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The tree's destruction still echoed in Gabriel's mind as he laid there staring at the ceiling. A shiver passed through him even though they'd made their way in from the cold of the outside, the warmth inside was not much to comfort him. The only thing that did was whenever he glanced to his side to the form of Jean. That brought comfort, a sense of security and normalcy against the struggles of gripping what he was. A long look is given to the woman before he looks back towards the ceiling of her room just as the morning sunlight begins creeping through the windows, still unable to rest and trying to process. "Who am I?"
*
There was a soft little sigh that draws from her, Jean still dressed in the clothes from that night, and with a little turn, she opens her mouth to yawn.. then immediately covers it with a snap as her eyes open wide. Crap! She didn't eat, but that didn't stop her from having breath that smelled like a demon from hell walked the earth and decided to far where ever it went. So with a quick roll out of bed, she lets out that little bit of air with a fan afterwards. That thought? She's heard it.. and it made her sad. "It'll be okay.." Thankfully, she had a bathroom in her room, so brushing her teeth was not an issue.
*
That was something that Gabe had learned over the weeks he'd been 'aware'. That when you wake up, you needed to brush or rinse or do something along those lines because sleeping made you stink terribly bad. As Jean scampers off, he chuckles softly and slowly climbs his way out as well to follow to the bathroom. Is it weird he keeps a toothbrush in her room? Well, he found one at the apartment they stayed at, hand one in Logan's apartment and Jean is just so prepared that when he finds a spare, he picks it up and waits for her to free the toothpaste before snatching it himself, talking around brushing. "I think Okay is a relative term."
*
The water was turned on immediately, her own toothbrush grabbed as she takes a slight step aside to make room for Gabriel. She stares at herself in mirror, a little frown curling her face as her fingers lift to press at her cheeks. She was getting too thin, she needed to eat, finally. Especially now since everything was quiet.
She resumes brushing, looking up towards him as he too begins to care for his teeth, her gaze falling back towards the mirror as she bends, removes the brush, spits, and then speaks. "True." She admits. "But does that make it any less so?" Back to brushing.
*
He ponders her question while brushing, mimicing the actions of pausing, spitting, rinsing, resuming before a shake of his head occurs. "No. It doesn't change it. But it is still concerning to be able to do that and not fully understand." He adds the last with a glance at his side to her, then at the mirror instead watching her. His own observations are a bit different, hidden behind his blue eyes as he watches, pauses to let her finish first. "Is this how normal people are?"
*
Her toothbrush was rinsed before she cups her hands beneath the water, sucking back a few tiny little ounces before she swishes, spits. Towels were soon taken from their place, freshly washed and wet again, so that she could begin to scrub her face clean from any dirt or whatever else had gotten on it in the meanwhile. "It's like learning to walk.." She says, muffled. "..there's no reason as to why we walk, or how we walk. I think, we just do." She looks at herself again, her fingers still pressing against her cheek. His question? It has her pausing, then finally turning towards him to lean against the sink. "Yes.. I think?" She snorts.. then breaks down into a fit of giggles, the towel that she hold soon snapped against his ass as she bounds out of the bedroom.
"I'm going to go to Alex's room, you need clean clothes." Yes. She was going to steal.
*
Over his shoulder, Gabriel calls out to Jean as he begins to rinse, having been jolted from the towel to his ass. "Apple?" He asks after her, apparently making a morning food request to bring him before he sets to work washing up a bit himself. This is normal life, how… vastly interesting. As she departs, he contemplates while looking in the mirror just what is in there, meaning his head.
*
It takes her a while to return, a bundle of clothing within her hand as well as two apples, one big one small. There was also a sandwich, one with tomatoes and mustard, laced with lettuce. It seems as though just because he was vegetarian, she didn't want to upset him by eating meat that he wouldn't like. The tray was sat down upon the table near the window, her chair pulled out as she sits, one foot kicked up in the other seat as she idly thinks..
"I think we need to take steps.. she finally says. If you're an alien, we can't let anyone else get to you. Do you mind staying here for a while? I won't leave but.. I think we should stay out of the city for the next few weeks."
