He nodded. "One moment, I need to find someone to show you around. Not
Jean." He said, reading her thoughts -literally-. "She's teaching.
"Maybe." He closed his eye for a second, searching the mansion. "Ah.
Alex."
Diane nodded. "Alex. Let's hope it's not another telepath."
"No. He's Scott's younger brother. You'll probably like him more than anyone else I can come up with at the moment. There's Gambit but I don't-"
"Darn right she'll like me better than that good for nothing flirt." Said a voice behind her. She whirled around, and almost stumbled backwards. It took a lot of self-control to keep her mouth from falling open.
1 OOoooooooooooOOOooOOhhhh lord.this is going to be a problem. She thought absently. He was -hot-. He looked like his brother, sort of. He had blond hair, he was tall, and he had a tan.oooooooo.
His eyes caught her. She almost stepped back. His eyes were exactly like hers. The exact same color. He smiled, sending a shiver through her, and tilted his head to one side. He winked at her. She didn't glare.
'Ah...Diane.Alex." Diane nodded, Alex smirked. "Now, Alex, if you'd be so kind as to show Diane around the mansion, I have a class to get to." Diane didn't say anything. If she did, she knew she'd sound weird. Alex already knew the effect he had on her; she didn't need everyone to know. Even if they -were- telepaths.
Alex was watching her. She gauged that he was about 6 or so years older that her. Rrrrg. Poor Bruce. She shook her head, looking grumpy for a second. Then her face resettled. No. She was -not- attracted to Alex. She was -not- going to chase him.
"Well, I guess I'll show you where you'll be living first, anyway." He spoke again. She had to fight not to swoon or something. He smirked again. "It's upstairs, c'mon.or.do you need help?"
"No." Diane snapped, mad at herself for acting like this. She slammed up the stairs loudly. Alex was still watching her, amusement plain on his face.
"I'm guessing you have lunch planned?"
"Bruce."
"Good kid."
Diane suddenly stopped, slamming him against the wall. "Don't make it any worse than it is." She warned in a low growl, though if from anger, or the fact she was so close to him, she didn't know. Alex looked unruffled.
"Oh, I won't. You've just smashed me into the door of my room. You must be a telepath." Diane started, then let go of him.
"Alright then, where's -my- room?"
"As much as I'd like to say 'right here', it's across the hall."
"Damn."
"I'll misinterpret that on purpose. Yes, it is big." He pushed the door open. It -was- big, but just his being there made it feel unbearably small. She was hot for no apparent reason.
"Nice." She said, hoping she still sounded normal. He pushed her gently out of the room. Her heart rate tripled when he touched her arm.
"Damn." That was him this time. He was staring at her.
"Look." She said, hoping desperately that she still sounded normal but knowing she was husky. "I can't pretend it doesn't exist.but I won't bother you about it, even if I can't." She stopped. "Breathe." She finished not what she was going to say, originally. At least she wasn't the only person who sounded different now. His voice was definitely lower.
"No. No pretending here. But I will have to talk to you about it. Dinner. And," He smiled, making her pulse speed up again, "I'll have Bruce give you the tour since I can't even think straight."
Diane nodded, dimly wondering if Bruce was such a good idea either. Alex had apparently conjured Bruce out of somewhere, since the boy came ambling down the hall at that moment. He glanced at Diane, then at Alex. Diane stepped away from Alex.
"Think what you like, but it isn't what you think, Bruce." Alex said calmly. "And I need you to give Diane the tour, since I can't keep coherent thought near her." Bruce nodded his eyes still on Diane.
She was flushed. He touched her arm lightly. Her skin was burning. She turned to look at him questioningly. Her eyes were dark pools.
"Nothing, sorry." He murmured, and, on the pretense of leading her off down the hall, grabbed her wrist. Her pulse was slowing down, but it was still way faster than what was normal. She didn't jerk her hand away, so he ended up holding her hand, which was more than he could have hoped for.
The tour went well, ending with a pleasant lunch. Diane soon warmed up to him, though she never let her guard down, and she never showed her emotions. He could see Alex watching her from across the room, and once or twice their eyes met. Bruce could almost feel the heat between them.
"That'll be a problem." He said, the third time this happened.
"Huh?" Diane said, faintly disoriented, still lost in the depths of Alex's blue eyes.
"Alex. He'll be a problem."
"Why?" Diane asked, wondering to herself how he could be a problem to people as long as there were any women on the earth.
