NO FEAR.

“How on Earth am I not a household name for them? After all that I’ve done. You join a special mutant strikeforce tossed together by Wolverine and you don’t even get the recognition you deserve. Honestly, what are they even teaching those kids? The society we live in is, indeed, a flawed one.” His shoulders sagged a second before he perked up a little and sighed. “Oh well! I’m used to getting doors slammed in my face! It’s fine. Everything’s fine. Fox belongs to Disney now so at least Goofy will be there to hold me tenderly on those lonely nights.”

“They’re really good.” Oh, she’s getting pumped. She’s already wondering if the movies were out here. If they sold comic books here, she’d definitely save up that money and get all the comics. She had as much as she could get back home, but….she isn’t back home at the moment. That meant she needed to buy them again. “Not yet but you end up being. And you’re pretty bad ass too!” She remembers seeing the one where Jean Grey was just younger. Afraid of her powers in the beginning, but learning to control it. That one scene had been her VERY favorite. 

“I’m a fan of just about ANY superhero films. I used to go around pretending I had some kind of power when I was younger. Mom hated it though.”

     MUCH LIKE THE PROFESSOR, Jean wore her heart on her sleeve and so there was no hiding how taken aback she was at Anna’s enthusiasm. Even more so at her proclamation that Jean would end up being one of the X-Men. It was hard to imagine ever being to properly control her powers, and even now it brought her a sense of trepidation, but the other girl’s words brought her a strange sense of ease. 

    ❝ Well thank you, I guess, ❞     she said with a small chuckle, just a touch self-effacing. She’d never been described as ‘bad ass’ before.      ❝ I don’t know if I’d call us superheroes though. Almost none of us wear masks or suits or anything... You don’t seem very alarmed about what I can do. ❞     She wiggled her fingers somewhere around her temple, a vague representation of her telepathic abilities.  

         Not entirely sure what elicits the laughter, Violet simply gives the other a glance over, brow quirking. It’s not that she’s thinking how strange she is – the teen knows she’s not exactly normal either. But there was something about the older female that ignites a sense of wonder – like if she had rich parents or butlers to carry things for her. That would make a lot of sense actually.

         Nodding as the other comes to a realization, Violet offers a shrug in return. “I guess newbies make that mistake sometimes.” She doesn’t mean to offend the other, she’s more so, making a commentary. – which happened to her on her first shift as a waitress. Who knew a stack of dishes could be so heavy? “But if you want to work here, you’ll definitely need practice.”

         “Did your family have a maid service? Because it’s kind of hard to believe that you don’t carry your own things. How about your laundry? And your own buckets of ice cream?” 

     SHE TOOK NO REAL OFFENCE at the younger girl’s words, largely because she’d been called much worse things in her life than a newbie, both by humans and by other mutants. Jean had pretty thick skin as a result, and simply said,   ❝ Guess I’ll start that today. ❞

    A few steps were taken back, both to put some space in between them and so that she could slide the stack onto a empty space at the end of one of the shelves to free her hands.   ❝ No, nothing like that, ❞   she answered, keeping her eyes on the stack of books for a moment before finally glancing back over.   ❝  I mean, I do carry my own laundry. I grew up in a... boarding school type thing. But I have the option to not really to do.  ❞

Clint gave a shrug to her comment and brushed it off with a, “Good enough to be out here practicing.” while walking closer. Even if it was picked up as a hobby and not completely uncommon, it still gave him a sense of pride to see.

He moves to stand opposite of her as she retrieves her arrows, and if it hadn’t been one of those rare occasions where he was out and about without his gear he would have taken a moment to show off. Instead there’s a small smile on his face as he nods and answers, “Oh I know a thing or two.. or three. Far more actually. Been doin’ it for years.” It seems obvious as to where such a question was going though. “But I don’t think I’m a very good teacher… if you’re looking for that.”

     SHE DIDN’T NEED HER POWERS to pick up on his ease around her bow and arrows. Despite her own admittance to not being very good, especially not now without her telekinesis, it wouldn’t have surprised Jean to see some sort of apprehension while she still held onto the weapon. Interesting. 

     Jean gave a shrug of her own despite the mild disappointment. She hadn’t really expected an offer to help her improve, but at the same time she couldn’t help but comment in her youthful curiosity.     ❝  Doesn’t matter, but I think the best teaching comes from experience anyway.  ❞ 

Just thinking about going to school with someone—no, not just someone, but a superhero is like a dream come true. She had introduced herself as JEAN and was now talking about the X-Men school. Man, she knew something was up and it didn’t take Rocket Science to put two and two together! Jean Grey was literally standing in front of her, talking about school, arrows, and everything else that was casual, or as casual. 

Never mind that though.

Look. she asked a question and she seems so confused….Maybe a little worried? Who knows.

“You know the X-Men, you and everyone in that school are a comic book right? ALSO movies, too. There’s quite a few movies about the X-Men.” Oh man, this is crazy. Annastasia runs a hand through her red hair, “This is really weird, BUT so cool! Dude! Isn’t this insane? My world, you guys are just….fiction. Not real. BUT in your world, you guys are real. Your world isn’t a world of just humans like mine.”

