-=+=+=>> Wishing Well =+=+=-
Disclaimer: No, I don't own them, more's the pity, (but if Stan Lee ever finds out about me, tell him I could use a good job, or that I'm up for adoption, I don't eat much anymore, I can be really quiet, my growing up is all done, and I'm almost through grad school.) That being said, "Faye" is mine.
This is probably not enough to warrant a rating, but I want to warn everyone there will be Twinkie torture in this episode. I beg the faint of heart and the easily disturbed to consider this before reading any further. Not to worry though, I own the twinkie used in this story, so you can't sue me for that at least.
A few weeks had passed from his nightmare at the hands of the fairy. Logan's
mood had not improved one bit, and even he knew that he had been impossible
to live with. It was high time he went on one of his walkabouts. But while
he would never look at the ring the same way, he did not know what to do
with it. He did not want to take it with him. He suspected the little
twerp could keep extensive tabs on the ring and its wearer. And he definitely
did not want her to interfere more in his existence.
So while he was restless to get away from the mansion and the nightmare
that had come too close, he had been wondering what to do with the ring.
As the fay had said, he could not just leave the ring anywhere, not knowing
what it could do, and if he did not want to take it along, that meant he
would have to leave it in someone's care.
Still, he did not wish the small menace on anyone he trusted enough to
let them hold the ring. There was no more telling what she would do to
them than there had been of what she had done to him. So he had sticked
around. He could tell everyone's nerves were on edge.
Just yesterday Logan had snapped at Jubilee when she asked him if he felt
like going on a ride. If he did not find a way to get himself out of the
county, he would end up alienating the only family he had.
Scott never was a telepath, but he felt positive everyone could see the dark angry cloud hovering over Wolverine wherever he would go. The crabby X-man had been ready to burst for a few weeks. Scott wondered what could have ignited Logan's volatile mood. Bah! he thought, as he saw a twinkie succumb to the man's extended claws. The sky is blue, and the grass is green. and the hairy X-man would throw unwarranted fits of temper.
"Logan, whatever this twinkie did to you, it's dead now, you can let go" The leader said to the irate man.
Logan just snarled and threw a not so witty comment on Scott's intimate parts. The he left with the twinkie mess on his claw. Scott Summers thought he just had to store that mental image for later, and snickered. Why the others thought he had no sense of humour, he had no idea. He just was not ready to laugh about serious things.
And to him nothing was more serious than his responsibilities. He had started out in life taking responsibility for himself at an early age. Reliability and responsibility, to him, was the greatest sign of care he could show another person. Responsibility for his loved ones, that was tantamount in his life. If that meant he had to be the party pooper, well that was his job. It all mattered too much to him.
Logan was fuming. He fully expected that anyone could see the smoke signs puffing out of his ears. This time he had trully made a fool of himself. He glanced down at his extended claws messed with twinkie. How embarassing. And for Cyke to witness it, that was not good.
Anyone would have laughed, but not Scott Summers, no... he was so stiff with that stick up his precious, that he had taken the matter seriously, as if this incident was a threat to the safety of his team. The man was a saint. The man probably never commited one sin of his whole life. He would not be upset or crabby, he was a rock of reliability. Sometimes the man known as Logan hated him for it, but most of the time, he relied on him being his stable self. He could admit it to himself.
As the angry X-man accepted this truth for himself, a revelation came upon him. Scott could be the one, he would keep the ring, and it would be safer than with anyone else. The leader of the X-men was the starkest man on the face of the planet it seemed. He always made the right choice, was morally upstanding, put the welfare of everyone else above his own whenever there was a chance. He could be trusted.
Yes, Scott Summers, fearless leader of the X-men was trustworthy. And if Logan gave him an explanation, he would doubtless do what his teammate asked. Now the problem had shifted on the explaining part. No way was he going to tell anyone what had happened to him, it was too intimate. To tell Cyke, that would be impossible, he would sooner confide in Sabertooth. At least he knew Sabertooth was not perfect.
And he could not just give the one eyed wonder the ring to keep. Scott would be curious, Jean would hear about it, and he was certainly not up to seing the deviled ring and Jean at the same time. Of course, Jean was also too sensitive for his own good. She would get incohesive reactions from him. No, that would not do.