"He's -Alex-, that's why. He's a teacher. He's seven years older than you."
"I didn't ask for it, you know." Diane said, turning her own depthless easy-to-get-lost-in blue eyes onto Bruce's brown ones. Bruce personally found her eyes probably as disorienting as she found Alex's.
"People say.when that happens, they were meant for each other. That attraction was the human race's way of forcing people that were perfect for each other together. But."
"I know. But if it's happened to you, it's so hard to fight."
"I know." Bruce said so softly that she didn't hear him. He had a problem here. A -serious- problem. A problem with Alex.
The next day was Diane's first.of classes. She had all her classes with either Bruce or Cyrene, luckily. She struggled through the whole day by pretending she couldn't feel anything. For her last class, Cyrene and Bruce, as well as the girl with white-streaked hair beckoned her over to the table.
Bruce was eyeing the door funny. Diane ignored him. Cyrene smiled at her. "Diane, this is Rogue."
Rogue corrected her, "Marie." She said with a distinctly southern accent.
"Marie." Diane nodded firmly.
"Uh.Di?" Bruce finally spoke. Diane liked her new nickname, and made sure that no one else called her that. She glanced up, and promptly fell out of her chair.
Alex.
It took all of her control, all five years built control to get up and sit back down, looking unruffled. Rogue and Cyrene were watching her. Alex's bright blue eyes swept the classroom, then stopped on her. She heard him mutters something reminiscent of,
"Damn."
"Damn yourself, Summers." She snapped. Most of the students were staring at her now. It crossed her mind that Alex was a teacher not to be crossed. Most of them were amazed that she had the daring to talk back to him, and on the border of awe.
"-Mr.- Summers to you, Fischer." He said, somehow sounding cool despite sudden heat in the room.
"Diane." She growled. The students were all silent now. They seemed to be holding a collective breath. She contemplated for a moment what he would do to her.
He stared at her for a long moment, his blue eyes unreadable. Finally, he walked back up to the front of the room, leaving her challenge lying heavy in the air. Cyrene glanced at Alex, then at Diane, and finally her eyes met Rogue's. They both burst out giggling. Diane ignored them, and kicked Bruce under the table. He looked pained.
"Why didn't you tell me it was -him-?" She hissed.
"Your schedule."
".Said -Summers-! I thought it was -Scott-!"
Bruce shrugged. Marie elbowed her. Diane turned her head, only to fall into blue again. Damn. She thought absently.
"Diane, must you be so distracting?" He asked. That was something, at least. His use of her first name meant she had one her first battle with him. But the war was far from over. This was something else. She wasn't exactly sure whether he meant she was being distracting to the class or to him. She suspected the latter, since his eyes had gone darker.
"Sorry, Summers." She muttered, refusing to call him Mr. He stared at her for another moment, something about his eyes that she couldn't quite classify. It was strangely like pity. Then he went back to the front of the room. Marie elbowed her again.
"You like him, don't you?" She asked, grinning.
"Its more complicated than that, I'm afraid." She said with a sigh. Both of them looked puzzled. A look flitted across Bruce's face. "He's watching me isn't he?"
Bruce nodded. He was watching Alex, and there was a look almost like dislike in his brown eyes. The air between the two of them practically shimmered with heat and attraction. Desire. Passion. Things Bruce didn't understand, and didn't think Diane understood any better. But he hated the way Diane's eyes went dark when she looked at Alex, didn't like the heat in Alex's ever present gaze.
The whole class was absolute torture for Diane, who couldn't look up without drowning in blue. It was torture to Bruce, who hated to see Diane like that. Torture for Rogue, who wanted to help her new friend any way she could, wanted to understand.
Just as Diane was about to duck out of the class with Rogue (Cyrene and Bruce still had their class with the Professor), She felt Alex's warm hand on her shoulder, making her heart stop, then start again so fast she felt dizzy. Rogue could see the effect he had on her, and she looked confused beyond words.
"You never met me for dinner." He said, sounding husky. He still hadn't taken his hand off her shoulder. Diane shifted.
"I was so tired after last night.I just fell asleep." Alex nodded.
"Understandable."
"Sorry."
"Tonight, then."
Diane nodded and shuffled out of the room, still feeling the heat of Alex's hand as if he'd scorched her skin.
