Scott and Yvette

[x-penance.livejournal.com]

Scott tracks down Yvette and the two talk about putting their own welfare first sometimes.



"Yvette?" Pushing aside a branch Scott peered around the tree, seeking his target with no luck. Apparently Yvette had been spending most of her time out in the woods recently. Scott had noticed that she had been much quieter and withdrawn that usual and so had decided to do something about it. Hence his trek through the woods.

While she had promised Sooraya and Angel that she wouldn't hermit so much, between the oppressively hot weather and her lingering fear of losing control of her powers, Yvette tended to seek the comfort of the woods during the day, returning to the mansion for meals and in the evenings. At least out here, she could practice her new powers range without tearing up the floor or furniture.

Today, however, was not a practice day. Instead, she was lounging in the fork of a sturdy oak tree, reading a book and eating apples. At the sound of Scott's voice, she closed her book, tucking it safely in a small hollow in the tree's trunk and shifting so that she was perched on a branch, looking down at Scott as he walked beneath her. In a moment of puckiness, she grinned and let her apple core drop down to land just in front of him, instead of verbally announcing her presence.

Scott's reflexes were as good as ever and he span around as soon as he heard the apple core hit the ground. So he was still a little jumpy, but Scott figured after recent events he couldn't really be blamed for that. He had been doing his best not to blow anyone's head off. Scott's eye scanned the ground behind him until he spotted the apple core. As his eyes tracked up he spotted Yvette perched in the tree and he quirked an eyebrow at her. "Really?" he asked indicating the piece of fruit, "is this what you've been teaching the students." he teased.

"It is good to be on one's toes, yes?" she replied, gripping the branch by her long toes and letting herself drop forward, so that she hung upside down a moment before dropping out of the tree. She landed in a crouch, hands splayed against the ground for balance. "I apologise if I startled you Mr. Summers," she said, straightening and brushing down her bodysuit. She tended to wear just that during the really hot days.

Scott smiled at Yvette, "Like you said, it's good to stay n your toes, my fault for not checking the tree tops for you. It's good to see you pulling jokes though, you've been a little, what's the word...withdrawn recently. I was wondering how you were holding up."

Yvette looked down, scuffing her long toes in the dirt. "I have been trying to not hide so much, but it is difficult," she admitted. "After Genosha... it is hard to trust myself." She looked up and added quickly - too quickly: "With my powers, that is. They have changed since the mutate process."

"Genosha was a trying time for all of us, Scott replied quietly, "it's hard for everyone to come to terms with with what happened there. Harder for some of us than others," he acknowledged sadly. "You said your powers have changed how?" Scott questioned settling down on a tree stump.

She climbed part-way back up the tree, taking her cue from Scott to settle herself into the first fork she encountered. Also, she preferred some distance when talking about these things. "I have the wider range," she explained. "When I am relaxed, I am looking almost normal, and I can feel much more through my skin. But..." She took a deep breath. "There is the downside. It is better if I show you."

It was getting far too easy to slip into what she was calling The Monster. Between one breath and the next, the armoured ridges appeared on her head and face, distorting her features to something inhuman. Her fingers and toes lengthened and sharpened, cutting deeply into the tree as she flexed them. The bodysuit rippled, tearing and repairing immediately as underneath her skin covered her torso with a layer almost like armour plate. Blue eyes gleamed from beneath protruding brow ridges as Yvette looked at Scott.

"You see?"

Scott nodded slowly as he examined Yvette's new form. "How's this affected your control?" he asked. While his powers had never undergone such a drastic change he had seen people whose powers had and it was never easy for them.

"I think I have more control?" Yvette replied, letting her body relax as she dropped the form, her skin and features returning to normal. "My powers are still very much tied into my emotions, but as long as I am not upset, I can go back and forth with much less trouble. But when I am angry or unhappy or afraid..." She sighed. "I cannot help changing into what you are just seeing. I worry about hurting or frightening someone."

Scott nodded thoughtfully, "I don't think you need to worry about hurting anyone you don't want to, after all this time you've become pretty careful about it." he pointed out sadly. A large part of him wished they had been able to find a way for Yvette to turn off her powers so she wouldn't have to worry about hurting anyone.

"That is why I have been staying in the woods so much, to try and avoid hurting anyone," Yvette admitted, hanging her head. "But I missed helping Sooraya when she was in trouble, because I was spending so much time away. I am trying not to so much now, but sometimes... it is hard, trying to concentrate all the time, being aware of where people are and how close they are..." As she spoke, her toes began to grow longer, digging into the tree trunk.

"You can't let your fear of what might happen prevent you from living your life," Scott agreed. "It's a hard lesson to remember for all of us but that doesn't make it any less true." He looked around the woods, "Sometimes you do just need to get away and relax, but you know you don't have to come all the way out here to feel safe. You could use the Danger Room," he offered, "we could program a scene you liked and felt safe in and leave the in use sign up so no-on is going to walk in on you. You'd still be at the mansion but you'd have some safe alone time when you could relax if you needed it.