To tell anyone he saw fairies was also out of the question. After ruminating
the episode, his skepticism was higher than it had been at the time when
confronted to the events themselves. Fairies, magic and wishes, that was
all very good in folklore, but it was not as undeniable as the Sh'iar in
their space ships. In fact, he had come to the conclusion that nothing
proved the existence of 'Faye' as something other than an illusionist.
Jen
Still, he could not shake off the embarassment he felt about the shattering
ordeal of facing his own heart's content. Maybe it was not real, then there
was nothing to worry about, the ring could be thrown to the trash without
any qualm. Still, Faye had been in front of him, he had thrown her
on the floor. He had smelled her. She did have a connection with the ring,
and it would not be surprising that she had come because of it. Somehow
the ring gave power to the little creature.
His dilemma was as acute now as it had been these last weeks since he had awoke in his bed after the night it happened.
Jean and Scott were savouring one of too few moments of intimacy. But sooner of later, the conversation inevitably turned back to their teammates. Jean was a bit upset at the disruptive way that Logan had behaved in the last weeks or so. She told Scott about this, even though there was no doubt that Scott, as well as the rest of the X-men, had noticed. Scott smirked.
"He's been worse than usual, I caught him clawing the bejesus out of a twinkie today." He could not suppress a slight smile as he related the incident. Jean laughed softly as he told her how Logan had walked away with the mess on his claw rather than bear someone's gaze as he washed.
"I wish he was not so temperamental though." Scott added with a sigh.
"And I wish, Mr. Summer, that you would think of something else besides an other man!" Jean giggled coyly.
"Well, Miss. Grey, I think you can fix that!" said Mr. Summer just before he kissed his love.
It was only later that the solution occured to Logan. He did not have to tell Cyke about the ring at all, for him to have it with him would be enough. He simply had to find a place the younger man would not let anyone suspect get close to and hide it there. Devious planning was a new thing for him, but he rose to whatever came his way.
It took him a quite long period of deliberation to find the best place to hide the ring both from untrusty characters, and loved ones. Not to mention slimboy himself. It had to be a place where Jean would not find it, and a place where no X-men would survey. And it had to be hidden too. Then, it hit him.
Scott's room was a spartan shrine of orderliness, but he had a big framed portrait picture of Jean on his wall. Even if Jean went into Scott's room, she would not be looking or fidgeting with her own portrait, so she would keep away from the ring. That was perfect, he could tape the ring to the back of the frame and no one would be the wiser.
Logan had thought of everything. So during the afternoon, when he noticed Jean and Scott were outside no doubt for a romantic interlude and that it seemed everyone was enjoying the seasonably warm weather, he slipped into Scott's room and quickly hid the ring. There.
He got out as quickly as he got in and no one was the wiser. He sincerely hoped Faye would not show up. But if she did, maybe it would make Scott a little more humble, and Logan would not be too displeased with that. Now he was ready to pack his toothbrush and get going.
Scott had left Jean in Hank's lab for the result of some test he had been running. That was when he had met Jubilee on his way back. She had told him that Logan had, as they had been expecting for some time now, departed from the premisces of the mansion. Where had she said he would be going again? He could not remember. It was not really important, Heaven knew Wolverine would come back when he was good and ready. In the meantime, maybe it was best that the choleric man was on his own.
He climbed the stairs to the bedrooms and entered his own. He had to get dressed for his workout in the dangeroom. That almost chased the thought of Logan's departure from his mind. Almost. He opened the door and got in. Changed his clothes. Grumbled mentally. He did wish Logan would not leave like that. He then tied his laces, (an X-man could not wear nifty boots all the time), and hurried on to his session.
In the meantime, the blue-eyed fay was shaking her head. She had warned him not to leave the ring. And now he was gone, and the other, hmm Scott, had wished for the troublemaker to be more disciplined. Really, she could see he had a point, but she did not feel like having to be the one to fix that. Feeling like it or not, there was no choice. She had to dispose of his wish and remember her geis. She did not have to think about it as much as she had about the wretched mortal's desire to hold his rival's girlfriend's affection.
