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ax_main2017-09-22 09:14 am
ax_phoenix) wrote in ax_main2017-09-22 09:14 am
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Ororo and Jean, backdated 9/22
Jean arrives as Xavier's and meets her new roommate. It's adore at first sight!
Ororo chewed on the end of her pencil, head bent over a copy of The Great Gatsby she was reading for class. She was not enjoying it, but she would get to the end through sheer stubbornness. She was sitting on the floor on her side of the room, with her back to the wall and some post-it notes beside her, so she could write on them and stick them inside the book whenever something seemed worth noting.
That was the idea, anyway. She'd only used two so far. One had said, 'Gatsby's an ass' and the other, 'the narrator's an idiot', both of them in Arabic. This entire book was stupid, and she was hoping to be distracted by the promised arrival of her roommate, any minute now. She could use a break.
There was a knock at the door. It proved to be more of an announcement than a request, however, for it began to open before Ororo could get up, or even ask who was there. A pale girl stood in the doorway, a roller bag at her heels. Her long, red hair stood out against the springtime green of her shirt.
"Hi, excuse me." She offered Ororo a smile, but one hand fiddled with the hem of her shorts and she didn't quite step over the threshold. "I'm Jean Grey. It looks like we're going to be roommates."
"Yes," Ororo confirmed as she pushed up to her feet, a welcoming smile on her lips. Her savior from 1920s decadence. "I'm Ororo Munroe. Come in."
The nervous flutter vanished at Ororo's welcoming demeanor, and Jean stepped into the room. "I've been looking forward to meeting you all week! I've never at a school away from home - camp doesn't count, trust me! - so I've never had a roommate. I even had a separate room from my sister."
Book abandoned on the floor with the post-its, Ororo took a few steps closer to the other girl. "I haven't had just one roommate in years. This place felt too empty on my own." In fact, her half of the room did not seem to sport all that many possessions, which would hardly have helped. She gestured to it. "I've taken this side, but we can swap if you have a preference."
"No, this is fine!" She left her bag at the foot of her bed. "I've got some more things out in the hall, I'll be right back." She darted out of the room again, relief making her movements much easier. She'd hardly seen anyone who wasn't the Professor or family in the last year and she'd been concerned about... well, everything. Other people's reactions. Her own powers. Heck, her own social skills... she'd practically been a shut-in since she was twelve. But so far, so good! Ororo was gorgeous and she seemed nice - Jean wondered what her powers were.
Oh! Right. Powers. Jean considered. Well, might as well be up front about things.
When she walked back into the room, her suitcases were floating behind her, a few inches off the floor.
That startled a chuckle out of Ororo, who had picked up her book and post-it notes to drop them on her desk. "Nice. How do you do it?"
"Telekenesis. I can move things around with my mind. I'm a telepath too." The confession almost stuck in her throat, but she pushed past it. There wasn't anything wrong with being a telepath, she reminded herself. She just didn't want to be one.
Ororo nodded, the purse of her lips letting on that she was impressed. "That's a nice package. I do weather control," she added, then smiled a little. "So if you ever think our room's too warm or too chilly, I could do something about that."
Jean laughed. "Or I could get a blanket and not bother you. But thanks! That has to be convenient. I bet you could wear sundresses in January if you wanted to."
"If I wanted to," Ororo echoed, with a small, wry smile. Sundresses were not really her thing. "Is there any risk of me thinking too loudly for you?"
"I'm still working on my shields." Jean looked down. "But don't worry about it. If anything slips through, I'll tighten them up."
Shields. Ororo knew nothing about telepathy, but the image was clear enough, and she nodded. "Just let me know if I need to change anything." For most of her life, she had lived with enough kids that trying to find the best way to all live together peacefully was not even a question; it was what she did.
"Same here, OK? I don't want to just blunder around until people are ready to explode at me." She sat on the edge of her bed, just a fraction more subdued than before.
Which might literally happen, here. "I will tell you," Ororo confirmed easily. Honesty was always better. She sat on her own bed, folding a leg under herself. "Do you have any questions about the school? I haven't been here long, but I'll answer if I can."
Jean gave the question a few moments of thought. "Is there any sort of faux pas I should be careful of? I mean... I'm a mutant, but the Professor is the only other one I've ever met."
"Nothing general, not that I know of," Ororo answered with a small shake of her head. "I'm sure some of the kids have their hang-ups, but I haven't come across them yet." She gave it a moment's thought, then offered, "Don't stare, probably? There are some physical mutations."
Jean nodded. "Common sense and basic manners, got it. Anyone I should be wary of?"