She looked a little shamefaced. "I did not want to be taking up time in the Danger Room when it is for the training," she confessed. "Training is so much more important."

Scott shook his head, "You're far more important than training Yvette," he admonished her. "If I need I can make a training program that doesn't use the Danger Room, everyone else in the world survives without it, I'm pretty sure we can. But you're a part of this team, this family, that makes you the first priority."

"Thank you." She hung her head, embarrassed. "I am not so good, sometimes, at putting myself forward. It seems even Genosha has not been able to change that."

"That's something we're all a little guilty off," Scott pointed out, "It's sometimes hard to think about yourself, especially here, but you know if there's ever anything bothering you or that you need to talk about you can always come to me? Or anyone else if you'd feel more comfortable with them."

"I will try," Yvette promised. "I have Angel and Sooraya already, but they have their own troubles also - if there are other people I don''t feel bad about talking to, it is taking the pressure from them, yes?"

"Yes," Scott agreed hesitantly, "although I think your friends would want you to talk to them if you have any problems even if they have things going on. They wouldn't see it as pressure, but you've got to do what you feel comfortable with."

"That's what Angel and Sooraya said, that I should talk to them even if they have their own troubles," Yvette admitted, feeling a bit foolish. "Perhaps between the three of you, I should learn, yes?"

"Hopefully," Scott replied, "On the other hand, it can take many years for people to learn that lesson. Even now, sharing our problems with other people isn't easy for some of us, but if experience has taught us anything it's if you don't share your problems with your friends then they'll fester and just come back to hurt you and those your care about in the future."

"I am such the hypocrite - I told this very thing to Laurie before she left." Yvette chuckled ruefully. "It is easier to give the advice than to take it, yes?"

Scott smiled at Yvette, "It is," he agreed. "But it's also easier to spot problems when you're looking in from the outside. But if three people are telling you the same thing perhaps it's time to do something about it. You know before they stage an intervention."

"Another intervention," Yvette admitted. "Angel already dragged Sooraya and I out for the bonding picnic time." She tilted her head curiously at Scott. "Have you ever had the intervention from your friends, Mr. Summers?"

"A bonding picnic?" Scott asked confused, "that does sound like something Angel would come up with. Did it work?" Scott had already started to consider a 'bonding picnic for the X-men'; the dance had been a great morale boost for the kids, and perhaps their elders could use a similiar boost. Lost in his thoughts Yvette's question took him by surprise and he took a few moments to stare at her, heaving a sigh before he replied, "Yeah, one time they even had to sedate me to force me to take a break," he admitted.

Her eyes grew wide. "Sedated you? That is... impressive?" She shook her head slightly. "I hope you have learned from that, yes? Picnics and the social times are much better for relaxing, I think."

"In my defense we had just survived a demon attack and it took several of them to knock me out," Scott replied seriously before continuing in more jovial tone of voice. "I probably wasn't training them hard enough." he fell slient as he remembered his trouble after Genosha and his recent fight with Haller in the mansion. "I...it's hard to change the older you get, but I'm better than I used to be. Talking to friends and people I trust helps a lot."

It was somehow reassuring, knowing the more experienced members of the team had the same troubles. "It is, how do you say? The occupational hazard? Looking after other people means you forget to look after yourself, yes?" she observed thoughtfully.

"Yeah," Scott agreed, "It's one of those things that we all have to deal with, well most of us have to deal with anyway. That's why it's so important to take time for yourself and go hang out with your friends. Go get drunk, or play a video game or get into a fight, whatever helps you to let off some steam."

"Perhaps we should think of something for the team?" Yvette suggested. "I know Sooraya and I cannot be the only ones with the stress, yes?"

Scott couldn't help but grin at the way Yvette's thoughts had mirrored his own, "What did you havee in mind?" he asked hoping to draw the young woman out of the shell she had wrapped herself in.

"Well, not all of us are of the legal drinking age, so perhaps not Harry's," she replied with a returning smile as she thought the question over. "Perhaps something with food? Maybe the picnic, like Angel took us on?"

"I'm sure Lorna would love to prepare a couple of picnic baskets for us," Scott agreed, "but that still leaves us with the problem of where to go. And we'd probably need someone to run around and organize it all." he grinned at Yvette.

She laughed and poked her tongue out at him. "I see where you are going, Mr. Sneaky Team Leader Person," she retorted, amused. "And I will be taking the bait. If you can also be helping?"

Scott laughed, "You got me there." he nodded at Yvette. "I'll help where I can, but with getting ready for school and the X-men I don't have a lot of free time so if you want to organise it I'll throw my weight in when I can."

"I think we have the plan, then." Yvette's eyes glowed softly. "To the journals!"