[CONTINUATIONS]

[mind_over_metal]

[what it says on the tin]

Comments

[mind_over_metal]

[from here]

Is that what Jean wants as well?

[extremities]

[No. Jean wants you be there for me, even if she...]

... Jean wants what makes me happy.

[mind_over_metal]

It sounds like something that you two should work out together. One doesn't get married everyday, after all, so you both should have what you truly want for it, not just what you think that you "should" have.

[extremities]

What I want... is only going to be real here.

[mind_over_metal]

And is it worth it, Scott?

[extremities]

My students are safe. You are safe. For that, I'm... [voice cracks slightly] grateful.

[mind_over_metal]

*can't entirely conceal his reaction (surprise? happiness? fear? love?) to hearing himself being included in that worry and gratitude, but mostly brushes it over*

Then hold onto that while you're here. And take of it what you can when you return, even if it's only a reason to continue fighting. Even that is no small thing.

[extremities]

I am. Believe me, you won't get anyone as clingy as me.

[mind_over_metal]

*laughs, then quiets, pausing for a moment before asking, gently and neutrally*

Would you rather that he not be there?

[extremities]

... He's my father too... Was, anyway.

[mind_over_metal]

*nods, a flicker of vulnerability in his eyes, then puts on a very earnest, serious expression*

If he misbehaves, he'll think that he's a thirteen-year old bobby-soxer for a week. But only after Jean has tossed him into orbit.

[extremities]

Thank you, sir.

[mind_over_metal]

[from here]

No sense in refusing the help, as it were. You'll probably be able to find someone who can reproduce this design quite easily, as well as modify it as needed. And here we are.

*heads into the library*

[finalities]

[goes in after him]

I've only been here once. It's... surprisingly normal.

[mind_over_metal]

*leading the way over to a corner near the back*

Relatively speaking, yes. Everything needs its small wells of calm, if only to highlight how crazy everything else is.

[finalities]

Not that Camp needs the help.

[mind_over_metal]

*chuckles*

Certainly not. Here, please take a seat.

[finalities]

[sits. Just a little nervous]

Any ideas how to go about this?

[mind_over_metal]

Plenty of ideas, but quite honestly, as you've already been able to conclude, I haven't had much practical experience dealing with telepaths other than myself.

*lifts his hands in what is probably a familiar gesture of being about to reach to touch another person's head*

We need to start somewhere, though. Let' have a look, shall we?

[finalities]

Be careful.

[takes a deep breath and tries to clear her mind to give him easier access.]

[mind_over_metal]

*gently touches his fingers to her temples, closes his eyes and goes inside, skimming over the surface*

[finalities]

[He crosses through the surface area of worry. And into the place where all her protective feelings and worries are. Her love for her family; her concern for their safety; her love for Scott; her worry for the mutant kids in Camp...

And, overall, her desire to protect them.

Do you go deeper?]

[mind_over_metal]

*that's all very lovely but of little surprise, and he's not in here for feelings. instead, he begins tracing memory pathways, searching out anything connected to her powers.*

[finalities]

[That is yielding more success. Going backwards, from her power's sudden growth to the unusually long period of her powers lying dormant and weak...

Then, much deeper in, in a part of the mind where even Jean barely remembers is her childhood - The first time she met Charles and Erik as a child (how unusually strong her powers were even then) to the first time her powers manifested as a child while her friend Annie lay dying. It's here that Charles will encounter the various mental blocks that's been placed in her mind. Many are gone now, releasing some of her power, but they are still clearly holding something in place.]

[mind_over_metal]

*pauses there to examine the blocks more carefully*