They called her people the fair folk, but she did not have to be fair.
Scott wiped the sweat off his visor after his intensive danger room session. He then put on his red sunglasses. He hurried to the shower and enjoyed the brutal cold of the water sluicing on his worked body. A good period always managed to help with the daily aggravations he felt at the hands of his less scrupulous teammates. He was ready to be good old Scott again.
When he got out, he headed straight to the kitchen for a well deserved snack, because the work out had made him positively ravenous. He crossed the entrance hall on his way, and was very surprised to notice the arrival of someone he had not expected to see so soon. Logan was back.
"Did you forget something before your next tour, Logan?" asked the leader. Logan looked at him without the hostile glare he was so famous for. That was even more unexpected. And he did not snarl back an insult. Logan must be sick, the one eyed X-man thought. "Well?" he prodded, wanting to know more about the situation.
"I was on my way, but I had a change of heart, I had the impression it would be best if I stayed."
Scott was nearly flabbergasted, and it took him time to take this in. Logan had climbed the stairs by the time he started breathing again. Long sentence for the canadian man, not to mention a grammatically correct one. And since when the oldest X-man changed his mind? That had to be a first, because Logan was stubborn enough to give mountains a run for their money.
Ah, he thought, maybe there was hope after all.
The game, she thought, would be to juggle between her geis and her duty. She had done relatively well this afternoon. But she had to be prepared. Also she now had to take another thing in consideration. She had to think of how the perpetually angry mutant acts with the people he called his friends. She had to balance their leader's wish and not incite them on a witchhunt. So that meant not interfering with Logan's personality more than was needed.
Those blasted X-men and the blasted ring could really make a fay's life miserable.
Scott had knocked on Logan's door to ask him to come to an extra danger room session with him. As usual, the cranky canadian had told him he could go see if hell really existed. That had almost reassured the goggled leader as much as it had annoyed him. Lately he could barely stand the attitude. He had put up with it for many years, but it was getting so obnoxious. He pondered just how much he could take and went to his room, slammed the door in anger and mused, aloud, that he wished Logan's attitude would change into a more cooperative stance.
He had not stood there for five minutes that he heard a knock on his own door and a grumbly wording of his name. His name for pete's sake, and not some ridicule nickname. He was about to fall on his derrière but he opened the door instead to really make sure it was Logan. And it was.
"I reconsidered. Wanna go for a work out, Scott?" Not only Logan was calling him Scott, and displaying a minimum of aggressive behaviour, but he was dressed in sweats pants and a long t-shirt. Just as he would have instructed the older man to be dressed if he would have thought Wolverine would listen. Simply Amazing!
"Huh, sure Logan. Let's go." Scott Summers was certain to enjoy the occasion, it would most likely not last long.
They walked down to the danger room, as friends would. That is friends
who dont resent the heck out of the other. Normal friends. It was starting
to go to Cyclops head, who was simply determined to make the best of this,
before it deteriorated.
Hank McCoy, also known as the Beast, was monitoring Cyclops and Wolverine's session, it was amazing enough to see these two spend more time together than was absolutely necessary, but it was true enough that Wolverine had been acting strange lately. He had noticed a definitely that the scraggly man had been not been behaving as usual towards Jean and Scott. He had been belligerant towards everyone but less so to Scott, and he had avoided Jean. One had to wonder what happened to bring about this change of attitude.
And now, they were both training, in a civilised fashion, together. Logan had never been much of a teamplayer, unless the circumstances really required it of him. Even then he would have a tendency to rush ahead, to do what he perceived as the foremost necessity and let his teammates handle the rest. That was teamwork to the canadian X-man. But today, yes, today was different, it seemed.
He let Cyclops call the shots and cover him. In fact he seemed to wait for the leader to give him his cue. Scott barely had to communicate with him. Logan even ducked sometimes and let Cyclops aim. That was odd. That and seeing how quick the short man was. He had never relied on pure speed to run circles around his opponents rather than engage them directly.
Finally Cyclops called an end to the session. Their leader seemed to have had a run for his money, he had done a much more thorough workout than he had expected to when entering the danger room with Logan. But Logan, who had run, ducked, jumped, did not seem to have broke a sweat or to even be short of breath, like you would have expected.
