My test forum. No one else post please.

[Innocent Lamb]

Jeanx[✯]xGrey

H u m a n xo
o r xo m u t a n t . xo N o xo m a t t e r xo h o w xo m a n y xo
m i s t a k e s xo w e xo m a k e xo a l o n g xo t h e xo w a y xo
w exo m u s t xo l e a r n xo t o xo c a r e xo f o r xo o n e xo a n o t h e r

●●●»___Jean didn't think she had ever cried so hard before; never shed so many tears, at least since Annie's death, anyway. The morning after the prom, after the first time Kristen and her had made love, came pretty close, because Logan had managed to convince her that she and Cyclops had slept together way before they even got together. She had locked herself in her room for the remainder of the day, screaming and crying into her pillow, and then had proceeded to avoid the younger mutant, give her the silent treatment, the whole shebang. Until it was the situation was cleared up, of course. She had forgiven the brunette for that, mainly because she hadn’t actually slept with Logan, but whether she could forgive her for this… she wasn’t so sure. The whispered apologies between the kisses were what the redhead predicted to be the first in a long succession of amends. But, sometimes, no amount of apologies made things any better. Some things could just not be made up for. Sometimes people just needed time, to forgive and forget. She knew that wouldn’t stop Kristen trying though, and she didn’t want her to in any case, even though each attempt would be a reminder of how much she had been hurting that day. Well, at least the twenty-one year old was upset with herself, feeling guilty about what she had done, if she had felt nothing Jean probably would have taken the ring off. It wasn’t that she liked seeing the younger woman so broken down; she’d just rather then indifference to the crime she had committed.

The sob that Kristen Sparks let out when they had finally separated their mouths was echoed by one of her own. The telepathic mutant went easily as the other female brought her to her feet, finally opening her hazel eyes again. Her cheeks were blotchy, stained with the tears she had shed, and her eyes were puffy and sore, but at least her nose wasn’t running, and at least there was not anyone else around to see the betrayal and sorrow on her features. The redhead followed her lover like a lost puppy as Cyclops stumbled blindly for the boulder their names had been carved into so long ago. To Xavier’s Golden Girl their first date seemed like an eternity ago; could they really have only been together for six and a half years? It felt like much longer. Then again so much could happen in seventy-eight months, so much had happened. She wondered vaguely why the leader of the X-Men hadn’t put her glasses back on yet, briefly speculated if she was experimenting with how Kitty had had to do things since the accident, for some strange reason. As Kristen stooped to sightlessly examine the picture she had drawn into the rock Jean stood back, her arms hugging her middle and her eyebrows pulled together as the shade-wearing mutant brushed her hand over the image. And the creases between her eyes only deepened as the younger woman bent lower to snatch up a stone, then moved further around the rock in order to find a clear space to scratch into. Jean peered over her lover’s shoulder as she worked, a small smile tugging involuntarily at the corners of her mouth as another heart slowly appeared, but as soon as the first two letters of “sorry” were carved into it tears started rolling down her cheeks again. The twenty-two year old brought her hand up to her mouth and squeezed her eye closed, fighting of the tears that threatened to overflow from her eyes. When she allowed them to open again Cyclops had finished her masterpiece, and masterpiece it was, compared to her last carving at least.

Her slender fingers fell away from her mouth, lips moving, but finding no words to voice. The two stick figures were back again, this time undistinguishable from each other, as both were lacking sunglasses. The older lady frowned once more, struggling to determine what message Kristen was trying to convey with the absence of the accessory. Was there even a message, or was Cyclops just trying to display them how they currently were, both pairs of eyes naked? Another set of hands taking up hers drew the telepath’s attention away from the image, and she was pleased to see that the younger X-Men had put her glasses back on. The smile on her face was nearly as confusing as the stick-figure drawing, but even then her heart still sputtered to a stop when the other mutant confessed that there was still “one more thing” she had to tell her, “one more thing” that she had kept from her, “one more thing” that Jean was going to be crying herself to sleep about. She took a deep breath and briefly dropped her gaze, preparing herself for the worst. But “the worst” was certainly not what she got, and this time tears slipped down her face for an entirely different reason. It was the best news she had gotten since Kitty’s engagement had been officially announced; the brain belonging to the love of her life was going to be repaired, she would be able to control the blasts, Jean would be able to see her eyes! She threw her arms around the younger mutant, burying her face amongst her hair. “That’s do great, Kristen! Congratulations!” Of course it didn’t make up for the lies that had been told, but it was nice to have a bit of good news amongst the bad, nice to see the pearl among the oysters the silver lining on the storm cloud.

[Innocent Lamb]

Jeanx[✯]xGrey

H u m a n xo
o r xo m u t a n t . xo N o xo m a t t e r xo h o w xo m a n y xo
m i s t a k e s xo w e xo m a k e xo a l o n g xo t h e xo w a y xo
w exo m u s t xo l e a r n xo t o xo c a r e xo f o r xo o n e xo a n o t h e r

●●●»___There was no denying how amazing it felt, being wrapped in her lover's embrace once more, feeling her smooth cheek against her own and her hot breath on her neck, absorbing the warmth that her body radiated, occasionally feeling the thumping of her heart. This is how it was supposed to be, no confessions, no tears, just the physical intimacy of cuddling, the expression of love instead of an attempt at comfort. Jean’s smile did not falter as they walked further up the pebbly shore, away from the road and the noisy, afternoon traffic. Stones crunched under sensible shoe-clad feet as the two of them wandered up the beach hand in hand, out onto the jetty-like rock that jutted out from the rest of the shore, the same one she had dived off when they had come here for the better part of their first real date. The rocky outcrop had offered a much more picturesque view, even froze, before the dam had been built and the lake had been drained. There was still a bit of water in it now, thanks to rain and melting snow, but there was not nearly as much as had been there before the construction of the ugly concrete wall. It had been their untouched isolated place, away from the hustle and bustle of the city and unsure walls of the institute, but now civilization had touched the secluded spot, after so many years of going unnoticed, and had effectively ruined the view. Never mind, it was still their little slice of heaven.