Marie followed her, still confused. She didn't understand what could make her usually emotionless friend act so strange. The way she -talked- to Alex.always with their identical blue eyes locked.always with few words as thought their darkened blue eyes said more that earthly words could say. The way Diane stared at him as though she could see nothing else, how Alex never once took his eyes off her during the lesson. Diane had only been here one day! Surely she didn't know Alex so well already that she flushed every time he touched her skin, every time he was near her.
She followed Diane silently back to her room. Diane, thinking, didn't hear her. She flopped on her bed, exhausted from the terrors and problems of the day. Rogue knocked and then walked in. She sat in the chair at the desk. "What is it, Diane?" She asked, cutting to the chase.
"I dunno, Marie." Diane said hopelessly. "Heat. Attraction. Desire." She sighed. That's what I feel, what I see in his eyes." She sighed again, turning on her bed to look at Marie. "His eyes.so blue.drives me crazy.I get lost.don't understand." It was hopeless, Rogue could tell.
"Well, dinner should help. You can talk to him about it."
"Yeah, that and other things." They both jumped. Alex. He was leaning on the doorframe. It sent an electric shock through her. Rogue disappeared.
Diane didn't eat anything. Neither did she say anything. Alex ate, but not very much. He said nothing either. The silence just let the tension grow, until Diane was about to snap.though whether she'd kill him or throw herself at him, she didn't know.
"I dunno why I did this. We can't talk here. C'mon." They went back to her room, where she sat on her bed and he paced. "You're right. It's confusing, blind attraction. But it's useless to fight. It'll win somehow. Its what happens when it fades that's the problem. I thought it would never happen to me again.I suppose that's why it hit me so hard this time. And if it's never happened to you."
Diane stared of him. He talked of it so casually, like it was something that happened to him all the time. "I.I...don't." Her mind snapped clear all of a sudden, when it'd been blurred by the blueness of his eyes. "You.you're suggesting."
". That we stop fighting." She must have looked terrified or shocked, or both, because he said, "I won't push you further than you're willing to go." Diane wondered whether he had that much control. She knew she didn't.
Then his eyes caught hers. It sent a shock through her.the feeling was so much stronger now that neither of them was really trying to push it back. She could have sworn the suddenly smaller distance between them was crackling with it, since it was almost too powerful to be contained in their eyes.
It took every ounce of her control to step away from him, walk past him, and outside, gasping the blessedly cool air. She knew she'd have to give into the undeniable pull to Alex some day. But I've only been here one day. She told herself. Right now, I'll concentrate on Bruce.
Diane nodded. "Alex. Let's hope it's not another telepath."
"No. He's Scott's younger brother. You'll probably like him more than anyone else I can come up with at the moment. There's Gambit but I don't-"
"Darn right she'll like me better than that good for nothing flirt." Said a voice behind her. She whirled around, and almost stumbled backwards. It took a lot of self-control to keep her mouth from falling open.
1 OOoooooooooooOOOooOOhhhh lord.this is going to be a problem. She thought absently. He was -hot-. He looked like his brother, sort of. He had blond hair, he was tall, and he had a tan.oooooooo.
His eyes caught her. She almost stepped back. His eyes were exactly like hers. The exact same color. He smiled, sending a shiver through her, and tilted his head to one side. He winked at her. She didn't glare.
'Ah...Diane.Alex." Diane nodded, Alex smirked. "Now, Alex, if you'd be so kind as to show Diane around the mansion, I have a class to get to." Diane didn't say anything. If she did, she knew she'd sound weird. Alex already knew the effect he had on her; she didn't need everyone to know. Even if they -were- telepaths.
Alex was watching her. She gauged that he was about 6 or so years older that her. Rrrrg. Poor Bruce. She shook her head, looking grumpy for a second. Then her face resettled. No. She was -not- attracted to Alex. She was -not- going to chase him.
"Well, I guess I'll show you where you'll be living first, anyway." He spoke again. She had to fight not to swoon or something. He smirked again. "It's upstairs, c'mon.or.do you need help?"
"No." Diane snapped, mad at herself for acting like this. She slammed up the stairs loudly. Alex was still watching her, amusement plain on his face.
"I'm guessing you have lunch planned?"
"Bruce."
"Good kid."
Diane suddenly stopped, slamming him against the wall. "Don't make it any worse than it is." She warned in a low growl, though if from anger, or the fact she was so close to him, she didn't know. Alex looked unruffled.
"Oh, I won't. You've just smashed me into the door of my room. You must be a telepath." Diane started, then let go of him.
"Alright then, where's -my- room?"
"As much as I'd like to say 'right here', it's across the hall."
"Damn."