*
"So you wish to hide here?" Gabriel asks towards her, going over to the clothing she brought and setting to work stripping before getting dressed in the fresh clothes. At some point he may learn modesty, but that is not today. "Well, you wish me to hide here. What are you concerned of? As of right now, only you and myself know that I am anything more than just some person."
*
"Yes.." Jean answers, finally taking a piece of her sandwich, prying it apart to put pieces into her mouth. "I actually.. well, you're not actually the only one who knows what you can do." She confesses, putting her sandwich down. "I told Scott." She looks at him a little expectantly, even lifting her shoulders to prepare for a fit of anger to come her way. "I asked him to help us. I.. mean you. I asked him to help you."
*
Magneto has arrived.
*
"Help me what?" Gabriel asks towards Jean, eyes narrowing but trying to keep his tone upbeat. "Help me blow up more trees?" He takes a deep breath, a calming breath as he pulls a shirt on over his head and the pants over his legs while he dresses. "It was one memory Jean, what if there are more that show us more? What if this is why all of them were locked away from me?"
*
Erik Lensherr is walking by when Gabriel speaks of blowing up trees. At this, he pauses, curiosity entering his expression. He considers, for a moment, intruding… but his quota for entering rooms without invitation was expended last night. This does not change the fact that he remains curious, and approaches a window at the end of the hall, peering out to inspect the yard.
*
"Hey, you're not the only one who could blow up trees." Jean protests. "But he could help you control it. It's a similar thing you two have, so why not?" It being one memory didn't make a difference to her. "One memory that in which we saw what you could do the other night." She stands for a moment, a little pause as she furrows her brows. Her steps take her right to the hallway as she pulls the door open a little bit wider than before. "Erik, can you help me? At least -tell- him that Scott could help him with his powers."
Yes, bring the adult into a.. kinda sorta not argument.
*
It is a discussion, not an argument. Gabriel looks up at the door as Jean goes to it and brings someone else into the mix, brow furrowing a bit but he looks back at Jean. "But we can control it. We just don't let it happen." He offers softly towards Jean before sighing softly, knowing that as an option would never be accepted by the red head.
*
Erik turns away from the window when he's summoned, and moves back toward Jean's door. He looks from the girl to Gabriel, one eyebrow lifted. "I beg your pardon?" he asks.
*
"That's not an option." Well, it is. "If that's the case, we'll just keep you locked up in here. You won't be able to go to work again, you won't be able to wander in the woods. You wouldn't be able to do -much- if at all." She frowns slightly, as Erik soon enters into the conversation. With that, she gestures him inside. "He can blow up trees." Okay.. that wasn't a good explanation.
"I'm telling him to get training for it so he could control it. At least before something -bad- happens and he gets angry and sucks me dry." Weirdo.
*
Gabriel looks over at Jean, eyes widening a bit at both the way she phrases things and the implications she has. Him getting angry and hurting her? Or being locked up? Looking at the core of the apple in his hands, he slowly rises from the edge of the bed he was sitting on and he manages a small smile, forced, between Jean and Magneto. "I'm going to go find another apple in the kitchen. I … I need to step away for a moment. I will come back, I promise."
*
This conversation, it makes Erik cross. The whole affair shows in the way he frowns at Jean, and looks with regret upon Gabriel. "Don't," he says to Jean, urging her not to stop the young man from leaving.
Waiting until Gabriel is, hopefully out of earshot, he turns to Jean with arms crossed. "Just what is this all about?" he asks, and gestures once toward the door. "Mutant?"
*
"Gabriel.." Jean starts, at least ready to run after him but she was stopped. There was a look of frustration that crosses her features, her fingers digging into her hair as she pulls ever so slightly. She even growled out her frustration with a drop of her arms at her side. "Long story.." She huffs out, moving towards her bed to take a flopped sit.
"I don't know if he's a mutant, or if he's an alien.. I just know that he can do things. Like, he shoots beams from his eyes and his hands." Jean gestures faintly. "I just wanted him to have Scott help him with it just in case."
*
"Okay." Erik turns and grasps a chair, pulling it over and turning it around so that he might sit backwards on it, facing Jean, arms draped over the back of the chair. "Scott's… honestly, Jean, at first sight, it might be better to have him speak with Alex." He shakes his head. "Scott can't control his power. Alex can." Then, he squints at her. "What… started this? Your concern? Can Gabriel control these beams?"