The telepath half turned her head to look at Cyclops while she spoke, out of courtesy if nothing else, and covered her arms with her own. She had to agree that she’d never imagined she’d be able to glimpse the naked eyes of the love of her life, but while Kristen had lived in hope that someday she would be able to go without the necessary ruby-quartz sunglasses Jean had barely even thought about it. It had bothered her from the very start, though she had never voiced the complaint because she understood that it was a rocky subject for the leader of the X-Men, but she had never believed that the “thing with her eyes” could be corrected. Besides, she hadn’t even known until a few minutes ago that it was actually brain damage that hindered the control she had over the blasts. Despite the brunette cutting herself off before the whole word was actually said, the little slip did not go unnoticed, not by a long shot. And the redhead reacted to it by stiffened and drawing in a sharp breath. Of course, they’d have to talk about it some time; they’d have the “What are our options?” talk, the question that would precede words like “adoption” and “sperm donor”. They’d spoken about it as teenagers, both when they had been together and before, and they had both been pretty firm about having children of their own someday. Well, today was the someday, or at least it would be after they were wed, and they would have to have that discussion, and come to a universal decision.

Thankfully, this was not the day for such a conversation, and they were soon stepping away from that little hiccup and seating themselves on the frosty edge of the rock, dangling their clothed legs over the side and entwining their fingers once more in her lap. The twenty-two year old had never realised that the sunglasses had been the root of so much trouble, so much pain, for the younger mutant, she hadn’t realised that her searching for her eyes had bothered her so. Jean had always thought that it was a good thing that she was trying to find her eyes, even though after a while it was came naturally, if she had known how it “killed” the brunette she would have… stopped, picked a place of her glasses and stuck to it, instead of constantly flickering her gaze back and forth. With that little bit of knowledge came guilt, and Xavier’s Golden Girl was forced to look away from Kristen and bite down roughly on the inside of her cheek in an attempt to prevent her eyes from tearing up again. It only got worse when Kristen started talking about other couples, how they could look into each other’s eyes, how she could look into the redhead’s, but the redhead herself had never been able to have that privilege, and how that had made Cyclops feel like she was unworthy of her. Jean bowed her head and rubbed her free hand up and down her thigh. She didn’t want to hear this, not after… But in a way she did, she did want to know what Cyclops though, even if she didn’t want to go in her head, she did want the brunette to feel like she could come to her about anything, that she open up and express herself without fear of judgment. They didn’t want a repeat of the… lies, after all. She didn’t want to have to wait for another six years to hear about this, to hear about how her beloved had been hurting.

“It’s not stupid.” The older mutant said in a small voice, opening her eyes, lifting her head, and turning her body slightly. She transferring her hand onto Kristen’s leg, rubbing a squeezing encouragingly as the thumb of her other hand brushed over the back of Cyclops’. She nodded along as her lover explained that she wanted her opinion on the matter before she came to a final decision, one corner of her mouth tugging upwards once more. When she finished speaking Jean nodded once more, and then thoughtfully cast her eyes over the treetops in the distance. It was a big deal, that was clear on its own, and just that the other female was involving her in the choice, asking her to speak her mind on the issue, meant a hell of a lot to her. Besides, she would be the one waking up to those eyes every day; she would be the one looking into them more than anyone else. The surgery was not going to be without its risks, and, having a degree in medicine, she perhaps knew better than anyone else what irreparable damage could be done when tampering with someone’s body, particularly their brain. She also knew that if anyone had asked Kitty if she would like to have her eyes replaced so she would be able to see again, no matter what the danger, no matter if there was only a one in a million chance of survival, she would have said yes. And putting herself in Kristen’s shoes she realized that what she would be gaining much outweighed what she could be the sacrificing.

The redhead took a deep breath and exhaled slowly as she turned her head back to look at Cyclops, mind made up. “Kristen, this is a really big decision, and its gonna be scary watching you being wheeled off into surgery, but if that’s what you want, baby, then I want it for you, too. I don’t want this to be something you’ll regret not having done when we’re older, and I never want you to feel like you don’t deserve me. So, if you wanna do this, if you really want to do this, then I’m not gonna stop you. And when you come out from the operating room, when you wake up and the doctors announce that the surgery was a success and you can open your eyes, I’ll be there. I’ll hold your hand as you take the bandages off, and I’ll make sure that I’m the first thing you get to see without your glasses, even if it means I have to beat up all the doctors.” She gave a laugh at the last part, then her face grew serious and she slid her hand out of the brunette and brought them both up to her face to cup her cheeks. “Because I love you, baby. And I’m not gonna let you do this without me.”

