Shadow King Aftermath - Jean and her mother

[x-jeangrey.livejournal.com]

Jean's got her mind back, which means she probably ought to go tell her mother... Not something she's looking forward to in the slightest.
Backdated to the 10th.



Jean steeled herself outside the door to the suite she'd been staying in this past week. With her mother. Which was still a fairly mindboggling concept. And she had to go in, let her mother know everything was ok again. She just... had to be ready to do it, first. Her hair was still dripping water down the back of her terrycloth robe - Jean had planned to get dressed after her shower, but she'd discovered that her mind-melted self had done a number on basically every sweater she owned and she hadn't really wanted to... get off on the wrong foot, coming down to see her mother in work clothes.

Sighing, she refocused; she'd checked lightly enough to be sure her mother was in and then slammed her shields on tight as steel - Jean's normal method when dealing with her mom. Now, though, she just had to knock. Lift her hand and knock. That was all.

It was still most of another minute before she worked up the nerve, but eventually the rap on the door came.

It was a few moments before the door opened, but when it did her mother smiled and stepped back immediately to let Jean into the room. "Jeannie, there you are. What are you doing out in the hallway in your robe? Come in, come in, you're dripping all over the carpet..."

God, no one save Logan (and sometimes Elisabeth when she wanted to annoy her) had called her 'Jeannie' in years. She really had been out of it. Stepping inside Jean said, "Mother, hello. I..." There was something incredibly awkward about all of this. Possibly more than one something. "I wanted to let you know something happened - we're not terribly sure what but... I seem to have gotten my mind back. Somehow."

"You... oh." Elaine blinked, her hand slipping off the doorhandle and falling to her side as she started at Jean. Obviously 'my mind' was code for a bit more than 'remembering I'm not 11 years old anymore'. "How... do you feel, sweetheart? Are you all right?"

'Sort of' was really not the right answer. "I'm more or less fine, mother, albeit still somewhat... bewildered. I was more disoriented when my memories first came back. I did want to thank you for, well, everything. And make certain you weren't terribly worried when I didn't come back for... er, bed time."

"Yes, well... thank you." Elaine nodded, looking strangely upset at the fact that her daughter was once again back to normal. "I would have wondered where you had gone to. So it's good. To know."

"Yes, I thought you might. I was... rather needy this past week, I think. I remember. Um..." Why had her subconscious called for her mother? Ok, fine, it made a sort of twisted sense, but Jean wasn't entirely sure she could cope with this. "It's late and dad obviously won't be expecting you home - you're more than welcome to stay. Tomorrow, even, or longer, of course, if you want."

"I wouldn't want to impose," her mother replied almost stiffly. "I'll leave tomorrow."

"You wouldn't be; the mansion's huge." Oh, but that was the wrong thing to say and Jean knew it and mentally kicked herself. She really just didn't know how to deal with her mother but... She remembered her mother taking care of her. It had seemed perfectly normal to her eleven year old self, but now looking back she could imagine how odd and difficult it must have been for her mother. "You could stay a while, if you wanted. If dad could do without you. We could... We could have dinner or something."

Elaine's expression wavered; for a moment it seemed as if she was going to shake her head, refuse, and excuse herself from the conversation. The longer she looked at Jean, however, the less likely that possibility seemed, and eventually she came to some conclusion and nodded smartly. "Your father seems to be doing well enough without me at the moment. I suppose a few more days won't hurt him."

Jean smiled, although it was somewhat shakey. "I'm sure he'll appreciate the extended opportunity to work on his putt inside the house."

"I'm sure he will," her mother agreed. There was another long pause, and then Elaine stepped forward, putting her arms around Jean's shoulders and drawing her in for an unexpected hug. "I'm glad you're all right, sweetheart. Even if it was nice to have my Jeannie back for just a little bit."

Jean blinked, startled, but managed to hug her mother back. For a moment it was stiff and awkward, but then she mentally hugged and buried her face in her mother's shoulder. "Thank you, mom," she whispered.

"You're welcome, sweetheart." The hug went on for another few seconds, and then Elaine pulled back, her expression once more motherly and resolute. "Now. Why don't you go change into some real clothes - it's not seemly to go running about the halls in just your robe. Anybody could see you. And you really ought to get your hair trimmed - it's getting so long..."

Jean sharply suppressed the urge to either roll her eyes or point out that her husband probably didn't want her getting dressed 'properly' and simply said, "Good night, mother. I'll see you tomorrow."