Without a retort, Logan followed and the two men went to shower. Hank scratched his head. The times, they were a-changing.
Scott Summers was perplexed. He had never gotten along with Logan. Not until the rugged canadian came back hours from exhibiting the worst bout of moody temper. It simply made no sense. Logan would usually take weeks to run the course of his foul mood. Yet this time, he came back without even really leaving, and was more disciplined than he ever had been. It did not even come close.
He was not sure he wanted it to end.
But the small enchantress very much wanted it to come to its end. She rubbed her temples and shook her pointy ears. Those spells were difficult for her to maintain. Puck managed these much better than her. Not to mention that it was hard to fulfill the X-man's wishes. They were so simple, she had barely any room to wiggle out of them. And of course, there was something annoying in having to make true the things he had wished. She did not like the Logan person more than she had to, but it repulsed her to do this to. One had to wonder if the so-called leader of the X-men ever thought of anything or anyone else than the grumpy man.
It was just her luck that Logan had hidden the ring in Scott's room. The fay creature thought that he was no better than that Stalin fellow who liked to dish out orders and reign supreme. Well, maybe not, but he was at least as imperative as Oberon. She sincerely hoped she was not magicking too loudly. Fay thoughts also were magic, and other fay could perceive magic. Lord Oberon was certainly the most powerful of the Tuathan. He would not appreciate the comparison.
She had to find a way to end this ordeal as quick as possibly. The sooner she did, the sooner she stopped feeling the full burden of her geis. Besides, the last thing she wanted was to make everyone suspicious.
In the garage, Scott pondered the latest events. He had tried to stop thinking about the strange behaviour of his turbulent teammate, but he just could not. Something was wrong here. The danger room session had been all wrong. Logan was acting odd. About as odd as Logan refraining from stabbing anyone directly. He did not behave like himself, but he had not in a while. What really was strange was that for as long as he had known him, he had always seen Logan use his claws to either slice or stab. He seemed to have developped a new respect for life as he did not even have his claws extended most of the time, and when he did, he just slashed at his enemies to virtually claw at them, simply to keep them away. Very much like a feline might. Not that it was not effective, but this was not part of Logan's fihting style.
As much as he wished it was true he had to contemplate that something was the matter with Logan. It would not be the first time strange things happened. And he had the strongest impression now that something was not right, he had to act on it right now.
He hurried inside and fetched Hank. Scott explained his doubts to the furry scientist.
"I don't know just what might be wrong, Hank. But you have to admit that
it must have taken a personality transplant for him to be even remotely
as nice to me as he was today."
"I thought I noticed a dissemblance too, during your danger room session.
But I dismissed any such hypothesis promptly. Logan is very impredictable."
The ponderate X-man replied. "Cerebro has not picked up any sign of abnormal
mutant activity either. Therefore we must be prudent, lest we aggravate
whatever has been annoying him."
Scott could see Hank's point and he would see the point of being prudent if he did not think there was a more imminent danger than Logan being peeved. Without Hank's support, he would simply have to trap the wolverine alone.
Back to his room, Scott slumped his body on the bed. What a brutal workout. He would feel it tomorrow. He had never thought that the fighting would be more efficient if he let Wolverine act on his own rather than take directions from him. However he would have the sore muscles to prove it.
This again brought the strangeness of late events to his mind. He stared at the ceiling. It was hard to come up with a good plan when you had no idea what you were facing or if you were facing anything at all. He did not know what to do. How he wished...
Oh no. He has done it again, she thought. He has found another way to wish something I do not want to do. She felt the magical compulsion focus her beign onto the ring.
How he wished... that whatever was happening revealed itself to
him. Scott said those words aloud wistfully. He was puzzled to see something
coalesce out of thin air in the middle of his room. And he was doubly surprised
to see it was Logan who did so.
"What? Logan, is that you? what are you doing?" Scott said with his usual
confident manner. It was an habit for him to hide whatever doubt or confusion
he felt. He had learned in the orphanage that it would at least repel predators
would would hunt the weaker ones. He got up and took one step towards the
luminous mass.