[Innocent Lamb]

http://bp3.blogger.com/_0ELQP4cLxF4/Rtlg2zxhbuI/AAAAAAAACS4/0W7Q8pQXlcc/s320/a2.jpg http://weddinggownspictures.com/images/wedding_gowns_pictures10.jpg http://feed-age.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Body-shape-Beautiful-Wedding-Gown-for-motherly-brides-Photos-3.jpg

[Innocent Lamb]

Jeanx[✯]xGrey

H u m a n xo
o r xo m u t a n t . xo N o xo m a t t e r xo h o w xo m a n y xo
m i s t a k e s xo w e xo m a k e xo a l o n g xo t h e xo w a y xo
w exo m u s t xo l e a r n xo t o xo c a r e xo f o r xo o n e xo a n o t h e r

●●●»___How on Earth could Jean stay upset with Kristen after that little piece of genuinely fantastic news? Just like she hadn’t been able to dwell on the emotional beating dealt out by Senator Kelly after Kristen had appeared in the buildings foyer, bearing the beautiful ring that now encircled the ring finger of her left hand. Of course, that in no way meant that Jean ad forgiven the younger mutant, not even close, but that particular concern had been pushed to the back of her mind for now. Without a doubt it would surface later that evening, when she was alone and had time to think on the events of the day, that smile of hers would vanish right of the face of the Earth then, and she would probably again be reduced to tears. Oh well, for now the redhead was content listening to her lover’s declarations of love and being spoiled by her kisses.

“Me neither.” Jean agreed, in regards to not being able to wait to being shown how much Kristen adored her, then being able to demonstrate how much she cared for her in return. You’d think that after so many years together already there was only so much more that could be done, and while that was true in some cases it was not entirely correct in theirs. But even if it was, it wouldn’t have been so bad at all; there was always some way or another to spice things up, and the tiniest of alterations could make the world of difference to their usual daily routine.

At her fiancé’s hopeful inquiry that she’d go into the operating theatre with her the older mutant smiled. “I’ll be there.” She promised, brushing the end of her nose upwards along one side of her fellow X-Men’s nose, and then back down again. Then she too turned her head away to stare out a the sparkling, clear late, wrapping an arm around Kristen’s back and leaning her head on the younger woman’s shoulder. Even half-drained and with a hideous concrete dam for a backdrop it was beautiful, and their childish laughter from when they were much younger rung in her ears, and the memory tugged her lips upward. Those childhood years hadn’t exactly been carefree, they had had their powers to worry about, their previously secret relationship, and their studies, and now look where they were. To think they had come so far since then, had graduated – and in Jean’s case gotten a degree – were no longer scared of their powers, or the opinions of the people they cared about, had a house, and were soon to be married, made it seem like such a very long time ago.

It was that very train of thought that lead Xavier’s Golden Girl to believe she was merely experiencing a blast from the past when Cyclops spoke about parting the lake. Of course, it didn’t take her too long to realize that she had actually returning to the present, considering the “L” word, which had certainly not been said the first time. The redhead’s chin moved and directed her gaze back at the love of her life, careful not to let her irises flicker over the shades in such a way that would lead the brunette to believe that she was looking for her eyes, and subsequently “kill” her. She still could remember the thrill of seeing the uncontrolled and unhindered blast for the first time, when it had been used to display how much the leader of the X-Men loved her; likewise she also remembered how devastated she had been when she hadn’t been able to put on such an amazing performance with her own powers. Well, this time would definitely be different, and not just because the lake was lacking most of the water it had had the last time. She let Kristen pull her to her feet, arm still wrapped loosely – as not to be distracting – around her waist as she waited with eager anticipation for Cyclops to position herself and remove her shades. Her jaw hit the floor immediately when the beam of red energy was set free and permitted to tear through the lake. Jean Grey continued to stare in awe, unblinking, as the ray separated the body of the lake an exposed it’s never-before-seen bottom. Even after the blast disappeared behind her eyelids, then was further hidden by the ruby-quartz glasses Kristen so despised the twenty-two year olds mouth remained open. It really was amazing, Cyclops’ ability, and it would undoubtedly be even more so when she could control it with a single thought.

She beamed as she was twirled away back towards the shore. Of course she had not doubted that Kristen would be able to do what she had hoped she would. Now it Jean’s turn, and when the water had settled and strode purposefully towards the edge of the rock they had previously been sitting on, bringing her beloved with her and remaining a foot back from the end of the smooth boulder for safety’s sake. With barely a thought the telepathic mutant brought several large rocks and stones into the air, then preceded to fit them together like a big, complicated, three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle, with smaller stones filling in the gaps so it very nearly resembled a perfectly smooth, even sphere hovering in mid air over the lake. And in its rippled refection it almost appeared to be a planet. Then, she went to the trouble – though it was really no trouble at all – to flatten it slightly, as if it was a ball of clay pushed against a hard surface, and turn it heart-shaped. Smiling to herself, proud of her considerable accomplishment, she gradually let the figure break apart and the individual rocks return to the shoreline, not before the leader of the X-Men had been allowed a good look at it, however.

“Much better than last time.” She proclaimed with a laugh and a firm nod, turning her head to Kristen a quick kiss on her full, pink lips.

Suddenly her eyes lit up, very much like the light bulb on cartoons when the character was stuck by an idea of some sort, and Jean actually had had an idea. “C’mon,” the redhead grinned, “I wanna try something.” Then, without warning, she snatched up her girlfriend’s hand, towed her off the rock they had been standing on, and tore across the beach. Good thing the twenty-one year old had thought to bring sensible shoes, otherwise that feat would have been impossible to perform without tripping over. She laughed openly as she ran, pulling her lover with her. The redhead eventually slowed down, just as they were approaching the rock that had been carved into twice now, and she released the younger female’s hand and directed her gaze downwards to search for an appropriate stone to do what she had in mind. In didn’t take her too long to find one and when she did she used her telekinetic power to pick it up, letting it levitate in front of her as she strode towards the boulder. Jean quickly found the most recent drawing, then moved a little to the left of it to begin her own masterpiece, but unlike Cyclops, she did not use her hands.