That was a difficult question to answer, and Ororo realized why after a couple of seconds. "What makes you wary?"
"Jerks," Jean answered at once. "They're hard on my shields."
"What about them makes it hard?" Ororo asked, hoping that it would help her narrow down who to point out to her roommate.
Jean considered, trying to put her concerns into more specific terms. "Aggression, mostly. Really abrasive personalities."
Ororo nodded. "Inu-Yasha. A white-haired Asian boy with dog ears. There are probably others, but there is a lot of people I haven't met yet." Inu-Yasha's abrasiveness, however, was obvious.
Jean nodded. "I'll make sure to keep my shields up if I meet him. And steer clear if I can help myself. Thank you."
"You're welcome," Ororo stated easily. "Anything I can do to help." She smiled, then, curious about her roommate. "So. Where are you from?"
"Annandale-on-Hudson. It's upstate. My dad teaches at Bard College..." Jean smiled. "It's going to be beautiful in the fall. You should come visit when I go home."
Ororo looked surprised at the offer, but not unpleasantly so, and she smiled. "Maybe, yeah."
"I think you'll have fun. Have you ever been apple picking?" Jean laughed. "I'm so sorry! I didn't ask where you were from. I think I may be out of practice with this whole making friends thing."
"You're doing fine," Ororo told her with a small smile. "I grew up in Cairo, in Egypt. And I've never been apple picking." From the phrasing, she assumed that it was a well-known activity, for all that she'd never heard of it.
"It's so much fun!" Jean actually bounced in place, then laughed at herself. "The whole family drives up to an orchard, and we just spend time harvesting apples. It's just a great way to spend time together. And then we take them home and bake pies."
The way Jean beamed as she talked about it was alone to make Ororo want to give it a try. Besides, it would be a bonding experience with her roommate, and she valued those. "I'll be glad to give it a try, if your family don't mind the intrusion."
"They'll love you!" Jean protested. "I mean, they'd be happy for me to bring home any friends, anything to tell them I'm doing OK. But they'd love you anyway!"
Ororo smiled at the answer, amused at its vehemence, then nodded. Maybe it was because Jean was a telepath that she could say so with such certainty. "All right," she told her, still smiling. "I'll come."
"I'll hold you to it." Jean couldn't have stopped smiling if she'd tried; a few minutes with Ororo, and it felt as if an enormous weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Things were going to be all right, she could feel it.
Ororo chewed on the end of her pencil, head bent over a copy of The Great Gatsby she was reading for class. She was not enjoying it, but she would get to the end through sheer stubbornness. She was sitting on the floor on her side of the room, with her back to the wall and some post-it notes beside her, so she could write on them and stick them inside the book whenever something seemed worth noting.
That was the idea, anyway. She'd only used two so far. One had said, 'Gatsby's an ass' and the other, 'the narrator's an idiot', both of them in Arabic. This entire book was stupid, and she was hoping to be distracted by the promised arrival of her roommate, any minute now. She could use a break.
There was a knock at the door. It proved to be more of an announcement than a request, however, for it began to open before Ororo could get up, or even ask who was there. A pale girl stood in the doorway, a roller bag at her heels. Her long, red hair stood out against the springtime green of her shirt.
"Hi, excuse me." She offered Ororo a smile, but one hand fiddled with the hem of her shorts and she didn't quite step over the threshold. "I'm Jean Grey. It looks like we're going to be roommates."
"Yes," Ororo confirmed as she pushed up to her feet, a welcoming smile on her lips. Her savior from 1920s decadence. "I'm Ororo Munroe. Come in."
The nervous flutter vanished at Ororo's welcoming demeanor, and Jean stepped into the room. "I've been looking forward to meeting you all week! I've never at a school away from home - camp doesn't count, trust me! - so I've never had a roommate. I even had a separate room from my sister."
Book abandoned on the floor with the post-its, Ororo took a few steps closer to the other girl. "I haven't had just one roommate in years. This place felt too empty on my own." In fact, her half of the room did not seem to sport all that many possessions, which would hardly have helped. She gestured to it. "I've taken this side, but we can swap if you have a preference."
"No, this is fine!" She left her bag at the foot of her bed. "I've got some more things out in the hall, I'll be right back." She darted out of the room again, relief making her movements much easier. She'd hardly seen anyone who wasn't the Professor or family in the last year and she'd been concerned about... well, everything. Other people's reactions. Her own powers. Heck, her own social skills... she'd practically been a shut-in since she was twelve. But so far, so good! Ororo was gorgeous and she seemed nice - Jean wondered what her powers were.
