..." he mumbles.

"Uh huh..." little Alex says, "You got us down. We fell a long time. But you didn't drop me. You held so tight." His face crumples and he begins to cry again, unable to hold it back anymore.

The little boy falls on his brother's chest, and Scott's thin child's hand comes to a rest on Alex's soot and blood filthy hair. "Course..." his voice murmurs, as red begins to filter into the edges of his vision. "You... m'brother."

"Always right?" Alex mutters, "Mommy said always."

The image starts to flicker as red and black fills the badly injured Scott's sight, and his voice manages, "Always, Lexy, I promise..."

Then everything goes dark.


When the memory snippet ended, the wall marked Alex was suddenly whole again, but as blank and empty as if there had never been anything there. Scott placed the singed and tarnished memory in it's place and sheepishly looked at Jean. ::You probably think I'm a fool to hope that that Alex, who loved me and trusted me, is still alive, don't you?::

He lowered his head and let her lead him away. A bubble popped with a peal of giggles against him and he looked over at Jean. ::The fact that they are here means something, Jeannie. It means something in me still has hope. I can't give up. I don't know how I could do that to him. I can't believe I could ever do that to myself.::
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