The older woman took her time, wanting it to be perfect, and consulted her left hand frequently, and in due course the image itself was finished, and all she had left to do was date it. After doing so she stepped back, revealing the artwork, and moved to Kristen’s side, wrapping her arm around her waist once more and resting her head back on her shoulder. The image was of an engagement ring, the one sitting on her finger to be precise, and though she had gone a bit wobbly in some places, and some the ruby heart wasn’t exactly to scale – she was not an artist, after all – she was proud the job she had done, and only hoped that Cyclops would not be upset that she had carved into the rock that had previously only held her drawings. “What do you think?” She asked nervously, biting her lower lip.

[Innocent Lamb]

Jeanx[✯]xGrey

J u s t xo
o n e xo c h a n c e , xo j u s t xo o n e xo b r e a t h , xo j u s t xo
i n xo c a s e xo t h e r e ' s xo j u s t xo o n e xol e f t xo


http://images.tvrage.com/people/21/61750.jpg

The radiant smile marking the redhead’s face did not dissipate in the slightest as the younger teen started floating them back towards the shore, if anything it got bigger, making her pink, freckled cheeks swell and wrinkling the skin at the corner of each of her hazel eyes. The quick, yet sweet, kisses certainly weren’t helping matter’s either, darkening the blush in the sixteen-year-olds cheeks, and causing her to occasionally let out a delighted burst of giggles. In fact, the vast majority of her focus being on Kristen’s face, specifically her lips, prevented her from noticing how quickly they were approaching the pebbly beach. So when they suddenly stopped drifting, and Jean found herself lying directly on top of her girlfriend it came as a bit of a shock, albeit a pleasant shock, but a shock nonetheless. She smiled modestly down at the leader of the X-Men when she felt her hands tightening on her waist, goose bumps rippling to life over her flesh now that she was more-or-less out of the cold water.

The older mutant was not really one for speaking her mind without thinking about what she was going to say first, certainly not just for the sake of it, not unless it was something of vast importance. She tended more to plan what she said before she even opened her mouth, that way she could be almost positive that it wouldn’t turn out like some gibberish mess, because of frenzied the way her mind was offended inclined to wander, which was why, even as a child, she had been referred to as “the quiet one” especially when her parents had been comparing herself and Annie. She hadn’t appreciated the title, not even when she got remarks like that in her yearly report cards, and had often tried to change the way she acted, but to no prevail. And it was that disposition, along with her timidity and inexperience where relationships were concerned, that often made her feel like the youngest of the pair. And unfortunately, or so she thought, her body shape and size did nothing to disclose that she was in fact the older one, which sometimes frustrated her to no end. And much to her disgust right then, lying on top of Kristen, listening intently to her confessions, being told that she was a “great girl”, but not knowing how to respond other than to smile humbly, made her feel very, very young indeed.

She would have liked to say, and meant it, that Cyclops was her first and only best friend, too, but that wasn’t the case because Annie had been her first best friend, thus making the appointed leader of the X-Men second, and not her only, best friend. Of course, that wasn’t to say she was in anyway ashamed of her childhood friend, just the thought of feeling that way about Annie wrenched on her heart horribly, but she did feel awful that she could not admit that what her girlfriend had just told her was the same for her. Well, at least she could respond positively, and with words to one aspect of the brunette’s speech, the part she felt was the most important anyway. “I liked you for a while before we got together, too.” she admitted with a faintly embarrassed smile, bringing her hands to the younger teenager’s bare waist. Okay, so it hadn’t been a “long while” but Jean could honestly confess that she had had a crush on the younger mutant for about a month and a half before she had asked her out. Still, though, the wait for Kristen to ask her out had definitely been required, because if she had been asked any sooner the redhead doubted she would have said yes, or rather “Duh!”. She had needed that time to ascertain that her feelings were genuine, not just a desperation to be closer to someone.

O n xo
m y xo k n e e s , xo I ' l l xo a s k xo l a s t xo c h a n c e xo
f o r xo o n e xo l a s t xo d a n c e . xo

' C a u s e xo
w i t h xo y o u , xo I ' d xo w i t h s t a n d xo a l l xo o f xo
h e l l xo t o xo h o l d xo y o u r xo h a n dxo

I ' d xo
g i v e xo i t xo a l l , xoI ' d xo g i v e xo f o r xo u s ,xo
g i v exo a n y t h i n g xo b u t xo I xow o n ' t xo g i v e xo u p

[Innocent Lamb]

Jeanx[✯]xGrey

H u m a n xo
o r xo m u t a n t . xo N o xo m a t t e r xo h o w xo m a n y xo
m i s t a k e s xo w e xo m a k e xo a l o n g xo t h e xo w a y xo
w exo m u s t xo l e a r n xo t o xo c a r e xo f o r xo o n e xo a n o t h e r

●●●»___All her apprehension that Kristen would be mad at her for carving – permanently – into the face of the rock that the brunette had engraved their names in years ago, and her apology not too long before they had ventured up the beach, melted away completely as the younger female brought their mouths together in a light, gentle kiss. Jean was flooded with relief when she realised that Cyclops didn’t consider drawing on the rock her thing, didn’t seem to be offended that the redhead had tainted the landform with her own lack of artistic talent, and even expressed that she “loved it”. The twenty-two year old beamed as the other female pulled her into a tight hug, but the grin was quickly wiped away as her lips found another task once recaptured in a searing, fervent kiss. No tongues were introduced this time, but Jean was perfectly fine with that; it had been a long time since her lips alone had gotten a work out like this. Her hands went directly to the leader of the X-Men’s waist, and her arms wrapped all the way around it so her right hand was on the mutant’s right side, and her left was on her left side. She smiled briefly against the optic-blast shooting woman’s lips when she felt her hand grasping gently at her deep red hair, turning her head to the other side and giving Kristen’s full, lower lip some attention.

