6543/The Story of Us

The Story of Us
Date of Scene:	17 February 2019
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Jean looks for Scott to talk about the elephant, or rather, Rachel in the room. Does having a daughter from the future means they are meant to be? If they won't be, are they murdering her? Emotional talk ensues.
Cast of Characters:	Phoenix, Cyclops

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Phoenix has posed:
Jean always has the telepathic option to form shortcuts when needed, whether to communicate or locate. She tries her best to avoid using it, but when she needs to find someone, she usually cheats. She knows Scott will be in his room when she heads that way, giving a very polite, gentle knock on his door, "Scott...it's Jean, I think we should talk..."

Cyclops has posed:
    Scott stands up, setting the red pen down on top of the stack of papers he was grading and frowns to himself. Though Jean could easily sense it, Scott walks up to the door and lingers a moment as he worries about how awkward this is going to get, or is it going to be the beginning of something more meaningful, or... does he even have a choice.

    Seems like now would be the best time for an existential crisis, right? He takes a moment to take a deep breath before finally opening the door. "I - was thinking the same thing." He responds as he opens the door all the way to invite Jean into his room.

Phoenix has posed:
"Yes...quite," Jean murmurs, awkwardness fully evident in her tone of voice, try though she might to hide it. "So..." she starts before struggling to find words, before walking inside, "thanks for letting me in." She stalls. She has a quick look around the room, and then turns to look at Scott, "I heard you fainted when you met her." No stating of names, they both know why Jean came to talk to Scott.

Cyclops has posed:
    "Yeah... Totally not my best moment." Scott says, as he shuts the door and closes his eyes before his hands reach up to rub at them tiredly and eventually moves onto his temples. Scott makes sure his glasses are back on before he opens them again and he smirks falsely. "She looks a lot like you." The x-man says. He looks around his room also, a pretty basic room with a few touches to make it his own, like the dark grey sheets and bedset, made perfectly, and the music coming from his tablet at a low volume, and the picture of an old car above the desk. "What about you? People said you were a bit more, professional..." Scott says before sitting in his chair. "And that hug... that was... weird... but nice. Yeah?"

Phoenix has posed:
"Hey, I didn't have the luxury, I was surrounded by students, Sam Guthrie, and one Dr. Hank McCoy...I was putting on a show, but trust me, if nobody was there...I'd have fainted too," Jean offers with a warm smile, reaching to touch Scott's shoulder in a show of support, letting him know she thinks nothing less of him because of fainting, when it took all she had to not do the same. "Yeah, I kinda noticed that...it was freaky, like looking in a mirror that took away a copule of years or so...very freaky." Yeah, she would have fainted for sure, looking at yourself is never not fucking with one's mind. She moves over to sit on his bed, turning to look up at Scott. "It was," she admits, before taking a deep breath, and actually stating it out loud in the open, "so...apparently, you and I have a daughter."

Cyclops has posed:
    "We have a daughter." Scott says, turning his chair around to cross his arms on the backrest and then put his chin down on his wrists. "A daughter..." Scott says to himself again, eyes and his mind are a million miles away. "Does that mean..." Scott begins, but stops himself mid thought, not sure if he should say it, or even what he's trying to say. It's so bizarre.

    He cracks a smile but it fades back into that stare at the floor, unable to come up with words.

Phoenix has posed:
"Does that mean is exactly where my mind has been going since I met her..." Jean admits, looking very seriously at Scott's visage, despite how awkward it is to maintain that gaze. "Does that mean we are fated to be together? If we're not going to be together, are we murdering her?" She sighs even more, looking quite shaken, before admitting, "look, Scott, I'll be honest...I've had some affection towards you," her voice dies down to barely audible as she admits something rather embarrassing, and the whole conversation is already awkward enough, "but it feels weird for something like that to suddenly make me feel like I absolutely have to start dating you, or I'm a killer," Jean nearly chokes on her words, before she finally breaks eye contact and looks down at her lap. "I'm sorry if it comes off wrong, or insulting, it's just...I never, wait, nobody ever been in this situation. That's how lucky we are, chosen by fate to be the first to taste this kind of time travelling bombshell. I don't remember Marty McFly dealing with this level of 'heavy'."

Cyclops has posed:
    Scott snorts to himself at the end of Jean's thought. Then he cracks a smile. "I had honestly said the same thing." Scott says before he stands up from his chair and moves to sit next to Jean, and yet he keeps his hands to himself, respectful and more friendly than anything else. "I was worried she'd start to disolve away if we didn't date." Summers says when he starts to shake his head, "For real, I was afraid of the exact same thing you were. Did she tell you what happened to you in her time?" Scott asks, trying to move the subject just a little, bit, not much but a bit, "Because she told me that she didn't know me, that I had been dead most of her life..."