When the form of Logan had solidified from the shining materialisation, it walked to him. Scott had stopped. There was nothing to distinguish this Logan from the one who dwelled less than a hundred feet from there.
"What is the meaning of this?" Scott asked, really wanting an answer right about now.
"I am granting your wish." The shorter man said, in a voice that was not one Scott recognized.
Scott wondered what gibberish that was, until he remembered that he had sighed after his incomprehension of events and wished he understood. Probably that whoever was behind this thought he needed a graphical explanation, because the form of the man known as Logan started to morph into a much smaller shape. Only it did not shift like something he would have expected of Mystique or Morph or other shapeshifters he had met. It looked as though, the air had taken the shape of Logan and was simply attempting to assume a new shape.
Finally, the shape stood solid before him and he saw that it was that of a woman who looked very thin and probably young. With hair gleaming like the palest of blue summer skies and eyes of a curiously dark blue shade. She did look weak, or tired. And it was as if he saw her form blink for the briefest of instants. She noticed this, and looked as if she was in a hurry to leave.
"I am going to be direct. You wished for a revelation. Well, due to a certain conjecture I have to make your wishes come true." She seemed really annoyed at having to give him this piece of information. Scott just looked surprised.
"You have been wishing, first, that Logan would change his mind. So I elicited to conjure a Logan who would make this happen. Then you wished for him to be more cooperative. To grant your wish, I had to change into Logan and do it myself. The alternative was not possible." She explained this as if she was explaining the working of a simple machine to a simpleton. Scott was more than a bit angry at being duped.
"But what of Logan?" he demanded. "What have you done with him?"
"Nothing, you can keep him, when he comes back of course, he must be in British Columbia by now. Last I checked that was where he was intending to go."
"British Columbia? Where? Why?" he interrupted her and she waved her hand dimissively.
"If you don't know, why do you expect me to know." Her form blinked again, twice. And she seemed to look even more tired. She wavered forward and he made as if to catch her, expecting her to fall He had a lot of experience catching on Jean in her moment of weakness. But she caught herself in time.
"I cannot stay." and she disappeared abruptly as if she had never been there.
Scott shook his head in dismay. What a strange mutant. He was trying to take in all that she had told him, but he found that however recent the exchange had been, he could not recall exactly her words. She had teleported in and out, morphed and told him what he had done that day. All of that, right after he had expressed his desire to know the truth. She had said... She had said, he had wished to be told the truth, and she had told him things. Namely that Logan had not really come back.
But he had been here. Could that be why she had appeared as Logan first? To show him, that she had impersonated him while he was absent. That must be it. Yet she had also done it convincingly, at least convincingly enough that they had not had doubts before the danger room session. For what reason though?
She had also said that he had wished for things to be different with Logan, so she had made it so. Why would she do that? Scott was even more puzzled. Why would a seemingly powerful mutant play a prank like this. Either she was a friend or she was a foe. And he could not situate her on this scale.
Another odd thing, she had told him Logan was somewhere in Canada. How did she know? Unless it was a lie, and then, why would she lie. He felt however that she had told the truth about the canadian element. And he was not far from admitting that he should give her the benefit of the doubt seeing as how no negative action had stemmed from her presence. After all, at the end of the apparition, she looked as though she was in sore need of help, and in no position to threathen anyone. To tell the truth he far preferred the way she had of being Logan than the original. He would not alert his teammates yet, but he would be on the lookout.
Scott kept thinking about the small mutant girl. He could not help but worry. A few hours had passed and she had not come back. He almost wished she would. A small young thing like her, it was bound to awaken his paternal instinct. She had looked the worse for wear.
He went downstairs to make himself a sandwich. He encountered Jean on the way and he wondered whether to tell her about that encounter, but he decided against it when he realised how thin the story was. Besides, it made him look silly, and if there was a thing he did not like, it was sillyness. The grown man in him knew it was stupid, but another younger part of him kept him from telling Jean.
He ate with Jean, trying very hard to stop thinking about it because her powers notwithstanding, thinking he was not being honest with her made him feel bad about himself. Still, they had had too little time together these days and he wanted to get as much as he could.