When the smooching ended the telepath dropped her head onto her fiancé shoulder for a few seconds to reclaim her breath, not because she wasn’t used to the all the making out, but rather because the cold temperatures was zapping a lot of her energy. When Kristen turned them around she retracted one arm from around her waist, finding herself once again staring out over the large expanse of water and treetops and snow-covered plains that bordered the hideous concrete wall. One day she was going to knock that damn thing down. And better still; bury Senator Kelly and all the other stupid mutant-hating people in the rubble. Xavier’s Golden Girl was quick to push those thoughts from her intelligent mind, the last thing she wanted was for Kristen to see that look distorting her features, and she defiantly did not want to be thinking about abusing her powers like that, not now and certainly not in the presence of her wife-to-be. She didn’t even need to plaster a fake smile on her face, because the prospect that she was going to be married to the love of her life alone got her smiling, genuinely, again. “Yeah. I’m ready to go.”

The older X-Men drew her arm away and took up Kristen’s hand instead; turning them away from the magnificent view strolling with her at a leisurely pace along the pebbled, slightly frosty shoreline and back towards the makeshift parking lot where the Honda had been left. When they reached the vehicle the redhead let go of Cyclops’ hand and rushed forward to open the driver’s side door for her this time, closing it behind her with a cheeky smile before bounding around to the passenger side of the car and climbing in. Jean was really looking forward to getting back to the mansion, to see their friends and teammates, make their announcement and be congratulated. She couldn’t wait to show the girls her ring and giggle with them about wedding and honeymoon plans. Then, later in the evening, when the younger students had retired to their rooms, the champagne would probably be cracked open. Of course, there were two people she wanted to discuss the engagement with individually, one being the professor, the man she had considered more than just a teacher since her arrival at the institute, and Kitty, the little blind mutant that was engaged herself. But although she really wanted to tell both in person, to see their reactions first hand and feel their arms encircling her and the X-Men leader, she simply could not wait for them to arrive at their former home. The redhead was usually a fairly patient person, but she was so blissfully happy about the proposal that she really wanted someone to be happy for her and her lover.

Without a second thought the telepath twisted in her seat and grabbed the feminine briefcase she had stowed in the backseats, pulling it into the front and onto her lap. After a little bit of rummaging through the abnormally messy contents of the bag she found her phone, slid it open, and switched it on. The twenty-two year old dropped the bag on the floor of the car by her feet, “I’m gonna call Kitty.” she explained gaily, partly to make sure that was alright with her beloved and partly to inform her of what she was doing. She scrolled through the contents of her contact list, selecting “Kitty Pryde” when she came to it and hitting the call button. She didn’t hold the phone to her ear, neither wanting to be rude nor to exclude Cyclops from the verbal interaction between herself and the seventeen year old as she told her the fantastic news, and rather put it on speaker and rested the device on the stocking covered thigh closet to the other mutant.

[Innocent Lamb]

I tried so hard to be good

⇢Although she had been a lot happier in the last month then she had been in any of the months between her last mission – the one in which not five seconds into it she had been attacked and blinded by one of the mutants she had been employed to save from the run down building and network of caves that branched off under it – and her former friend’s proposal that she marry him Katherine Anne Pryde was currently not very happy. It was cold, really, really cold, and ShadowCat was far from fond of low temperatures, snow, and frost. Sure, she had enjoyed ice-skating back in Deerfield, where she had lived before the manifestation of her powers, and despite her clumsiness she had been pretty good at it, but that had been indoors, on a proper, enclosed rink. And there had been no little kids running around screaming and throwing snowballs every which way, like there was outside the mansion at that very moment. Another reason to be unhappy about the time of year was her eyes. This was her first winter, her first Christmas, since the loss of her sight. Orin had still tried to include her in the festivities of putting up and decorating the numerous trees around the mansion, even though she was Jewish, but it hadn’t been the same. And even though she didn’t like snow she still yearned to see it falling from the sky.⇠

To see grey instead of black and white

⇢A further factor that was contributing greatly to her downright misery was the continued absence of her twenty-six year old fiancé. He had departed from Xavier’s School for Gifted Children, where he was now residing with her – because of his reluctance to move them both into an apartment when they had only been engaged for a month, and hadn’t been together at all before that – early that morning, after giving her semi-conscious self a quick kiss and promising that he would be back as soon as possible, like he did every morning. She had not seen or heard from him since and was missing him a lot like a long-time smoker missed his hourly hit of nicotine after he had been forced to quit by his wife. Which was why she was in his room, on his bed, snuggled up under his quilt. Of course, she missed him very much every day, but she was usually able to keep her mind off it by occupying herself with one of the brail novels Storm had helped her order, or by using the exercise bike or doing weights in the gym. But she had been absorbed in her books all week and she fingers she used to read the indentations in the pages had started getting very sore. And there were other students in the gym, and she didn’t want anyone watching her while she trained on the bike, and Logan wasn’t there to supervise her while she used the bench press. And she wasn’t really into watching television with the other mutants, mainly because she could see what was happening on screen, neither did she particularly feel like having a conversation with anyone. Thus, she was quite content being confined to Lance’s bedroom, as bored as she was, until he came back from work.⇠