Phoenix has posed:
Jean looks up at Scott with a look of relief on her face, which shows two things: 1) she didn't invade his mind to read for herself what he thinks of the matter. 2) she was extremely happy he shared similar concerns, because then she's not the only freak.

"I can't tell you how relieved I am to hear you say that, Scott," Jean sounds very much so just based on her tone of voice. "I was wondering if something was wrong with me for even thinking in such terms. I mean, our lives are ours to do with as we please, and it's not fair for something from the future to alter them..." her voice trails off but there's an obvious 'but' that wasn't spoken. When he comes to join at her side on the bed, he may keep his hand to himself, but Jean edges closer to him. She may say nothing, but she does hint she could use some reassurance, despite being for the last few years the most responsible adult in the room. At least since Xavier appointed her Headmistress while he had to go away.

"She told you about the future she's from?" Jean almost sounds insulted, clearly, she wasn't told anything. "No...she didn't, what...what happens to me?" Jean asks, very much afraid.

When Scott reveals that Rachel told him he was dead for most of her life, Jean's eyes shoot wide open, their emerald green widening in shock, "so...we get married and you die first? That's not fair," Jean's voice cracks a bit, "...did she know how you die? And what about me...?"

Cyclops has posed:
    Scott wants desperately to put his arm around Jean, to comfort one of his oldest and closest friends, but there's that twinge of fear, that he's over stepping his boundaries, and then there's the talk that the future isn't set in stone, maybe she wants to date someone else, but then she said she likes him. His mind is flying faster than normal, and he's starting to have beads of sweat form on his temples and forehead.

    "She said she knew you far more than she knew me. So I guess you raised her or at least were with her a lot longer." Scott says before he sighs and goes half way and leans against Jean with his arm, bumping against her shoulder. "I assume we get married before kids. That wouldn't sound like either of us, would it?" Summers says teasingly, with an equally awkward laugh.

Phoenix has posed:
And that, Rachel Grey, is why you will die.

Okay, so maybe not, but Jean and Scott honestly are two remarkably awkward individuals, and it seems even premonition from the future doesn't solve that.

Just as Scott has concerns that Jean might want to date others, Jean is concerned that she pretty much asked him without words to embrace her, and he refused, so maybe he's not that into her. Then again, women often confuse men's inability to read cues into informed decisions. It's a conundrum.

"So...safe to say I die too?" Jean asks, a silly question, since everyone dies in the end. Or so Jean thinks, wait till she gets to know the Phoenix side of her a bit better. "I'm glad that at least I was able to raise her, so whatever makes me raise her on my own, I'd like to change that. If we're to be together, I need you to be there. Jean murmurs, still talking in hypothetical terms. Yes. This is awkward. Thanks Rachel for making life easier for everyone.

And there's the romatic gesture of the day, Scott and Jean bump shoulders. Somebody get the Puritans to shut down the hive of vice that is Xavier's.

"I feel the same," Jean admits to Scott with a giggle. A nervous giggle, but a giggle nevertheless. "I think that was the weirdest thing about this for me, because, like I said...I like you, I was kinda debating with myself if I should do something about it, or let you decide if you like me first. I think tradtionally the man makes the first move?" Jean lingers with that question for a moment, can she be any more obvious? She thinks she can't, but maybe Scott will disagree. "Then, out of the blue, she comes...and every so casually drops that we're her parents. So...yeah, awkward."

Cyclops has posed:
    Scott catches the hint this time and turns slightly bringing his leg up onto his bed and turns to lift his arms and wrap them around Jean's shoulders. "Then we make a deal here and now, if we have a daughter, we teach her how to be more tactful and not just come back in time and make things even more awkward." Scott says, that tone is teasing as possible but he's trying to whisper as he's so close to her ear he doesn't want to talk at a normal level.

    After a brief moment, Scott inquires, "Does this mean we're going to try and date now? Because I wanted to ask you out for Valentine's day, but I didn't want to back to the future this whole situation." Yup, he's super awkward even when things seem to be looking up and going his way.

