Hope and Jean (backdated)

[x-trance.livejournal.com]

Hope and Jean have a spooky encounter.

Hope lifted her hand and quickly dabbed away the moisture from her face. Almost all day had been tropical hot and she had spend most of it besides or in the pool. But now darkness was setting in and the wind was picking up, branches scratching against the window. Sipping from a glass of vitamin water, she moved over to the window, contemplating the lighting she saw further ahead, along with the dark clouds that would no undoubtedly really their heavy burden.

A few minutes later, she sank into the bean bag she favored nowadays to sit in when she ghosted out, since it prevented her from tipping over or something. The flower unfolded in her mind and Hope rose from her body, floating through the room for just a few moments to settle. Then she popped into the hallway, fairly sure there would be very few people around.

Floating in the hallway for a second, Hope focused not the flower she still kept in the back of her mind, but the surge of water, bearing her away from where she was now...

Sometimes after a long shift or a weird round of scheduling with her job, Jean found herself having trouble sleeping. After a long time of staring at the ceiling, she finally decided to wander. Grabbing a robe to put over her tank top and pajama pants, she headed for the kitchen to grab some sugar for her tea since she was out in the little kitchenette she'd set up in her suite.

As she headed down the hallway, mug in hand, she was so distracted by her goal that she almost didn't notice Hope until she was nearly right upon her.

Startled by the sudden appearance, disappearance, and reappearance of a transparent young woman, her mug flew from her hand and shattered on the ground as Jean jumped back and let out a yelp.

Attending Amanda's lectures had slightly altered her scientific process so she initially thought she was a ghost. She hadn't heard of ghosts at the mansion but anything was possible at this point. She wasn't quite sure what to say or do, however. She didn't know if her telepathy would work on a ghost, or if they even had a psi-pattern still.

"Um....hello?," she finally said. There. Nice and non-threatening.

Hope had just been about to let the wave take her for the third time, since there was not even a twinge of pain in the back of head, when the voice interrupted her. Opening her eyes again she let the gulf subside and titled her head, seeking for the source curiously.

Suddenly the hallway lightened up with the first flash of lightning and rain clattered against the window, followed by the sound of thunder only moments later. Suddenly she spotted a face as lightning flash again, shrouding it in weird shadows. Hope roared back herself, startled, before the aura made itself known, displaying equal amounts of shock as she was feeling herself.

'Hi?' Hope ventured cautiously. She had not recognized the person yet and with several new faces around, she did not wish to startle them by sudden long projections.

The young woman's form became a bit clearer, and Jean took a step closer, tilting her head. She appeared to be wearing modern clothes, and was fairly young.

"Um...I'm Jean. What's your name?" she said. What was the start date on a ghost? Every story seemed to talk about them being decades old.

Could this have been the spirit of one of the people who had been killed during M-Day?

With the woman stepping closer, Hope finally recognized the woman. Dr. Grey... if only a few years younger then the woman she had known. 'Dr. Grey?' Hope kept her face smooth, even in ghost form against the flutters in her stomach she could even feel while in her astral form. 'I am Hope Abbott, one of the students.'

Blinking at first to make sure she heard her correctly, a sense of relief washed over her and she put her hand to her chest and then laughed.

"Oh God, I thought you were a ghost. I was about to call one of the magic squad for advice. Yeah, I'm Dr. Grey. Nice to meet you," she said. Folding her arms and tapping her chin thoughtfully, Jean studied Hope's form.

"Astral projection?"

'That is right.' Hope nodded easily. 'Though I have had that people think I am a ghost before, but usually the circumstances are a lot less spooky.' She elaborated with a small smile and a gesture to the storm outside the window. 'Did the storm keep you up too?'

Jean glanced outside. "Nah, I'm used to storms. They're almost comforting. Well, except for the occasional claps of thunder," she said with a chuckle.

"My work schedule makes for unusual hours sometimes so....my body thinks it should be awake. I keep telling it no but it doesn't listen."

'I would imagine there are a lot of night shifts normally?' Hope 'tilted' her head, as she cast around for some kind of small talk. It was very weird, having someone looking almost exactly like the person she had known.

"Sometimes. We usually try to keep set hours but if there's a sudden round of extra patients then they'll call people in unexpectedly. It usually gets a little hectic around summer with everyone off. People get adventurous," she said, her smile widening, warm and lingering to try to put the girl at ease.

"So you don't really get a chance to adjust."

Hope returned the smile and this time it reached her eyes, though it could be hard to see in her ghostly form. 'The summer can get into people's heads sometimes. All kinds of crazy antics. Watch out when Mr. Wilson gets involved here...'

Jean laughed. "So I've heard. We've met but very briefly. He was polite the entire time. Kind of disappointing. I expected him to be riding a dolphin across the pool eating a chimichanga or something."

"I would not have been impossible." Hope grinned. "That might still come though. After all, it's still very early in July. Plenty of time for strange adventures to happen still."

"As long as they don't involve me patching someone up I am okay with a bit of strange," Jean mused, smirking. "Figure I should get used to it. That way the next time a mutated seahorse decides to try to take over the world I won't even bat an eye."

"Mutated seahorse? You know, at this point I would not even be surprised if that did happen." Hope replied, suddenly a little morose note in her voice. "Though, Jurassic Park might be more likely."

"God, I hope not," Jean deadpanned. "I'm perfectly happy with just seeing their fossils in a museum. Fighting dinosaurs doesn't really appeal to me."

"Or on a movie screen. Seems that is quite popular again." Hope easily referred to the new Jurassic World movie. "I have heard at least a lot about the new movie. Might make an interesting Danger Room scenario though."

Tilting her head, Jean slowly smiled. "That....does sound kind of fun. I'm all for the fake ones. It's the real ones I'm more concerned about. At least I could get some practice in."

"It would at least be something different from the usual things. Not that I work in the Danger Room that often, but I know stories." Hope grinned as she pulled up her leg besides her, as if siting on the floor, even though she was still floating in the air. "I might just have to suggest this to a few people..."

"I've heard Dominion and Cyclops are the usual danger room programmers," Jean said. "If anything, outside of fighting them we could have a Jurassic Park experience without the park going wildly out of control and killing everyone."

Hope 'giggled'. "That would actually be amazing. So many things become more vivid when you are able to see it in real life. Even if it are only holograms."

"I know the Danger Room is supposed to be for training purposes but I'd love to be able to recreate Indiana Jones or Doctor Who," Jean mused with wistfully.

'Well... you might have to find a way to make them training scenarios?' Hope suggested playfully. This was turning pretty interesting. While she still felt like she was looking in the face of... of... she didn't quite know how to put it, but this world's version seemed to be a lot... lighter?

Tapping her chin, Jean nodded. "Wouldn't hurt to suggest it to Dominion or Cyclops, see what they say. I'm sure if I throw in some sort of training benefit maybe it'll work." She smiled.

Yes, definitely lighter. 'I will. Might make for some interesting scenarios with the Gen X group at least.' Hope grinned.
"I think the others might go for it too," Jean said. "Something new to play with." She glanced around. "Well, I should...probably try to attempt to sleep if I have any hope of being productive tomorrow."

'The storm does seem to be letting up. It was nice talking to you, Dr. Grey.' Hope smiled again. 'I wish you a pleasant night.'

Jean's smile turned into a light grin. "You too, Hope. It was nice to meet you," she said.

With another nod, Hope let her astral form slip back in her physical body. She remained seated, considering the conversation she had just had. This had not been too bad as far as awkward encounters went.