And now I can't see anything at all

⇢So, when her mobile phone rang it came as such a fright she very nearly hit the roof. She bolted upright and flailed helplessly for a few seconds until she realized that the noisy device was the phone she had shoved in her pocket so that Shakedown would be able to reach her. Kitty gasped and threw her arms under the covers, arching her back off the mattress to give herself better access to the pocket of her oversized sweat pants, and thus more room to fish out the communication device. Once she had found it she flipped it open and searched the specialized keypad with her thumb for the Braille letter that marked the key that Kristen had told her would answer the phone. When she found it she breathed a sigh of relief and held the portable telephone up to her ear. “Hello?” she spoke into it, silently hoping it was Lace on the other end, apologizing that he was taking so long and promising that he was on his way home.⇠

[Innocent Lamb]

Jeanx[✯]xGrey

H u m a n xo
o r xo m u t a n t . xo N o xo m a t t e r xo h o w xo m a n y xo
m i s t a k e s xo w e xo m a k e xo a l o n g xo t h e xo w a y xo
w exo m u s t xo l e a r n xo t o xo c a r e xo f o r xo o n e xo a n o t h e r

●●●»___Despite the long, white lab coat that Jean had pulled on over the top of the dark coloured, thick business suit she had already been wearing the cool air of the infirmary was already starting to get to the twenty-two year old. Somehow she was a lot colder in the sublevels of the institute than she had been outside at the depleted Alkali Lake. There, the wind had been blowing off the water that still remained in the picturesque valley, but she had had the thrill and delight that the proposal had elicited, her squirming insides that the betrayal and upset – at the confession that she had been lied to – had brought with it, and the warm embrace and kisses her beloved had bestowed upon her to drown out her body’s complaints about the cold temperature. But in the infirmary, with it’s metal cabinets, glass cases and air conditioning that was required to keep the medications and patients at a stable temperature, had covered the redhead in Goosebumps the second the automatic doors had slid open to admit her and Piotr, who had graciously offered to carry Logan down for her. To make matters worse she had had to tie her hair – which had been acting almost as a scarf – up and out of the way, and pull on a pair of plastic gloves, thus obscuring the one-of-a-kind engagement ring that now donned the ring finger of her left hand. And her and Kristen had had to separate almost the very second they had stepped through the front door, they hadn’t been able to make their announcement or even accept congratulatory hugs from Kitty before Orin had shooed her off to the elevator with her patient and Colossus. Now Jean Grey was all alone – or very nearly alone, seeing as the unconscious clawed mutant lay half naked on the cold, metal operating table – and cold to the point where she was practically shivering.

The telepathic mutant, upon return to her former home, had been considerably surprised when she had stepped into the building to discover that Brittnee Logan, of all people, had been rendered unconscious after an attack by two of Eric Lensherr’s cronies, Nocturne and Sabertooth, on the way back from a survival course she had taken Brielle and Rogue on. But she had run all the appropriate tests and procedures – MRIs, X-rays, the works – as soon as they had gotten her down into the medical facility in the lower levels of the mansion. However to know avail she couldn’t see anything wrong with the older mutant, except of course that she was out cold and had been for quite some time. By all means Logan should have gotten up just a few minutes after whatever had knocked her out, she should have healed whatever injury she had been inflicted with and climbed to her feet ready to have her revenge on whoever had taken a swing at her. And she had healed, there were no broken bones, no internal bleeding, no nothing, the twenty-four year old was in perfect health, her body was in perfect condition – undoubtedly thanks to her adamantium rigged skeleton and amazing healing ability – she just was not waking up! And to a trained, professional doctor there was nothing more frustrating than having a patient in that state. Having done everything she could think of, having used almost every single machine and piece of medical equipment and technology available to her to no gain Jean sunk back onto the black leather chair-on-wheels, defeated.

Xavier’s Golden Girl threw her head back to stare at the spotless white ceiling for a few moments before hurriedly grabbing up one of the many X-ray sheets for what seemed like that thousandth time in the last hour, holding it up above her head and scrutinizing every inch of illuminated bone – and adamantium – one more time. As per usual there was nothing out of place; the bones were exactly as they had always been – laced with the indestructible metal. The redhead gave an exasperated sigh and dropped the shiny sheet back onto the small medical table by the one Logan was lying on, glaring at the heart rate monitor for a few moments as if she could persuade it into stopping the lies it was clearly telling. But of course it was not fibbing, it was incapable of such a thing, it was a machine and they were designed to tell the truth – ‘Unlike Kristen,’ her thoughts added vehemently, making Jean cringe. Her hazel eyes slowly drifted back over to the unconscious, semi-naked female, filled with sympathy and compassion that she had never before openly expressed towards the mutant. She was not fond of Logan, had never made any attempt to dissuade Cyclops from acting aggressively towards her, nor had she tied to form a closer bond with the brunette, in fact sometimes she absolutely despised her, but that did not prevent her from loving the clawed mutant. Of course she was not in love with her, goodness no! It was more like a love-hate relationship, a sister-sister connection. Jean would certainly never confess that she cared that much for Logan though. Honestly, she didn’t even understand why she felt that way, she figured that after so long training with her, fighting with and against her, living with her, and tolerating her brash behavior, the feeling had just developed. That said, it wasn’t that she particularly loved loved Logan, it was just that she would feel bad if something were to happen to her, just that she appreciated all she did for the students, especially Rogue, Karin and Kitty.

With another sigh Jean wheeled herself closer to the sleeping woman and laid her gloved fingertips of the back of the older X-Man’s wrist, her gaze following her digits as the moved down Logan’s hand and came to rest between the knuckles that the sharp, metal claws were unsheathed from. The redhead had always been fascinated by this particular mutant’s remarkable, unique powers, and now, for the first time, she had a chance to be openly intrigued by the blades that shot out of Brittnee’s hands, had the opportunity to cease her wonderings about the claws, and if they could be felt through her flesh when retracted.