"I'll misinterpret that on purpose. Yes, it is big." He pushed the door open. It -was- big, but just his being there made it feel unbearably small. She was hot for no apparent reason.
"Nice." She said, hoping she still sounded normal. He pushed her gently out of the room. Her heart rate tripled when he touched her arm.
"Damn." That was him this time. He was staring at her.
"Look." She said, hoping desperately that she still sounded normal but knowing she was husky. "I can't pretend it doesn't exist.but I won't bother you about it, even if I can't." She stopped. "Breathe." She finished not what she was going to say, originally. At least she wasn't the only person who sounded different now. His voice was definitely lower.
"No. No pretending here. But I will have to talk to you about it. Dinner. And," He smiled, making her pulse speed up again, "I'll have Bruce give you the tour since I can't even think straight."
Diane nodded, dimly wondering if Bruce was such a good idea either. Alex had apparently conjured Bruce out of somewhere, since the boy came ambling down the hall at that moment. He glanced at Diane, then at Alex. Diane stepped away from Alex.
"Think what you like, but it isn't what you think, Bruce." Alex said calmly. "And I need you to give Diane the tour, since I can't keep coherent thought near her." Bruce nodded his eyes still on Diane.
She was flushed. He touched her arm lightly. Her skin was burning. She turned to look at him questioningly. Her eyes were dark pools.
"Nothing, sorry." He murmured, and, on the pretense of leading her off down the hall, grabbed her wrist. Her pulse was slowing down, but it was still way faster than what was normal. She didn't jerk her hand away, so he ended up holding her hand, which was more than he could have hoped for.
The tour went well, ending with a pleasant lunch. Diane soon warmed up to him, though she never let her guard down, and she never showed her emotions. He could see Alex watching her from across the room, and once or twice their eyes met. Bruce could almost feel the heat between them.
"That'll be a problem." He said, the third time this happened.
"Huh?" Diane said, faintly disoriented, still lost in the depths of Alex's blue eyes.
"Alex. He'll be a problem."
"Why?" Diane asked, wondering to herself how he could be a problem to people as long as there were any women on the earth.
"He's -Alex-, that's why. He's a teacher. He's seven years older than you."
"I didn't ask for it, you know." Diane said, turning her own depthless easy-to-get-lost-in blue eyes onto Bruce's brown ones. Bruce personally found her eyes probably as disorienting as she found Alex's.
"People say.when that happens, they were meant for each other. That attraction was the human race's way of forcing people that were perfect for each other together. But."
"I know. But if it's happened to you, it's so hard to fight."
"I know." Bruce said so softly that she didn't hear him. He had a problem here. A -serious- problem. A problem with Alex.
The next day was Diane's first.of classes. She had all her classes with either Bruce or Cyrene, luckily. She struggled through the whole day by pretending she couldn't feel anything. For her last class, Cyrene and Bruce, as well as the girl with white-streaked hair beckoned her over to the table.
Bruce was eyeing the door funny. Diane ignored him. Cyrene smiled at her. "Diane, this is Rogue."
Rogue corrected her, "Marie." She said with a distinctly southern accent.
"Marie." Diane nodded firmly.
"Uh.Di?" Bruce finally spoke. Diane liked her new nickname, and made sure that no one else called her that. She glanced up, and promptly fell out of her chair.
Alex.
It took all of her control, all five years built control to get up and sit back down, looking unruffled. Rogue and Cyrene were watching her. Alex's bright blue eyes swept the classroom, then stopped on her. She heard him mutters something reminiscent of,
"Damn."
"Damn yourself, Summers." She snapped. Most of the students were staring at her now. It crossed her mind that Alex was a teacher not to be crossed. Most of them were amazed that she had the daring to talk back to him, and on the border of awe.
"-Mr.- Summers to you, Fischer." He said, somehow sounding cool despite sudden heat in the room.
"Diane." She growled. The students were all silent now. They seemed to be holding a collective breath. She contemplated for a moment what he would do to her.
He stared at her for a long moment, his blue eyes unreadable. Finally, he walked back up to the front of the room, leaving her challenge lying heavy in the air. Cyrene glanced at Alex, then at Diane, and finally her eyes met Rogue's. They both burst out giggling. Diane ignored them, and kicked Bruce under the table. He looked pained.
"Why didn't you tell me it was -him-?" She hissed.
"Your schedule."
".Said -Summers-! I thought it was -Scott-!"
