Storm pulled back her hand as though a snake had bit her. She was obviously not in her garden. Her mind swam for a moment until she realized that she did know where she was. This was Xavier's study. And the moment she first met Jared.
Jared smiled slyly and began pulling his glove back on. Xavier sat quietly behind his desk, eyeing her.
"What?" She looked between Jared and Xavier. "What just happened?"
Xavier smiled from behind his desk. "That was Jared's gift." Xavier told him. "His mutant ability. I have chosen to assign him the moniker – Desire."
Storm blinked twice in the low light and looked at Jared.
"It suits you." She told him.
Jared bowed appreciatively.
"But – what exactly happened?" She turned back to Xavier. "What was that?"
"A hallucination of sorts." Xavier leaned back in his chair. "Jared's ability works similarly to Rogues. It requires physical contact and utilizes the same pathways through the nervous system and to the brain."
"And there I become unique" Jared chimed in, smiling gently.
"Indeed." Xavier confirmed. "Because at that point- rather than providing contact – Jared's touch brings forth the experience of total fulfillment of your current fantasies or desires."
Storm let this sink in slowly.
"I had originally intended to use him as a therapy tool for dealing with Wanda Maximoff." Xavier explained.
Xavier smiled. "So tell me Storm, how was your experience?"
"Quite convincing." She put a hand to her chest. "And – I must say … Are you sure it wasn't real?"
Jared chuckled.
"Well, what was your experience Charles?" Storm turned the conversation on him.
"I brought mankind peace by convincing Magneto to change his ways." He looked slightly embarrassed. "And then I became a figure skating champion." He added quickly. "And regrew most of my hair." He stroaked his head gently with one hand.
Jared laughed despite himself. "Please, excuse me." He said to Xavier. "I mean no offence."
Xavier waved his concerns away dismissively. "Not at all. It was my fantasy."
"And Scott?" Storm asked, realizing that he was still sitting right outside the room. "Did he …?"
"Yes." Jared assured her in a low tone. "And I must say …"
But he didn't say, he began to chuckle and Xavier joined him.
Storm found herself enjoying Jared's old-world style. He was obviously European and relating to Xavier as a man of the world.
"He, ahh," Xavier smiled at her. "He fantasized that he was reading Plato's Republic." Xavier began to chuckle again. "He thought he read it cover to cover."
"And he was quite put off to discover he had never read it." Jared added, laughing.
"That poor, poor …" Xavier began.
"Boring." Jared added.
"Yes, that poor, poor, boring boy." Xavier finished, laughing with Jared.
"But not really." Xavier told Jared.
Jared waved away the notion. "Of course."
Then they both burst out laughing.
Even Storm managed a chuckle. Poor Scott indeed.
"And you?" Jared asked quietly. "If you feel like sharing that is." He added. "I can tell, when people are sufficiently flush … Often this means the experience was … quite personal."
Storm sat regally high in her chair. "It was actually, as you said, quite personal." She confirmed, feeling amused for the first time since entering the room – after all – she had just been hit with the mutant equivalent of a joy buzzer.
"And I have half a mind," She said playfully, leaning over the arm of her chair towards Jared. "To hold you to everything I imagined that you had said." She smiled coyly.
Jared swallowed nervously and Xavier sat up uncomfortably.
"Because – I believed you – in the fantasy I mean." She cooed. "As I would have … any of my… lovers." She breathed the last word with a husky tone.
She stood up and shrugged, stretched, and sighed. "Oh well." She smiled. "It was very nice to meet you." She turned away and smiled at how she had unnerved the two of them and stepped around the chairs toward the door.
Suddenly, Jared was on his feet. "Please." He said, "If I have offended …"
She smiled back over her shoulder. "No. Not at all." She said, her voice full of humor and her hand on the door.
"Then, please …" He looked nervous yet considerate. "Would you join me… for dinner, this evening?"
She smiled genuinely and wide. "Certainly." She said.
"All you had to do … was ask." And she swept out of the room quite gracefully.
Jared dropped down in to his seat and exhaled a long, deep breath that he didn't know he had been holding.
"Well" He looked to Xavier "Can you guess how I would react to my ability right about now?" He asked sympathetically.
And Xavier couldn't help himself. He burst out laughing. And after a moment, Jared joined him with a low chuckle.