      HER BEMUSEMENT ONLY DOUBLED at the young girl’s explanation. As far as she knew, mutants had been broadcasted across television screens and newspapers, slandered on posters and picket signs, but Jean had never heard of their involvement in film or comic books. 

    ❝ It’s the first I’m hearing of it, ❞   she said honestly.   ❝ Were they at least good movies? ❞   she asked with a light but mirthless chuckle, not really knowing what else to say as she processed the new information. The world had hardly been kind to her people, so there was part of Jean that was expecting a no as an answer.

{ ✦ } » — If he was being perfectly honest, it was almost hard to believe how long he had been in the city for now. It was still a far cry from home, and at the back of his mind, he would always be aching to have his family back. But somewhere along the way, he had become adjusted to the typical humdrum that the island had to offer. Though, when he thought about it, the occasional zombie invasion and general upheaval of peace in the wards did make it feel a bit more like home, what with the regular alien invasions and general weirdos in ridiculous costumes wreaking havoc. Not to mention the best friend who was pretty much part spider.

                But if his being here had brought him one thing that he’d consider an improvement, it was Jean Grey.

                A curious hum sounds as his phone vibrates in his pocket, signaling the new text message. And despite there being little question as to who the sender could be, Johnny smiles when he sees the name displayed on his screen.

                 [ TEXT MESSAGE ]                  TO: JEANIE                  FROM: 🔥 HOT STUFF 🔥

                 [½] oh?? now this I gotta see 👀                  [2/2] I’ll be right down, gimme 2 secs

                 True to his word, he scrambles to pull his shoes on, grab his jacket, and hurry out the door to meet her. When he spots her our front, he flashes a smile before raising his hand in a wave.

                 “Y’know, you could’ve just let yourself in. I wouldn’t have cared,” he points out with a lax shrug of his shoulders. “So what’s up? What’s this super cool thing I’ve been hearing about? Because if you somehow got your hands on Backstreet Boys tickets, I just might cry.”

     A MOMENT WAS SPARED AS SHE waited to raise an eyebrow questioningly at the texts that she received back. The eyes at the end of his message were something she hadn’t seen before, and Jean simply brushed it off as being a modern texting phenomenon that she wasn’t familiar with.

    She returns his smile with a small one of her own. It was good to see him; enough so that even when she spoke with self-depreciation, it was still done with a lightness.   ❝ I think I have enough issues with boundaries to start letting myself into people’s places. ❞    She paused for a moment, her copper waves shifting over her shoulder to follow the curious tilt of her head.   ❝ ...Who are the Backstreet Boys? ❞

    But to answer his question, Jean used her powers to isolate the phone in Johnny’s pocket, distinguishing its molecules apart from everything else. It came as naturally to her as breathing, lifting her hand and the phone obeyed her thoughts, lifting itself out to hover between them. 

    It was probably someone’s car and she had no right to touch it, but her childish curiosity had her reaching out to graze her hand over its hood. Yellow, a colour she wouldn’t have expected. With her newly returned powers, she could sense the atoms that made up the hood, but the limits of her telekinesis knew that she wouldn’t be able to lift it. Too heavy.

And it’s as if the weapon isn’t even there. Annastasia is no longer on the edge. If for whatever reason the weapon was picked up and aimed her direction, Annastasia knew how to bolt. Look, she doesn’t need her skateboard to run away. She’s quick on her feet without it. 

She shrugs, “Maybe. I guess I could huh?” School wasn’t really her thing. She didn’t like how the teachers taught, and there were only just a few GOOD teachers. On top of that the kids in the classrooms. How did anyone put up with them? “I wouldn’t want to go alone though,” She eventually admits. THough, more to herself than to anyone. 

“OH!” And she grins. See, if Jean decides to actually try it out one day in the future, Anna would definitely teach her some school tricks, “Cool! We could even see if there’s a cool skateboard for you.” 

Wait. Hold up. FEW STEPS BACK. 

“Uhhhhh, whaaaaat?”  She doesn’t mean to drag her question out like that, but, “ARE YOU FOR REAL? Like….LIKE,” And she drops to a full blown whisper, “The X-Men?” Wait. If she was going by Xavier’s Institute….

“Dude….No way.” She needs to get used to this whole thing. 

     SHE TURNED AWAY SLIGHTLY TO hide the small smile that tugged at her lips at Annastasia’s agreement to at least to check out the schools. Jean paused for a moment, taking in the quieter words the girl spoke. She had been one of the older students at school, close to finishing. But the idea of taking a few more classes here didn’t seem so bad. She’d always liked the company of books. 

  ❝ I can come with you, if you’d like. I remember the first time I toured the school I went to at home, it was pretty daunting. ❞   She’d been quite young as well. And alone. Only a year or two younger than Anna was now.   ❝ That, and I could probably spend my time a little better than shooting arrows at trees. ❞

     Much like the Professor himself, Jean wore her heart on her sleeve, so there was no hiding the surprise in her face at Anna’s reaction. Initially it had her tensing, getting ready for a barrage of cruel words that no longer got under her skin, but were still not fun to hear. Instead, what she got was excitement, which only further confused her.