*
Jean leans forward, her arms planting upon her elbows as she slowly closes her eyes to rub her temples. It at least was a calming gesture, one that doesn't come with a headache on it's back or the use of her gifts just yet. "Why not both?' She asks quietly, her shoulders shrugging. "Scott's the more level headed of the two. Alex.." Her hand lifts, waffling side to side. ".. practical I guess."
As to what started it? "I.. sort of followed Charles' path into Gabriel's mind. And I saw what these people did to him when he was a kid." Her nose twitches slightly, her shoulders soon shrugging. "I don't know if he can. I doubt it. It knocked him back and he fell on his ass."
*
"When he was a kid?" Erik echoes. He seems more interested in pressing Jean to fill those gaps before Gabriel returns.
*
Jean nods completely, there was a considering look she gave Erik, one that has her head tilted to the side. But she wasn't going to offer up the image. "Yes.." She says slowly. "I saw him in a white room. All white. And people dressed in the same colors grabbed him by the hair and dragged him kicking and screaming through the halls." She frowns a little, then continues. "It was like an amphitheater where they took him, and strapped him into a chair." She gestures at her wrists then, attempting to paint a picture.
"I don't know what they were referring to, but they said.. something about a disease. And a disease that needs to be wiped out. They clapped, and they cheered the speaker on, and they.." She winces, her head bobbing as she finds the words. "..it was like they fed energy into his body and he expelled it. Full blast. It wrecked the ceilings."
*
Erik is grateful that Jean chose not to project this imagery into his mind. The description is well enough, and it draws a shadow across his features. Deep inside, thoughts of murder creep up from where they're buried.
"This memory," he asks her, voice low and quiet, perhaps holding the slightest undertone of a growl. "Did you take it from conscious memory, or… has he buried it?"
*
Her bottom lip trembles, one hand drawing up to press against her chest. She could feel that.. "Erik.. stop.."
She frowns a little, it was a dangerous thing, having the Phoenix mess around within someones head. But Jean had her at a tether, and when she speaks of her? He'd know what she means. "It wasn't buried. -She- broke down the walls that held it in. Someone did this to him on purpose. And -She- knows who, but she refuses to say."
*
For a long moment, Erik closes his eyes. "I'm sorry, Jean," he tells her, then steadily opens them again. He will always have a difficult time with memories like that… it's not something he wants to change. It's a part of who he is, and for the time, he has tamed that beast.
"An issue like this," he tells her, "it cannot be pushed. Either Gabriel will come to speak of it on his own, or… I suppose, she will reveal it when she is ready."
*
"The Phoenix is always ready. She does this on purpose." She points out. "If someone blocked his memories from him.. and he always says this.. why? Was he that terrible of a person? He.. he even had flashes of himself standing over dead bodies, and he felt that he did it. Yet, he did not care. He said this." She gestures..
She tilts her head a little as she stares towards him. "In.. a way.. I can see a little bit of him in you.." But, she also points out. "But not the echo. You have an echo in your head. Did you know that? I noticed it in Sanfrancisco.."
*
"Before I came back here, to Westchester," Erik tells Jean, "I traveled the length of Europe looking for someone. Looking for revenge. It was not fruitful, and I came home with more than a few demons." He shakes his head. "Everyone has demons, Jean. Some are… more bloodthirsty than others. You could say it's a cross each one has to bear."
He then reaches up to tap his temple. "I built that helmet to try and keep people like you and Charles out," he admits. "I tried to emulate Cerebro's walls. They amplify Charles' power; I helped him build it, you know. But it backfired. It forced my own thoughts back. Charles believes I will get better with time."
He folds his arms again. "Only Gabriel knows what really happened to him. It will be his cross to bear. All we can do is be there for him. Guide him, look after him. I think you understand what might become of him if we don't."
*
"I know that.." She says almost earnestly. "..but -you- don't have to do it alone either. I know I'm not the best person to confide in.." Her gaze grows distant, her fingers lifting to pinch at the air. "..but I can be Charles. I carry him sometimes.." One of her eyes alight with fire, the off colored gaze looking up towards Erik with a smile.