[Innocent Lamb]

Jeanx[✯]xGrey

H u m a n xo
o r xo m u t a n t . xo N o xo m a t t e r xo h o w xo m a n y xo
m i s t a k e s xo w e xo m a k e xo a l o n g xo t h e xo w a y xo
w exo m u s t xo l e a r n xo t o xo c a r e xo f o r xo o n e xo a n o t h e r

●●●»___Despite the long, white lab coat that Jean had pulled on over the top of the dark coloured, thick business suit she had already been wearing the cool air of the infirmary was already starting to get to the twenty-two year old. Somehow she was a lot colder in the sublevels of the institute than she had been outside at the depleted Alkali Lake. There, the wind had been blowing off the water that still remained in the picturesque valley, but she had had the thrill and delight that the proposal had elicited, her squirming insides that the betrayal and upset – at the confession that she had been lied to – had brought with it, and the warm embrace and kisses her beloved had bestowed upon her to drown out her body’s complaints about the cold temperature. But in the infirmary, with it’s metal cabinets, glass cases and air conditioning that was required to keep the medications and patients at a stable temperature, had covered the redhead in Goosebumps the second the automatic doors had slid open to admit her and Piotr, who had graciously offered to carry Logan down for her. To make matters worse she had had to tie her hair – which had been acting almost as a scarf – up and out of the way, and pull on a pair of plastic gloves, thus obscuring the one-of-a-kind engagement ring that now donned the ring finger of her left hand. And her and Kristen had had to separate almost the very second they had stepped through the front door, they hadn’t been able to make their announcement or even accept congratulatory hugs from Kitty before Orin had shooed her off to the elevator with her patient and Colossus. Now Jean Grey was all alone – or very nearly alone, seeing as the unconscious clawed mutant lay half naked on the cold, metal operating table – and cold to the point where she was practically shivering.

The telepathic mutant, upon return to her former home, had been considerably surprised when she had stepped into the building to discover that Brittnee Logan, of all people, had been rendered unconscious after an attack by two of Eric Lensherr’s cronies, Nocturne and Sabertooth, on the way back from a survival course she had taken Brielle and Rogue on. But she had run all the appropriate tests and procedures – MRIs, X-rays, the works – as soon as they had gotten her down into the medical facility in the lower levels of the mansion. However to know avail she couldn’t see anything wrong with the older mutant, except of course that she was out cold and had been for quite some time. By all means Logan should have gotten up just a few minutes after whatever had knocked her out, she should have healed whatever injury she had been inflicted with and climbed to her feet ready to have her revenge on whoever had taken a swing at her. And she had healed, there were no broken bones, no internal bleeding, no nothing, the twenty-four year old was in perfect health, her body was in perfect condition – undoubtedly thanks to her adamantium rigged skeleton and amazing healing ability – she just was not waking up! And to a trained, professional doctor there was nothing more frustrating than having a patient in that state. Having done everything she could think of, having used almost every single machine and piece of medical equipment and technology available to her to no gain Jean sunk back onto the black leather chair-on-wheels, defeated.

Xavier’s Golden Girl threw her head back to stare at the spotless white ceiling for a few moments before hurriedly grabbing up one of the many X-ray sheets for what seemed like that thousandth time in the last hour, holding it up above her head and scrutinizing every inch of illuminated bone – and adamantium – one more time. As per usual there was nothing out of place; the bones were exactly as they had always been – laced with the indestructible metal. The redhead gave an exasperated sigh and dropped the shiny sheet back onto the small medical table by the one Logan was lying on, glaring at the heart rate monitor for a few moments as if she could persuade it into stopping the lies it was clearly telling. But of course it was not fibbing, it was incapable of such a thing, it was a machine and they were designed to tell the truth – ‘Unlike Kristen,’ her thoughts added vehemently, making Jean cringe. Her hazel eyes slowly drifted back over to the unconscious, semi-naked female, filled with sympathy and compassion that she had never before openly expressed towards the mutant. She was not fond of Logan, had never made any attempt to dissuade Cyclops from acting aggressively towards her, nor had she tied to form a closer bond with the brunette, in fact sometimes she absolutely despised her, but that did not prevent her from loving the clawed mutant. Of course she was not in love with her, goodness no! It was more like a love-hate relationship, a sister-sister connection. Jean would certainly never confess that she cared that much for Logan though. Honestly, she didn’t even understand why she felt that way, she figured that after so long training with her, fighting with and against her, living with her, and tolerating her brash behavior, the feeling had just developed. That said, it wasn’t that she particularly loved loved Logan, it was just that she would feel bad if something were to happen to her, just that she appreciated all she did for the students, especially Rogue, Karin and Kitty.

With another sigh Jean wheeled herself closer to the sleeping woman and laid her gloved fingertips of the back of the older X-Man’s wrist, her gaze following her digits as the moved down Logan’s hand and came to rest between the knuckles that the sharp, metal claws were unsheathed from. The redhead had always been fascinated by this particular mutant’s remarkable, unique powers, and now, for the first time, she had a chance to be openly intrigued by the blades that shot out of Brittnee’s hands, had the opportunity to cease her wonderings about the claws, and if they could be felt through her flesh when retracted.