It was when he was sighing inwardly, that he understood what the girl had
said. At that moment, he had been wishing that he could be alone with Jean
more often. It hit him, how often he had been wishing lately. After that
he realised that was the exact words the stranger had used. She said he
had wished for the troublemaker to come back, so she had brought him back,
in a way. Then he had wished for Logan to be more cooperative, and she
had shown him cooperation. She had even indicated that she had been doing
it herself. She had been fighting with him.
All because he had wished.
He kissed Jean with enthusiasm. She looked at him, half shocked.
"You've given me a great idea!" he said, before he dumped the dishes in the dishwasher and ran back to his room.
Ah, Ah, Scott thought. So far the foreign creature had done all that he had required of her. That meant likely that she would continue doing so. He was the cautious one, of course, of all the X-men, he was the cautious, reliable Cyclops. Tonight, he was going to take a chance and maybe get something back for having been duped the best part of the week.
"I wish the girl who came to see me today would reappear." he pronounced aloud, hoping to validate his theory.
Then, the girl reappeared just like she had disappeared last time but less dramatically. In the wink of an eye, she was there. Simply, as if she had been standing there for hours. He walked towards her, and as he got near her, he could smell a scent about her. A familliar smell he could not quite replace. He would think about it later. He had the girl to attend to.
He decided not to let her start the verbal exchange. She had lead before, and it had not helped him a lot.
"So," he asked "You granted my wishes?" he asked, the interrogative clear in his sentence.
"Yes" she replied. She seemed to understand his tactic and also seemed to refuse buying into it, because she did not volunteer anymore than the meager answer.
"You will grant other wishes?" the leader asked of her.
"Yes." she replied, after a slight pause.
"What happened earlier?" he verbally prodded her so she would satisfy his eagerness to know more about the situation.
"I was tired, shapeshifting is not one of my best talents." She looked at his old fashioned bed in a cross way. He had no idea why she would do that but it seemed insignificant. He preferred to remember what he wanted of her. He was not sure exactly what it was, but he would start testing her with something easy, He just didnt have a good imagination for that kind of thing.
"Well, I wish you would pull a prank on Bobby for me. Revenge will be sweet."
She rolled her eyes in exasperation, "Why me? Why can't Puck be around when you need him."
She had tried to pry exactly what kind of prank the man had wanted from her, but he would only tell her to come up with something. She could really see why the Logan man would think of him in the way he did. She tried very hard to remind herself the third race did not have emotions, but at this point she felt like she had discovered what the word peeved meant.
So she had to avenge the imperious leader. She had to find a way to play a trick, of all things to be asked for, a trick, on another X-man. Scott Summers had named him Bobby. Now she knew a bit about him. Scott had explained his powers to her. She was not about to tell him she knew already a bit about him through Logan. What went on then concerned only him.
But in the meantime, she would have to outprank the Iceman. Hmm... Ice, water...
The pale fay believed she had a plan.
When he heard a loud scream, Scott had no idea that it was the girl's work. When he rushed in the general direction of the noise, he heard a string of expletives the like of which he had never heard coming from anyone save Sabertooth. After the first cuss words, he found out where they were coming from because Ororo, Jube, Hank and Betsy had come as well. Storm was knocking on Bobby's door. She was wearing a subtle expression of worry on her regal face. Others came to see what the commotion was about.
"Bobby, are you all right?" she inquired, poised to intervene should the answer be no. Everyone heard an undistinct grumble. Then silence for a while. The door opened, revealing Iceman in all his iced glory. He really looked as though he had been tossed out of bed. Which, from the appearance of the bed, he had.
The teammates all looked a one another. Ororo looked puzzled.
"What is the matter, Robert?"she gave the troublemaker the look. Bobby looked embarassed. As the team members peered into his room, they noticed there was water all over his room, but the bed in which he had lain was completely 'icefied'.
"Someone threw a pool's worth of cold water on me as I slept." Iceman finally said through his teeth.
Everybody laughed. The prankster had finally been caught. Bobby reddened, he knew everyone had guessed the solidified bed had been his own doing. It had been easy to guess that woken with a start, he had turned to his ice form instinctively, thereby freezing the water instantly. Hank was actually holding his ribs, he was laughing so hard. Even Storm and Betsy could not restrain vivid laughter and Jubilee was wiping tears from her eyes.