"You have to admit, you have a really interesting brain." She reaches out to try to lightly touch his forehead, almost mystified. "When she saw you the first time, she knew you. Not know in the sense but knows the feelings. Wants to help." She shakes her head then. Nodding in that slight wisdom that he imparts.
"Can you help? Look after him. Teach him what you know? You're a lot wiser than you think and I do respect you, even though I'm .. somewhat angry still. I think with you in his life, he would be very fortunate."
*
Magneto has partially disconnected.
*
Erik smirks just a bit at all of this, but a shadow comes back to him when she speaks of that other entity.
"I made a commitment to the X-Men," he answers. "I'm here for all of you. I hope now you understand, Jean; I may not always be nice to you, but that isn't my role. I will make you all stronger. I'll make you warriors, and we need to be warriors, in case war comes to us." His forehead rises. "Do you understand, now?"
*
Jean nods wholeheartedly. Perhaps that's why she pressed the need for Gabriel to learn his power. She just couldn't put it as eloquently as it was said then. "Then help me tell him this. I know he's not one of us, but he really, really could help other people with his gift. No matter how destructive we all are." She leans back then, and lets out a sigh. "Please."
*
Erik nods his head meaningfully, and offers a brief smile. "I will do my best."
*
Gabriel makes his way back down the hallway, having gotten some space to think and collect himself; along with additional fruit. In fact he managed to find two apples which he is holding and some cut up pineapple which is in a bowl that is tucked under his arm and being munched on. As he comes back to Jean's room, he comes to a stop at the voices then sighs and walks in. "I am sorry. It was a bit overwhelming for me. I felt it best to just go and gather myself than to be frustrated."
*
Jean smiles and nods towards Erik, her gaze falling towards the door as Gabriel returns to the room carrying.. food? Is that what he does when he's upset? Eat? For a moment, she thought to look to the side to check out the thighs on the man but she didn't. "It's okay." She says quietly, finally standing to approach him with her arms wide open, forcing upon him a hug which also sought to take the apples from underneath his arm. "I'm sorry I was too overbearing. It won't happen again."
And if they weren't already introduced, in which she was sure that he was.. "This is Erik. He's a teacher here." Though what kind? She doesn't outright say. "Is it okay if he works with you? With.. any questions that I can't answer?"
*
With Gabriel's entrance, Erik turns away from the chair and stands back up, pushing the item back where it belongs. He watches Jean with Gabriel, barely concealing a bit of a grin, until proper introductions are made. He merely offers a hand in greeting, remaining silent for the moment.
*
The hug from Jean is not rejected, rather he embraces her in turn and shakes his head. "No Jean, I don't want you to stop being overbearing. You are right, it just takes me some time to accept that when I don't want to." He holds the woman a moment and then Gabriel looks Erik over. His recent memory sharp as only the past that is lost, but after a moment and effort to pry himself from Jean, he nods a bit and shakes the hand offered. "We have crossed paths but have not met like this." It is as proper as he can probably manage. "If it is what we believe is best, then let us do that."
*
D'aww! He was such a keeper! Even though happy wife means happy life is a near bullshit term, Jean was actually happy! And not a wife! See! She gives him a final squeeze, even as he tries to pry himself away from her. It takes a half a step before she lets go, snaking herself underneath his arm, both apples present as one is bitten into with a slight wince. She doesn't interrupt the two, she only moves to her bed to half-bounce upon it in seating.
*
"I can only help guide you," Erik offers. "Every mutant is different, our, 'unique abilities' affect us in different ways. I can show you what I've learned, point you in the right direction, but a lot of this?" He nods his head. "A lot of it is going to be on your shoulders."
*
Gabriel glances back at Jean, uncertain of how much he told Erik but then he looks back to the other man and nods a bit. "I am concerned. For when I was trying to be … gentle and barely release any power it was rather explosive in result. I do not want to cause undo damage or harm anything. Also even to use it I am worried I am harming Jean."
*
Jean says nothing, that part she left out. The -how-. "It's like he draws my energy." She says quietly. Though, it doesn't necessarily have to be her, it could be anyone else. But why would she let them? There was a little smile that goes to him, her head shaking completely. "You're not hurting me. How else am I going to get sleep at night?" It was a little joke, poorly timed, but there.
*