Shadow King: Don't Worry, Be Happy

[x-jeangrey.livejournal.com]

Earlier this morning Ororo comes by to check on her friend, who's doing shockingly well, considering. Having her mother around and having gotten out of the medlab seems to have done Jeannie a world of good.



Ororo had come to the mansion as a teenager, which meant that the friends she made there (namely Scott, Hank, and Jean in particular) had been her age or older when she met them. Not that she had gone through a particularly normal childhood anyway, but she had always wondered what she had missed out on, not interacting with her friends and peers when they had all been at that impressionable age.

Of course, she had never expected she would actually be able to find out.

Pausing outside the door, she took a deep breath before knocking, not quite sure what to expect. Crazy Nathan had been one thing, but at least that she had seen before. This, on the other hand, is something I can honestly say I have never experienced.

Anyone watching Jeannie as she wielded the scissors oh-so-carefully as she mutilated the baggy sweater she'd found probably could not have helped from laughing, either at her complete focus or at the pink edge of her tongue sticking out between her teeth. Luckily, no one could see her as her mother had gone out shopping (the headmaster had invited them both to take meals with the school at large, but Jeannie really wasn't comfortable with the number of people who looked at her like they both knew and didn't know her) and when the knock sounded she jumped, dropping the scissors. With the kind of self obsession every teenager has she stopped briefly to scowl at herself in the mirror on the dresser before going to open the door. "Yes?"

Ororo blinked at the woman in front of her - it looked like Jean was ready to head out to '80s night at a local club, complete with high ponytail and neon-colored shirt. I didn't even know she owned a shirt that color, she mused off-handedly, before realizing she hadn't said anything by way of greeting. "Oh. Hello, Jean. I came by to see how you were doing, and if you needed anything."

"Er... hi," Jeannie said, doing her best not to stare at the lady with the shockingly white hair. "Um... I'm ok, I guess. Thanks for asking," she added after a second, cause her mother always said she should be polite.

"Good, I am glad to hear it. There is... nothing you need?" It felt awkward, to say the least, to be offering, but if half of what Scott had said was true then Jean probably would need assistance feeling more comfortable in the mansion.

"I dunno." Jeannie shrugged. "I mean, my mom's here - well, not here-here cause she went out, but she's been taking care of me, since they won't let me go home. Unless you can get me permission to go home?" She lit up at the idea.

Sadly, Ororo had to shake her head, though she was loathe to banish the look of joy on Jean's face. "I think it may be best if you stay here, at least for now. I know it must seem strange to you, but you are more than welcome here, and it is really quite a nice place to be."

She pouted slightly, but she hadn't really expected any different. "So, what about you? You work here, then?" A vaguely horrified look crossed her face and Jeannie blushed bright red. "Aw, jeeze, I'm the rudest thing ever. Hi, I'm Jeannie. Nice to meet you."

"It is nice to meet you, as well. My name is Ororo and yes, I work here as well. I am the headmistress and I also teach classes," the silver-haired woman explained.

"This," the girl said, "is one majorly weird school. What's up with all you teachers going by your first names? Cause I could never do that."

"We do not always go by our first names with students, but..." Ororo hesitated, then forged onward, "it is difficult to think of you as a student. You are welcome to call me Ms. Munroe, if you like, however."

"Thanks, Ms. Munroe," Jeannie said, clinging to the idea. "It's easier, you know?" She paused, then added, "Hey, do you want to come in? I guess I shouldn't keep you standing out in the hall and stuff..."

"Thank you. I cannot stay long -" As there are currently large, messy holes where classrooms used to be, and worried parents on the phone asking why their children have been evacuated to the shelters yet again "-but I would not mind coming in for a moment."

Jean stepped aside so the older woman could come in and moved towards the kitchen area, good manners taking over. "Can I get you something. We've got, um, juice, I think, and milk. And maybe there's some coffee left over from my mom this morning, but it's probably cold."

"A glass of water would be nice." Ororo watched as Jean moved around the suite, looking somewhat awkward and out-of-place. It was a strange thing to observe, since most days it seemed as if her friend knew the school and its intricacies better than the back of her hand. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Jeannie said, getting a glass and filling it. Bringing it back to the woman, though, Jean was suddenly aware of just how thoroughly unprepared to be social with a grown up she was. "Um... so... what do you teach?"

"I teach English classes, mostly," Ororo replied, accepting the glass of water gratefully. "And I help cover other teachers' classes as well." She didn't think Jean needed to know exactly why substitutes were needed so often at the school. "What... classes do you enjoy?"
She shrugged. "They're all ok, I guess. My social studies teacher's pretty nice, and there's this really cute boy in my math class..." Jeannie blushed at that and hurried on. "Don't like gym, but no one does cause it's lame. But I'd rather be hanging out with my friends than in school."

"I suppose I cannot blame you there. School can be a chore when you are young. I remember I hated it for quite a long time."

"Yeah, exactly. Did you go to school here or somewhere else?"

"I came to school here when I was a teenager. Before that, I had not really attended a real school. It was quite a shock, to suddenly have rules to follow, and homework to turn in, and other people my age to interact with."

"Huh..." Jeannie considered that then said, bluntly, "you really missed out. Grade school's really the only time school's fun, cause by the time you're, like, ten, they're giving you homework and all. Ugh."

Ororo had to chuckle. "Yes, I can believe that. Though we seemed to enjoy ourselves enough even with the homework and rules."

"Who was 'we'?" So, Ms. Munroe had made friends here - maybe Jean could, too.

"Me and my friends." Of who you were one. Goddess, this is odd... Ororo sipped her water. "You may have met some of them already. Mr. Summers, certainly."

"And you ended up working together? How cool!" Jeannie grinned suddenly. "Did you two go out?" Normally it'd be weird to think about teachers having lives and dating and stuff, but these weren't her teachers.

Ororo's expression grew comically shocked, and it was a good thing she hadn't just taken a drink or the couch would've gotten an impromptu shower. "Erm, no," she said when she had recovered. "Definitely not. Scott has always been a wonderful friend but we did not date. Ever." She made sure to put a good amount of emphasis on the word. "He is far too much like a brother to me."

"Ahhh," Jean said, nodding. "I never had any brothers, but I've got an older sister. She's in high scho...." Suddenly her face fell. "No, she's probably not, is she?"

"No, probably not," Ororo agreed. She gave Jean a sympathetic look. "This all must seem very strange and frightening to you."

"No shit, Sherlock..." It slipped out before Jeannie properly realized what she was saying and she gasped, blushing. "I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I know I shouldn't talk like that to an adult."
Luckily Ororo just grinned, finishing her water and setting down the empty glass on the table beside her. "That is all right. I promise I will not tell anyone," she told the other woman conspiratorily.

Jeannie grinned right back. "Thanks."