Iceman went back inside his room and slammed the door. He only came out a half an hour later, with dripping wet bed sheets and headed to the laundry room in murderous silence.
Scott could hardly believe it. He had been holding back the laughter, but he had laughed in silence to himself. Bobby had been awaken with the shock of cold water splashed on him, and had iced his own bed making sure he would not be able to spend his morning in bed. That was funny. He had not had such a good time since... he could not remember when.
Truly that little girl was better to have on one's side. Bobby himself would have never found a better suited prank. To think, he, Scott Summers, had instigated the whole thing; irony was hilarious. It was a good thing he had managed to hold back an uproar of gleeful laughter back there. His 'stick in the mud' image would not have survived.
The small fay wiped her hands. That had worked as planned. Unfortunately, while the mortals had thought the interlude great entertainment, it held no such amusement for her. She certainly did not enjoy being used for meaningless labour. If only she could put an end to the wishing. The last thing she wanted to happen was for Scott to enjoy himself too much. There was no telling then when he would release her. If all his wishes were like the ones he had done so far, she was in for a long life of servitude.
She simply had to find a way to get the ring away from him.While she kept thinking about loopholes, she felt the summons of a wish. It was impossible for her to ignore it. So she followed the tug, each inch she came closer easing the intolerable twisting of her magical essence.
It took her only fractions of seconds to bring herself to Scott's room. Time was meaningless to her and her kind, but that ran both ways. Centuries could seem to be no longer than a short while, the life span of an ephemera. On the other hand, nanoseconds could be longer than an eternity of suffering.
She was there soon enough to hear and see the leader of the X-men utter the end of his wish.
"...that everything be perfect to have the most romantic evening with Jean." he said. He gazed at her. This time, she had not merely appeared before him, standing on her two feet. She was floating. Not like Rogue, but as if there was simply no gravity to drag her down. It was unnerving, even if he had seen much stranger things in his dignified career.
"Well, at least this wish will not be too hard to realise." she said. "What exactly do you want?" she asked him. Scott looked at her as if she had sprouted horns. He looked as though he had never expected there was more to a romantic moment than than met the.... er.... eye. When all he managed to do was stand there gawking at her she sighed.
"I should have known this would not be simple." She hovered down to her feet and sat on his chair. "I hate to do this, but according to rumour, you would start with what the lady likes. "So, dummy, what does she like?" A notepad and golden hearts covered pen appeared in her hand. "Any idea of just what the evening should be like? hmmm...?" She looked a him in the eyes. "Maybe you should tell me, in not too many details, what you are trying to achieve with this? Obviously, it is not simply to please her or you would have a better idea of how to go about that." She tapped the pen against her notepad.
"Well, I have been thinking about it for some time now, and it simply never was the right moment. Hopefully, with your help, the moment will be perfect. Tonight, that is... huh..." The man looked positively embarassed. She could not see his telltale mortal eyes, but the rest of his face had a slight blush to it. She was about to tell him not to disclose any sexual details with her when he leaned forward and whispered in her ear the answer to her question.
"I see. After all these years, anyone would think you had gotten to know her enough to tell me what I should prepare. Not to worry though," she sighed "I will arrange the proper setting. Just make sure you get to the gazebo on time"
"Wait! Jean is a telepath. I wish for you to make sure she can't even accidentally find out about my intentions."
"At last, a wish I will relish in making come true." She made a flowing gesture and Scott disappeared.
Scott fumed inwardly. That is as much as a frog could fume. @"/$%?&* the little witch. She had changed him into an amphibious creature. And she had left him in his room. His skin started itching. He blinked. There must be water somewhere.
He thought of the bathroom and hopped there. Then he thought about the washstand's sink, but it was too high for him. The bath would be just about right, but there was no way for him to open the tap with his tiny hands now. He surveyed the bathroom at a glance. Oh no!
