X-Men: Late Reactions

Disclaimer: I, sadly, don't own Cyclops (Scott, if you like) or anyone else mentioned here. Don't sue me. We all know I don't own a thing.
A/N: This is another RP start, uploaded because I like it and like Cyclops. Also, please tell me how my in-character-ness is; I'm looking to improve my portrayal of Cyclops, and beg you to give me hints and tips on it. Thanks!

And now, onto our main feature...

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For once, Scott was sitting in the kitchen at a time that wasn't 3:42 in the morning.

One might observe this as strange, and it was – Cyclops was well known for being reserved, even more so after the… incident… that had happened a month ago.

To tell the truth, he still hadn't recovered, not really. He had been too busy – perhaps intentionally so – what with teaching and other general things such as that, but now… now it was really beginning to sink in, no matter how much he didn't want it to. No matter how much he denied it, the fact remained – Jean was dead. And she wasn't coming back.

For the past few days he had been feeling this very strongly… kind of an aftershock, if you like. Yes… to him at least, Jean's demise had been had been like an earthquake; the actual tremor hadn't been very big, but the aftershock had been tremendous. It hurt. It hurt a lot more than when… it… had happened. If that even made any sense, which he doubted it did.

Not to say it hadn't hurt before; it most certainly had. He had been in denial, and probably still was, even if he was trying to get over it. The few days after the incident had been like hell. He couldn't help but think it was his fault. He had broken the dam and /he/ should have done something to save her.

But he hadn't. And that, probably, was what hurt most of all.

Of course, Scott knew he wasn't the only one affected by her death; in a less emotional sense, the Professor was now short a teacher and in a very emotional sense Logan was probably feeling the same way he was. Not that he cared much how Logan felt. He was too busy with his own mourning. It was common knowledge he and Logan had a very… complex relationship. Now, if possible, it was even more complex – and he didn't feel like dealing with it. True, they were on friendlier terms now – but they never really spoke much. Not that they had spoken a lot before.

Did it really matter now?

Taking another sip out of his Bottomless Mug of coffee, Scott sprawled back in his chair in uncharacteristic casualness. The simple truth was, he didn't care. He didn't care about most things nowadays. This was reflected in his appearance (as most of the kids were whispering; 'what happened to /him/?!'); his hair was quite unkempt and messy, his clothes looked as though they had been slept in (which they might have, it was anybody's guess), and his off-mission glasses looked as though they might fall off any second – definitely a potentially dangerous thing.

And of course, the amount of coffee he was consuming indicated he had had a bad night's sleep. In reality, the past few nights had been bad, and it apparently reflected on his mood… and teaching. Professor Xavier had so kindly told him to take a few days off.

Scott wasn't sure if this was because he was worried about him, or because he was having a negative influence on the kids.

Oh, well – either way, he had time off, and he spent it haunting the kitchens.

Maybe that was why nobody came in here anymore.

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Fin