Bruce shrugged. Marie elbowed her. Diane turned her head, only to fall into blue again. Damn. She thought absently.
"Diane, must you be so distracting?" He asked. That was something, at least. His use of her first name meant she had one her first battle with him. But the war was far from over. This was something else. She wasn't exactly sure whether he meant she was being distracting to the class or to him. She suspected the latter, since his eyes had gone darker.
"Sorry, Summers." She muttered, refusing to call him Mr. He stared at her for another moment, something about his eyes that she couldn't quite classify. It was strangely like pity. Then he went back to the front of the room. Marie elbowed her again.
"You like him, don't you?" She asked, grinning.
"Its more complicated than that, I'm afraid." She said with a sigh. Both of them looked puzzled. A look flitted across Bruce's face. "He's watching me isn't he?"
Bruce nodded. He was watching Alex, and there was a look almost like dislike in his brown eyes. The air between the two of them practically shimmered with heat and attraction. Desire. Passion. Things Bruce didn't understand, and didn't think Diane understood any better. But he hated the way Diane's eyes went dark when she looked at Alex, didn't like the heat in Alex's ever present gaze.
The whole class was absolute torture for Diane, who couldn't look up without drowning in blue. It was torture to Bruce, who hated to see Diane like that. Torture for Rogue, who wanted to help her new friend any way she could, wanted to understand.
Just as Diane was about to duck out of the class with Rogue (Cyrene and Bruce still had their class with the Professor), She felt Alex's warm hand on her shoulder, making her heart stop, then start again so fast she felt dizzy. Rogue could see the effect he had on her, and she looked confused beyond words.
"You never met me for dinner." He said, sounding husky. He still hadn't taken his hand off her shoulder. Diane shifted.
"I was so tired after last night.I just fell asleep." Alex nodded.
"Understandable."
"Sorry."
"Tonight, then."
Diane nodded and shuffled out of the room, still feeling the heat of Alex's hand as if he'd scorched her skin.
Marie followed her, still confused. She didn't understand what could make her usually emotionless friend act so strange. The way she -talked- to Alex.always with their identical blue eyes locked.always with few words as thought their darkened blue eyes said more that earthly words could say. The way Diane stared at him as though she could see nothing else, how Alex never once took his eyes off her during the lesson. Diane had only been here one day! Surely she didn't know Alex so well already that she flushed every time he touched her skin, every time he was near her.
She followed Diane silently back to her room. Diane, thinking, didn't hear her. She flopped on her bed, exhausted from the terrors and problems of the day. Rogue knocked and then walked in. She sat in the chair at the desk. "What is it, Diane?" She asked, cutting to the chase.
"I dunno, Marie." Diane said hopelessly. "Heat. Attraction. Desire." She sighed. That's what I feel, what I see in his eyes." She sighed again, turning on her bed to look at Marie. "His eyes.so blue.drives me crazy.I get lost.don't understand." It was hopeless, Rogue could tell.
"Well, dinner should help. You can talk to him about it."
"Yeah, that and other things." They both jumped. Alex. He was leaning on the doorframe. It sent an electric shock through her. Rogue disappeared.
Diane didn't eat anything. Neither did she say anything. Alex ate, but not very much. He said nothing either. The silence just let the tension grow, until Diane was about to snap.though whether she'd kill him or throw herself at him, she didn't know.
"I dunno why I did this. We can't talk here. C'mon." They went back to her room, where she sat on her bed and he paced. "You're right. It's confusing, blind attraction. But it's useless to fight. It'll win somehow. Its what happens when it fades that's the problem. I thought it would never happen to me again.I suppose that's why it hit me so hard this time. And if it's never happened to you."
Diane stared of him. He talked of it so casually, like it was something that happened to him all the time. "I.I...don't." Her mind snapped clear all of a sudden, when it'd been blurred by the blueness of his eyes. "You.you're suggesting."
". That we stop fighting." She must have looked terrified or shocked, or both, because he said, "I won't push you further than you're willing to go." Diane wondered whether he had that much control. She knew she didn't.
Then his eyes caught hers. It sent a shock through her.the feeling was so much stronger now that neither of them was really trying to push it back. She could have sworn the suddenly smaller distance between them was crackling with it, since it was almost too powerful to be contained in their eyes.
It took every ounce of her control to step away from him, walk past him, and outside, gasping the blessedly cool air. She knew she'd have to give into the undeniable pull to Alex some day. But I've only been here one day. She told herself. Right now, I'll concentrate on Bruce.