The frog version of Cyclops, frowned but then winced as he felt his skin prick from dryness. He waited as long as frogly possible, but he could not take the awful itch. He then hopped onto the toilet seat and willed himself to close his eyes and dived in. The water immediately soothed his skin and he swam in the small makeshift pond.
What he could not fathom was how she had done this. It was obvious Jean would not be able to pick up on a frog's thoughts, although it seemed rather extreme. Other ways seemed easier and much more dignified. Maybe the wishing business was not so harmless after all.
Jean blinked. When she reopened her eyes, she was standing in a totally different place. She was in a clearing surrounded by century old trees. In the middle of the clearing stood very delicate twig chairs and a table. The twined twigs were so intricate and rounded, with small leaves springing from the branches like jewels on a king's furniture. Fireflies were dancing together illuminating the clearing. She could hear, not far from here, the sound of a babbling brook flowing away from a small pond.
This was very strange, but she did not perceive any ill intent anywhere near. In fact she couldnt perceive a single human thought. When she chanced to look down at herself, she saw that she was no longer wearing her usual pants and sweater, but instead she was clothed in a magnificent gown made of the silkiest, lightest fabric she had ever seen. Its blue colour shimmered as dark as the bottom of the ocean and as light as the palest seafoam. When she got closer, the table and the chairs blossomed. She could not refrain a gasp of wonder. And then the fireflies gathered together and landed on the table concentrating their light. On the middle of the table, sat a rather cute frog.
The frog spoke with a manly voice. "Kiss me." as if it had every right to expect to be obeyed and had just figured out what role he played in this.
Jean laughed as she recognised well the mood of the small creature. She leaned forward and took him in her hand, bringing him to her mouth and giving him a chaste kiss on his head. Gradually she felt arms surround her and soon Scott had taken back his true shape and was enlacing her. He too was dressed most fantastically and Jean giggled.
"My prince, you are just as good looking as you were as a frog." she sobered up when she saw that Scott was not laughing heartily and kissed him again, on the lips this time. That had him smiling again.
The proud leader of the X-men dropped on his knee in front of the woman he loved. "Jean, I know it is hard to do, but believe me when I tell you this, this is not a dream." He smiled tentatively, sure enough of himself to ask her, but doubtful as all men are when asking this particular question to the woman who held their hearts. "Jean, will you marry me?"
"Yes, Scott, I will marry you." Jean replied with a subtle blush creeping on her face. When she felt the subtle thought of relief about him at her having accepted his proposal, she felt touched by his love and kissed him again. When they parted, Scott looked at the table and saw a photo camera had appeared.
"This is a sign, Jean!" he smiled at his fiancée. He aimed the camera and took a snapshot. Jean laughed and mentally wrestled the camera out of his hands, and shot him back. Then, they both worked hard on finding a way to set the camera to take a picture of them both. They did not notice a small shape slipping away.
Scott was amazed at how good the pictures of Jean were, thanks to the fireflies. There was somethin magic about the whole setting. Reasonably, it had been too dark for good pictures, but instead you could see a radiant Jean in a fairytale. Ah well, it was a lucky strike.
One thing was for sure though, he loved the picture and he wanted it framed
as soon as possible. So he took the frame off the wall, not noticing that
as he did it a small object fell to the floor. All he had on his mind was
framing the picture of the woman who had just agreed to become his wife
and looked like a princess. Then as he hung back the frame, a glitter caught
his eye. A ring., with a flashy stone. That was certainly not Jean's. He
picked it up. It had a strange design, so the practical X-men leader decided
it must be Ororo's. He put it in his pocket. He would give it to Ororo
later.
When Ororo turned out to be away for the weekend, he decided to put it
on her nightstand, but thought better of it. If Ororo did not come back
soon, the trinket could misplaced when someone came in her room or even
stolen. He hated to think not everyone in the school had the same scrupules
as him, but it was a school and a public place and though the personal
rooms were not, well, thefts still happened, unfortunately. So he put it
in the little box Storm had shown him where he knew she kept her jewelry
hidden and placed the ring in it. There, at least it would not attract
undue attention.
P. S. Write me reviews, I love reading them. Also, I've had to work hard at this chapter, and I'm still not sure what should happen to whom. Feel free to input no matter how small or farfetched. Cheerio!