Phoenix has posed:
Jean manages not to sigh in relief, but is very much relieved when Scott finally wraps his arms around her for an embrace, and she responds by leaning further into that embrace, rather needing that comforting support. "Thank you, Scott," she whispers faintly at the gesture. His suggestion on what's ought to be the first lesson they'd teach a potential future daughter has Jean laughing more at ease, "absolutely. We clearly didn't think of all the possibilities the first time around...I would blame you, but if you were dead, I guess I'm the one who should be ashamed..."

"Awww," comes the heartfelt reaction from Jean as she shifts to wrap her own arms around Scott to embrace him in turn. "I'm happy to hear that, Scott, and I'm sorry you didn't...I was all alone and misreable on Valentine's," Jean pouts, though it's not clear if it's feigned or serioues, "but I totally get it. Didn't want to look like you're asking me for Valentine's day just because we have a future daughter..." and now it's her turn to laugh at her own teasing, unable to keep it straight long enough to get a reaction out of Scott first.

Cyclops has posed:
    Scott keeps the hug tight and firm for as long as Jean needs it, he's that kind of man, that he'll be the strong one she can lean on and come to when she needs it, though it seems like she's the stronger one most of the time. She doesn't faint.

    "I was completely alone on Valentine's too, but you probably could have guessed that." Scott says with a smirk "Yeah, I can't believe you let me down like that-" and then he cants his head in thought "Do we have to name her Rachel?" Scott asked teasingly as well before he thinks further, "Though if she's still around long enough and if we do last that long, she'd be pissed if we named our daughter Jean Junior."

Phoenix has posed:
Jean does like to put on a strong front. To be fair, she never really let anyone close enough to know otherwise. But the weight of the Headmistress role with Xavier gone, it made her feel she needed to be a paragon in all things. Strong, unwavering, unafraid, and steadfast in solutions. It wasn't always the case, but she put on a great front. Having empathy and telepathy on her side, helped a great deal, but she was well experienced enough to not need her powers most of the time.

So right now, given a moment to melt into Scott's reassuring embrace, felt wonderful. To let go for a moment, and for a moment, provide a glimpse that perhaps she's not the strongest never failing guardian she presents herself as. For a long moment she continues to maintain the embrace in silence, before eventually having her fill and allowing Scott to break it, though she is very slow to do so herself. "I think I needed that for a long time Scott, thank you."

"So, we were two idiots all alone on Valentine's because we found out we have a daughter in the future, how awkward are we?" Jean smirks, poking fun at themselves.

Then Scott tells his joke, and Jean cracks up, a full on rolling laughter, breaking through all awkwardness and tension. "Wouldn't that be a fine revenge? But I think it would be more awkward to present us when she goes back in time again, so maybe keep it Rachel."

Cyclops has posed:
    "We'll see." Scott says, not sure of himself or the potential name of their possible future daughter. "I feel like I'm the idiot." Scott says as he pulls back slightly from Jean, but his hand stays touching, sliding down her arm until their finger tips are simply brushing against each other in a sweet kind of moment, like he doesn't want to let her go for any reason. "I did hear one of the other kids complaining about her the other night, maybe we should try and be parent's now, or at least friends with the girl, she seems like she's lashing out or experimenting quite happily." Summers notes with a shudder of his shoulders as he talks about Rachel in such a scandalous way. Awkward doesn't begin to describe it.

Phoenix has posed:
"Oh...?" Jean seems unaware of whatever it is Scott is eluding to, "are you saying Rachel has been trouble...?" Jean wonders, nodding at his words, even though trying to parent the girl when they've barely a few years on her sounds as awkward as it gets. "Maybe we should do something...I've been meaning to have a private meeting with her, because I feel we need to talk privately, but she always seems busy with friends. I'm glad she's getting along so well...I'm sure a time jump can be quite traumatic..."

Cyclops has posed:
    "That was my thinking, but one of the girls was complaining about her being... polycule? Or something like that. I am not sure, I don't speak these kid words any more Jean. I'm getting old." The mutant says with a sigh but he's not so shy about actually looking at Jean so much any more, but he does have trouble with prolonged eye contact, even with the sunglasses. "I do worry she'll tear us apart also, trying to force things to happen too fast, or am I being insane?"

Phoenix has posed:
"What on Earth is a polycule...?" Jean asks, utterly unfamiliar with the term. She shrugs, "I guess I'm getting old too. Been awhile since I was twelve and first set foot in this Mansion." Jean notes, thinking back on the many, many experiences, hard lessons, and adventures they've been through. "I don't think she's done so yet, but we should have words with her about it...I tried to explain to her once that it's wrong for her to play conductor with this timeline."