Oh! Right. Powers. Jean considered. Well, might as well be up front about things.
When she walked back into the room, her suitcases were floating behind her, a few inches off the floor.
That startled a chuckle out of Ororo, who had picked up her book and post-it notes to drop them on her desk. "Nice. How do you do it?"
"Telekenesis. I can move things around with my mind. I'm a telepath too." The confession almost stuck in her throat, but she pushed past it. There wasn't anything wrong with being a telepath, she reminded herself. She just didn't want to be one.
Ororo nodded, the purse of her lips letting on that she was impressed. "That's a nice package. I do weather control," she added, then smiled a little. "So if you ever think our room's too warm or too chilly, I could do something about that."
Jean laughed. "Or I could get a blanket and not bother you. But thanks! That has to be convenient. I bet you could wear sundresses in January if you wanted to."
"If I wanted to," Ororo echoed, with a small, wry smile. Sundresses were not really her thing. "Is there any risk of me thinking too loudly for you?"
"I'm still working on my shields." Jean looked down. "But don't worry about it. If anything slips through, I'll tighten them up."
Shields. Ororo knew nothing about telepathy, but the image was clear enough, and she nodded. "Just let me know if I need to change anything." For most of her life, she had lived with enough kids that trying to find the best way to all live together peacefully was not even a question; it was what she did.
"Same here, OK? I don't want to just blunder around until people are ready to explode at me." She sat on the edge of her bed, just a fraction more subdued than before.
Which might literally happen, here. "I will tell you," Ororo confirmed easily. Honesty was always better. She sat on her own bed, folding a leg under herself. "Do you have any questions about the school? I haven't been here long, but I'll answer if I can."
Jean gave the question a few moments of thought. "Is there any sort of faux pas I should be careful of? I mean... I'm a mutant, but the Professor is the only other one I've ever met."
"Nothing general, not that I know of," Ororo answered with a small shake of her head. "I'm sure some of the kids have their hang-ups, but I haven't come across them yet." She gave it a moment's thought, then offered, "Don't stare, probably? There are some physical mutations."
Jean nodded. "Common sense and basic manners, got it. Anyone I should be wary of?"
That was a difficult question to answer, and Ororo realized why after a couple of seconds. "What makes you wary?"
"Jerks," Jean answered at once. "They're hard on my shields."
"What about them makes it hard?" Ororo asked, hoping that it would help her narrow down who to point out to her roommate.
Jean considered, trying to put her concerns into more specific terms. "Aggression, mostly. Really abrasive personalities."
Ororo nodded. "Inu-Yasha. A white-haired Asian boy with dog ears. There are probably others, but there is a lot of people I haven't met yet." Inu-Yasha's abrasiveness, however, was obvious.
Jean nodded. "I'll make sure to keep my shields up if I meet him. And steer clear if I can help myself. Thank you."
"You're welcome," Ororo stated easily. "Anything I can do to help." She smiled, then, curious about her roommate. "So. Where are you from?"
"Annandale-on-Hudson. It's upstate. My dad teaches at Bard College..." Jean smiled. "It's going to be beautiful in the fall. You should come visit when I go home."
Ororo looked surprised at the offer, but not unpleasantly so, and she smiled. "Maybe, yeah."
"I think you'll have fun. Have you ever been apple picking?" Jean laughed. "I'm so sorry! I didn't ask where you were from. I think I may be out of practice with this whole making friends thing."
"You're doing fine," Ororo told her with a small smile. "I grew up in Cairo, in Egypt. And I've never been apple picking." From the phrasing, she assumed that it was a well-known activity, for all that she'd never heard of it.
"It's so much fun!" Jean actually bounced in place, then laughed at herself. "The whole family drives up to an orchard, and we just spend time harvesting apples. It's just a great way to spend time together. And then we take them home and bake pies."
The way Jean beamed as she talked about it was alone to make Ororo want to give it a try. Besides, it would be a bonding experience with her roommate, and she valued those. "I'll be glad to give it a try, if your family don't mind the intrusion."
"They'll love you!" Jean protested. "I mean, they'd be happy for me to bring home any friends, anything to tell them I'm doing OK. But they'd love you anyway!"
Ororo smiled at the answer, amused at its vehemence, then nodded. Maybe it was because Jean was a telepath that she could say so with such certainty. "All right," she told her, still smiling. "I'll come."
"I'll hold you to it." Jean couldn't have stopped smiling if she'd tried; a few minutes with Ororo, and it felt as if an enormous weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Things were going to be all right, she could feel it.
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