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It's been close to a week since Jean had officially moved out of the mansion. There were still so many things to do, and the fact that she still felt some sort of responsibility to the mansion, she took up to her own job as cleaning and making sure that everything was tip top, especially while college itself was out in intermission.
So it was with a mop bucket that she went down the hallway where her room used to lay, carefully and quietly cleaning the floors as she keeps a little hum to herself. She was in a pair of her work slippers, her red hair tied back into a bun, her glasses hung off the edge of her nose, her dress.. well, it was decent. Small tiny flowers on a backdrop of white.
As she reached her room, she pushes the bucket and the mop against the wall, her fingers checking the doorknob which was soon twisted and pushed open. She had expected to find remains that needed to be cleaned.. but.. instead?
"Sam?" She murmurs quietly.
*
Sam groans lightly as he turns over, eyes fluttering opening in the light. "… huh?" His vision unblurs after a moment and he sits up a bit to settle his eyes on Jean. And then he yawns. Yep, fell asleep. "Aw, heck," he murmurs, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Where th' heck have y' been, Jeannie? Ah came lookin' for you.. must'a been more tired than Ah thought," he says, offering a bit of a weak smile. Sam sits up a bit more, resting on his elbow on the bed, and runs a hand through his blond hair, smoothing out the bedhead just a little. "What time is it?" In other words, how long has been laying fully clothed in Jean's old bed? Still smells like her. Probably why he found it so easy to fall asleep.
*
That was.. something. Seeing Sam in her room, in her bed asleep. But she doesn't try to make a big deal out of it, they were friends, always and forever. She does smile a little, her glasses taken off to lace through her hair, her lips pressed tight soon after as her hands were placed upon her hips. "Um.. I've been around. Here and there." She moves over towards the bed, slowly taking a seat as she draws in a breath. "It's high noon." She states, glancing around the room. "Really, I just came here to clean up and.. you know.. leave." She frowns a bit. "I really am glad you're here. I've had a hard time trying to catch up with everyone, between school and moving out.."
*
It might have been more awkward if he had actually made himself comfortable in here, but given that he's not in any state of undress, it's more likely that he just came in looking for Jean, decided to wait to see if she came back, and ended up passing out. "Noon? Dang. Ah've been asleep a couple hours, then.." He grimaces slightly, and pushes himself up fully into a sitting position as Jean sets herself down next to him. "So you're really goin', huh?" He frowns again, and straightens up a bit before smiling at the young woman. "Any chance Ah can convince you to stay?" In his mind, he's scrambling to come up with some way he can persuade her, but he gets the feeling her mind is made up.
*
Jean remains forward, her eyes placed upon her feet as she wriggles them within her house shoes. "Yeah.. I'm really going." There was a little hesitation, but she tries to put on a smile as she turns to face him. "We're already moved in. It's a cute little place in Salem Center, just outside of here. So I'm not too far away. Wags is there, and we have a new little pup, a girl. We haven't named her yet.." She trails off a little. "You can come visit any time you like. I know I'd be happy to have you around, Gabriel would be keen on it too. He doesn't have many friends." She beams just a little, then shrugs her shoulders. "I.. just thought it was time, you know? This place is so big, maybe something smaller would help.."
*
Sam just nods, staying quiet a moment. Surely Jean would sense his disappointment, but even without her powers it's pretty obvious. If he had known that she'd become so serious with another man, that she was going to be leaving the school, would he have come back? No way to know. He manages a smile after a moment, and lifts his eyes to meet hers. "Of course Ah'll come visit," he says simply, folding his hands together in his lap. "And yeah, Ah get it. We've all gotta grow up sometime, right? You 'n Gabe.. are really serious. Livin' together, couple a' dogs.. marriage bells and kids soon enough?" No bitterness in his voice, just a friend asking another friend about her plan for her life.
*
She does sense it, and it made her feel bad. In so many ways, Sam was her first love. So she valued his opinions and his feelings, much more than she ought to. She reaches out to grasp one of his folded hands, taking them within her own as she rests them within her lap. But she listens, a clear blush upon her face as she gives a solid shake of her hands. "No.. no marriage bells and kids." She states quietly. "There's just too much to do, I have school, he has work.. we have.." Her face winces, her head bobbing back and forth. "..this mission to save any and everyone we can." She draws in a breath, then exhales quietly. "Like.. how could anyone bring in a child when the world is the way it is? Especially if the child itself could be even greater than us?" She looks towards Sam, almost in earnest. "It.. it's something to think about for the future. Having a kid.. no matter who it's with but.. not now. No.."
*
"Well, for what it's worth, Jeannie, Ah think you'll be a great mother, when the time is right," Sam says warmly, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "No matter what state the world might be in, havin' a baby's never a bad thing. An' y' can't worry about what he might grow up t' be. Y' just do th' best y' can, and what will be, will be. Might be hard, might be terrifyin', but never somethin' t' regret," he says. Sam comes from a big Christian family, so obviously he considers children a blessing. Probably wants a big family of his own one day. "Ah'm not sayin' you should rush, of course. But if y' want t' have a family, don't let anythin', or anyone, convince y' that y' shouldn't."
*
Now it was Jean's turn to.. not be disappointed, but oddly uncomfortable at the prospect of children. Her fingers slightly loosen within Sam's hand, her body slightly moving away from Sam, until her hand soon follows suit, which allows her to stand to cross the room completely. "It's not that.." She says quietly, her hand lifting to tap against the side of her head. "It's.. me? Us?" She tries to rationalize it, but just goes for it, that all too typical word vomit that she usually does.
"I don't want my kids or anyone to go through what I did. Because no one would understand them, going into a mental hospital, your family afraid of you, being electrocuted because you saw people in the way that they didn't want to be seen.. it.. just horrors. And the Phoenix.. she.. I can't.. how could I just let.. someone like me, who came from me, have her too?" She begins to pace, her eyes near vacant. "It's not that I'm afraid.. maybe they're better with her than I am but.. she's mine."
It was then that Sam could possibly see it, that phantom image of the bird herself, manifesting from the shoulders of Jean as she paces. It looks like her, but a woman made of ash, cracked pits within her skin burning with fury. The woman smiles towards Sam, even as she keeps up with the pace of Jean, Jean who looks as if she's suddenly tired..
"Mine. She's only mine. And.. and one day.. she said she was going to take me away from here." The room slowly begins to grow a touch hot, as if summer had graced its presence in the room where they remained. "And when she takes me away, it'll be fantastic. We'll see the world.. not just this world, but many words. We'll be one among the stars.."
*
"Th' Phoenix is part of you, Jeannie. You 'n her . Maybe Ah don't understand everythin' goin' on in there," he says, motioning to Jean's head. "But Ah know you. Ah know you'd never let what happened to you happen to y'r children. Y'r parents didn't do right by you, but Ah know you'd do right by your kids, when y' have 'em." The visual expression of Phoenix manifesting around her takes him aback just slightly, and the heat in the room doesn't go unnoticed. But he's not going to argue with the woman about it, or the Phoenix for that matter. Seems like a bad plan. "Whatever happens.. Ah don't want you t' miss somethin' y'really want, if y'really want it, is all.. no matter what." He offers a slightly nervous smile, and gives her hand another squeeze. "But do me a favour, and don't leave f'r the stars without tellin' me."
*