Log: Matt/Rachel (backdated)

[x-eidolon.livejournal.com]

A meeting in the library between Matt and Rachel ends with a mental breakdown and confusion.



Setting up his laptop on the library table, Matt plugged the cord in and set up his braille reader, then slipped his headset around his neck before booting up the machine. He had some work to do and he wasn't interested in doing it in his room tonight. Such was the glamorous life of a junior lawyer at a firm. Not. Slipping the headset on, he went to work once everything was up and running.

He was so quiet, Rachel did not spot him until she was well into the library, muttering under her breath about kinetic energy build ups and conversions into thermal energy and the mesosphere and... her ghosts were being particularly vocal today, probably to make up for having allowed her to get more than four hours of sleep last night.

By the time she registered his presence and stuttered to a stop, she had no less than three textbooks in her arms and a startled expression on her face she could not quite hide. Because it was immediately painfully obvious that this was not a Matt she knew.

Matt knew there was another girl in the library, but he hadn't wanted to disturb her. Typing, he paused at the end of the sentence to think for a moment before continuing. Making a notation to look up the statute for exactness and citations. Maybe he should get more coffee.

It took a hard mental shake for Rachel to snap out of it, automatically moving to another table to dump her armful of books on. The other mutant may be blind (and wearing headphones), but he certainly wasn't sightless. She kept him in her peripherals, though, noting that this Matt looked the same. (Just older.) (Deeper laugh lines.) (Not the same.)

She sighed, even her ghosts losing interest in the research she had come here to do.

"It's not that bad," Matt commented as the young woman dumped her books on the table. The headset only covered one ear, but even still he had his powers, too. "What're you working on?" He was nosy.

"(Thermal aerodynamics and its effects on--) What's not that bad?" She took his sudden piping up in stride, shushing the shifting ghosts as best as she could. Now granted implicit permission to look at him, Rachel eyed him with half a clinical eye and full, well, curiosity.

"Research," Matt answered. He wasn't bothered by people staring. It was like the waltzing bear. It wasn't how well the bear waltzed, it was that he did it at all. "It's not that bad." What was annoying was citing the research.

"Oh, I know," she replied, shaking her head as she finally settled into a seat. It wasn't that at all, which was weird considering how flighty of a student she had been when... Her lessons with Essex seemed like a lifetime ago. Never mind that the sudden influx of knowledge in her head was infinitely stranger. And harder to cope with. "It's for... (personal interest), you could say."

There was a bark of mocking laughter in her head (the mercenary), quickly drowned out by the sounds of outraged protests from the ghosts she had mentally categorized as the 'hard sciences dipshits'.

Personal interest did make it easier than when it was for school or something assigned. "Thermal aerodynamics? Sounds like something up my brother's alley. You should talk to him, except," Matt sighed. Clint was about to go back to Alaska. "he's leaving very soon."

"Clint's leaving?" Rachel's brows inched upwards, though she managed to moderate her surprise into curiousity. Then she smacked her palm hard against her forehead because oh my God, Matt had not even introduced himself yet. "Uhm. At least, I'm assuming you're talking about Clint." (Oh, nice save.) Mocking laughter. (Fuck off.) "And, really. if he has a ridiculous amount of vacation time to take it must mean that he hadn't taken much before."

She absently grabbed a book from the top of her stack and glanced down at the hard cover without really registering it. (What did she know about employers and leave taking anyway?) Her vision swam. Rachel swallowed hard. "A couple of weeks is not a bad run, right?"

"Oh, you've met him?" Matt asked, not finding it very odd that in a place as small as Xavier's that Clint would have met someone he hadn't yet. "Yeah. I'm Matt, his brother," he offered her his hand. Was this the girl doing a background check on him then? Interesting. She heartbeat was all over the place, but she didn't seem to be out of breath or working hard. He assumed it was her powers.

Rachel had enough presence of mind to stand to accept his hand. "You could say that--" She startled when she felt a thread of telepathy rising, seeking Matt's emotions, and she dropped his hand as though it had scalded her, the thread ebbing away with an almost disappointed sigh.

Matt wasn't Clint. (Matt wasn't Matt.) There was a hint of heartache settling in her chest that she could tell did not belong to her. The redhead inhaled sharply, shaking her head, just knowing that the other mutant was listening to her heartbeat. "We bonded over nerd-speak, since, y'know, (he's a total nerd.)"

Smooth.

He was definitely a nerd. It ran in the family apparently. "Come again?" he asked, unsure what she was referring to.

She moved rapidly back to her seat like the extra distance would help, movements stiff as she fought down tremors. "Uh. Sorry. Clint? We've met. (Briefly.) Once or twice. He mentioned you. (He's like super fond of you.) Nice to meet you in person."

"Are you okay?" he asked, taking his headset off and standing up. He was tall, as tall as his brother, but not quite as muscular through the shoulders. Archery worked well for Clint, "You seem....like you need a minute."

"No, I'm--" Fine? (Was she?) "You're not--" Muscles tensed, involuntarily ready to spring up. But whether towards or away from Matt, she could not tell for sure. She heard a growl to her right and her gaze snapped to the side. (You look crazy.) "You're driving me crazy! (Shit.) Sorry, I just--"

Roughly carding her fingers through her hair, a telekinetic bubble snapped into existence around her, effectively her off from Matt's powers. It was hard to say if it was meant for her benefit or his.

"The fuck?" Matt asked, stepping forward and grabbing his cane that was propped against the table automatically. She just disappeared?! Using it, he tried to find her for a moment with no luck. "Fucking hell," he grumbled, going back to his seat. That chick was crazy.

The library door opened and slammed a moment later, Rachel (literally) flying out of there as fast as it was practicable.

She needed to calm down, to breathe and stop hyperventilating. (Clint.) She needed Clint. Or Haller. Someone. Already her mind was reaching out, single-mindedly craving the quiet beyond the immense pressure from within. Matt had said his brother was still around, right? (Matt...) Well.

If Rachel ever recovered from this mess, she totally owed Matt a hugeass gourmet sandwich.