[Innocent Lamb]

Jeanx[✯]xGrey

H u m a n xo
o r xo m u t a n t . xo N o xo m a t t e r xo h o w xo m a n y xo
m i s t a k e s xo w e xo m a k e xo a l o n g xo t h e xo w a y xo
w exo m u s t xo l e a r n xo t o xo c a r e xo f o r xo o n e xo a n o t h e r

●●●»___Logan moved so suddenly, so quickly and without warning, that before the redhead even had a chance to react, before she could even get up off the chair she had been sitting on, it was crashing to the ground at her feet and she was being seized in a headlock flush against the older female’s body. With the bones in the brunette’s arm putting immense strain on her windpipe all Jean could do was open and close her mouth in a feeble attempt to claim some oxygen for her screaming, deflated lungs. Wolverine had such a grip on her, such a rough, painful hold on her neck, that she had no hopes of turning her head to glimpse the woman’s expression, to get some insight into what exactly had set her off. The telepath couldn’t even form words to apologize for whatever she had done or yell for help. Adamantium claws shot out from between the other X-Men’s knuckles with the snikt that Jean Grey had heard far too many times to be unable to identify the sound that came from somewhere just out of her field of vision. She struggled in the twenty-four year olds grasp, jerking her stocking-clothed legs, wiggling her shoulders and bringing her hands up to the arm that was applying so much pressure to her neck she thought it might snap. She put all her energy into pulling the arm away from her throat, then when that failed proceeded to dig her nails into Logan’s flesh, but that did not face the frenzied woman in the slightest. The doctor tried to angle her head downwards, so she could sink her teeth into the skin and muscle, but the clawed mutant was way ahead of her and was quickly bringing the ejected claws up to her face, pressing the tips into her jaw. The younger female started thrashing with rediscovered vigor, fearing for her life – not only because of the claws easily cutting threw her smooth flesh, but because darkness was looming at the edges of her vision.

All of a sudden Logan’s hand and arm were retracting from her face, and she was being thrown to the floor. Her hands shot out instinctively, to brace herself for the jolting impact of hitting the tiled floor, and, along with her knees hit the ground hard, though at the cost of a few bruises prevented more damage to her battered body. For a few, long, excruciating minutes Jean did not move. She waited, until the footsteps had faded away and her lungs were more-or-less content with the frantic gasps for air. The coughing started as she slowly climbed to her feet, causing her to double over and support herself with her hands on her thighs until the wheezing subsides. The left side of her face was burning, and her throat was throbbing but she forced herself to straighten up and stagger over to the metal counter. She groped around for a wad of fabric gauze, found it, the held it to her jaw, praying an artery hadn’t been severed. She lent her stomach against the bench as her other hand rubbed at her tender neck, fighting back the tears that had started to well in her hazel, blood-shot eyes.

[Innocent Lamb]

Jeanx[✯]xGrey

H u m a n xo
o r xo m u t a n t . xo N o xo m a t t e r xo h o w xo m a n y xo
m i s t a k e s xo w e xo m a k e xo a l o n g xo t h e xo w a y xo
w exo m u s t xo l e a r n xo t o xo c a r e xo f o r xo o n e xo a n o t h e r

●●●»___After recounting her story – or rather her edited version of the events that had lead to the explosion of the propane tanks under the bleachers – to the police officers on site Jean Grey moved across the field to retrieve Kristen's football helmet, the one she had left with the other female football players for safe keeping before she had ventured under the grandstand to investigate what was keeping her best friend. Then, with the head protector under her arm and her digital camera bouncing off her chest with every step, she strode back to the now paper-cup-littered benches where she had been sitting and scooped up her shoulder bag, removing the photo-capturing device from around her neck and stowing it inside the bag. The redhead then slung the strap of the bag over her shoulder and joined the small flow of spectators that had delayed leaving the stadium until then.

The telepath had realised almost immediately that her decision not to follow Cyclops back to the institute – no matter that it was justified – would result in her lack of a quick, easy journey home. She did not regret not leaving with her fellow mutant however, even though she had greatly desired to make certain that the X-Men was truly alright, because the consequences of returning home with her without first guaranteeing that Duncan could not recall the cause of the explosion could have lead to later trauma and stress for the two of them, not to mention the other mutants residing at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. Still, it would have been nice to have a ride home, as she was now faced with the choosing between catching the bus and walking. After consulting the bus time table at the closet stop she decided upon the latter, and took off by foot in the direction of the mansion.

Phoenix didn’t take her time or make any attempt to prolong the walk, but at the same time she didn’t run aware that that would only result the fast depletion of her remaining energy, much of which had been sapped when she had shifted the rubble off of Kristen with her telekinetic talents. Besides, home was a considerable distance away, and there was no way she would be able to run all the way there without having to frequently stop to rest and catch her breath. Even so, the seventeen-year-old mutant made good time walking through the deserted, streetlight lined streets, and was walking through the front door while the younger children were still gathered around the television, passing the time until they were told to go up to their rooms to prepare for bed.

She went to Kristen’s room first, to check up on the younger teenager, only to find that she wasn’t there. After depositing the helmet inside the sleeping quarters the redhead continued on to her own room, electing to try the kitchen once she had put her back in the bedroom she had been assigned when she had first been brought to the mansion. But once she had rounded the corner she saw that Cyclops was sitting outside her door anyway. She picked up the pace till she came to the exhausted-looking mutant, pulled the strap of her bag over her head and dropped it to the floor beside her as she lowered herself to the ground. She wrapped her arm around the other teen’s shoulders, gently drawing her in closer to her until the leader of the X-Men’s read rested o her shoulder.

“Hey,” Jean murmured breezily, stroking her fingers through the brunette’s hair and laying her other hand casually on her knee. “You okay?” She wondered quietly, eyebrows coming together in concern.